Paloma water heater idea which worked

[blackrose]

7 minutes ago, magnetman said:

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. 

 

The initial heat from the kettle of boiled water keeps the water warmish for maybe 10 minutes of being sloshed around with the cold water and then it's basically cold as the heat dissipates. So for the remainder of the cycle it would be cold. 

 

Setting the machine at 30C allows the machine to complete a warm wash and I haven't had any problems doing that so far in terms of the power drawn so it's not necessary for me to set the machine to cold. I might be wrong, but I don't think the machine actually has a cold setting? I think 30C is the lowest? (Zanussi ZWC1300W) I'm not very good with the machine settings so maybe it can be set to cold, but anyway it's not what I want to do 

Edited January 31 by blackrose

[rusty69]

45 minutes ago, blackrose said:

 

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.

I don't know about easier. It would certainly be an alternative way of doing it though. 

 

Feeding the paloma output directly into the washing machine certainly works on a 30. If a cold wash is required, then the paloma can just be switched off. The only inconvenience is to set the alarm to turn the heater to pilot before the rinse cycle starts. 

 

Either way, I still have the cold pipe plumbed in, so its no problem to still switch to cold fill only. 

 

If I do want a hotter wash, I can always heat the water in the calorifier, and switch the valve on the output of the paloma. 

