Paloma water heater idea which worked

[magnetman]

I've got a Paloma on one of the Boats. Its a lovely item but suffers from the jammed water temperature / flow control valve. 

 

I didn't want to take it apart so it occurred to me that I could put a PWM speed controller on the water pump to slow it down a bit and improve the output temperature from the Paloma. This was on a Shurflo pump. It works brilliantly. There is a bit less water but it is warm water. 

 

If this PWM controller were situated close to the water heater it could be used as a direct heat control. Depends on the separation distance between the pump and the Paloma itself. One can get remote control PWM controllers but I just used a dial type which is £9 on eBay. 

 

I'm well pleased with this. 

 

One for @Paloma Bob to comment on. It must have been done before. 

[rusty69]

You, sir are a genius. I just used mole grips. Our paloma finally packed up after 25 years of faultless service. Luckily, thanks to a very generous forum member I had a spare one under the bed. I might send the busted one to PB. Can one be sentimentally attached to a gas water heater? 

[Tracy D'arth]

1 minute ago, rusty69 said:

You, sir are a genius. I just used mole grips. Our paloma finally packed up after 25 years of faultless service. Luckily, thanks to a very generous forum member I had a spare one under the bed. I might send the busted one to PB. Can one be sentimentally attached to a gas water heater? 

Only by copper pipe and compression fittings.

[magnetman]

A positive side effect was a reduction in pump noise. In this case the pump is in the engine room but there is a slight sound box effect so at full tilt it was a little noisy. Winding it down a bit with the PWM made a big difference and the output was still very acceptable for one faucet. If multiple faucets were needed one could always turn the dial up a bit.

 

 

 

 

[MtB]

2 hours ago, rusty69 said:

Can one be sentimentally attached to a gas water heater? 

 

Of course one can. They all have hearts, souls and personalities just like any other mechanical device. As any fule kno.

[rusty69]

3 minutes ago, MtB said:

 

Of course one can. They all have hearts, souls and personalities just like any other mechanical device. As any fule kno.

Yeah, but you being a boily bloke, maybe you is just a bit weird. You are not alone. 

[magnetman]

I sometimes think that as ageing takes hold an old boiler might be worth considering.

 

Then I think again. 

[MtB]

5 minutes ago, magnetman said:

I sometimes think that as ageing takes hold an old boiler might be worth considering.

 

 

Depends which one, Shirley? 

 

 

[magnetman]

Paloma is quite an appealing name but it is not a boiler. 

 

I don't find Alde all that appealing 

 

Paloma sounds like she is about 27 yars old with a beautiful smile and no inclination to have babies. 

 

 

[BEngo]

An old boiler rounds like Thursday night at the Palais, in Pompey.  I heard.

 

N

[rusty69]

I was considering feeding the output of my paloma into the cold inlet on the washing machine. Would this work well, or is the flow rate too low?

[MtB]

14 minutes ago, rusty69 said:

I was considering feeding the output of my paloma into the cold inlet on the washing machine. Would this work well, or is the flow rate too low?

 

Why?!

 

Better to connect it to the washing machine hot inlet, I'd suggest. 

 

[rusty69]

2 minutes ago, MtB said:

 

Why?!

 

Better to connect it to the washing machine hot inlet, I'd suggest. 

 

The washing machine hasn't got a hot input, only cold. The idea was to use less electricity. Stick th paloma on pilot in the rinse cycle, or switch it off. 

[MtB]

4 minutes ago, rusty69 said:

The washing machine hasn't got a hot input, only cold. The idea was to use less electricity. Stick th paloma on pilot in the rinse cycle, or switch it off. 

 

R I C ... one of them newfangled washing machines where they saved five quid by not fitting a hot connection and make you spend £5,000 on leccy heating the water inside the machine over the life of it instead! 

 

I'd say yes it would help, but not a great deal as LPG water heating could be much the same cost as leccy water heating. But this depends on what leccy tariff you are on, and what you are paying for the LPG!

 

 

 

[rusty69]

5 minutes ago, MtB said:

 

R I C ... one of them newfangled washing machines where they saved five quid by not fitting a hot connection and make you spend £5,000 on leccy heating the water inside the machine over the life of it instead! 

 

I'd say yes it would help, but not a great deal as LPG water heating could be much the same cost as leccy water heating. But this depends on what leccy tariff you are on, and what you are paying for the LPG!

 

 

 

 

These new fangled cold fill only machines have been around for years. Another step backwards for man kind. 

[MtB]

30 minutes ago, rusty69 said:

 

These new fangled cold fill only machines have been around for years. Another step backwards for man kind. 

 

I wouldn't know that... I stopped fitting such things as washing machines 30 years ago. 

[rusty69]

5 minutes ago, MtB said:

 

I wouldn't know that... I stopped fitting such things as washing machines 30 years ago. 

You must have very dirty clothes or a fantastically old machine. 

[magnetman]

1 hour ago, rusty69 said:

The washing machine hasn't got a hot input, only cold. The idea was to use less electricity. Stick th paloma on pilot in the rinse cycle, or switch it off. 

I did this on the barge which had a Morco water heater and it worked alright running a cold wash cycle. This was when it was not connected to services. When on mains lecky I obviously just ran a hot cycle. 

 

The Woman moved ashore and I have since found that hand washing is a lot more convenient. 

 

turn on tap, grab soap. wash hands. 

 

Sorted. 

 

10 minutes ago, rusty69 said:

You must have very dirty clothes or a fantastically old machine. 

I think he meant fitting them in other peoples houses. 

Edited January 27 by magnetman

[rusty69]

9 minutes ago, magnetman said:

I did this on the barge which had a Morco water heater and it worked alright running a cold wash cycle

Did the restricted flow cause any problems? 

10 minutes ago, magnetman said:

I think he meant fitting them in other peoples houses.

I knew that 

[magnetman]

6 minutes ago, rusty69 said:

Did the restricted flow cause any problems? 

 

 

No it was alright. Just took longer to fill. Washing machine filling is controlled by a float switch of some sort rather than a timer so however fast or slow one fills it the same level will be achieved before it switches the motor on. 

If you do this and run a hot cycle the heating element will probably still come on which is why I ran it on cold cycle. 

[rusty69]

On 27/01/2024 at 09:01, magnetman said:

 

No it was alright. Just took longer to fill. Washing machine filling is controlled by a float switch of some sort rather than a timer so however fast or slow one fills it the same level will be achieved before it switches the motor on. 

If you do this and run a hot cycle the heating element will probably still come on which is why I ran it on cold cycle. 

Fitted this yesterday. Works a treat on a 30 degree wash. Took 1.5 hours, which I don't think is unreasonable. 

 

I don't think it will work as well on a 60. The paloma doesn't get that hot and the flow rate is much reduced at max output. 

Edited January 30 by rusty69

[blackrose]

On 27/01/2024 at 11:21, rusty69 said:

I was considering feeding the output of my paloma into the cold inlet on the washing machine. Would this work well, or is the flow rate too low?

 

If you want to use gas to heat the water for your washing machine rather than electricity, wouldn't it be easier to just boil a kettle on the stove and pour the boiled water into your washing machine through the detergent tray as you start the wash cycle? 

 

That's what I do to reduce the amount of power drawn from the batteries. The solar panels supplement the power drawn if I do a wash at the right time. 

 

The washing machine heater will still come on of course but a lot less than if I hadn't poured in the kettle of hot water. With my method I'm only pouring in 2 litres of boiling water and the machine's cold fill system tops it up to 4 litres I think (it's only a small 3kg machine) so I would imagine it's at about 40C when the cycle starts. 

 

With your connected Paloma method the heater might not come on at all I suppose.

[magnetman]

The heater won't come on if you set the machine to run a cold wash. 

[blackrose]

Yes but I generally don't want to do a cold wash. My machine is set at 30C. I think that's still a warm wash isn't it? I know these modern detergents are pretty good at low temperatures but I can't really see the machine doing a decent wash at 5 or 10C.

[magnetman]

It won't be a cold wash if you are putting hot water into the machine either with a kettle or a gas water heater. 

I'm just pointing out how to stop the built in heater coming on automatically. 

 

I did this with a Zanussi 3kg machine. The fill was connected to the output of the Morco water heater. It did mean that intervention was required by turning the Morco off after the first fill but that isn't terrible. 

I don't know how hot the wash was but the glass on the door was hot to touch during the wash cycle.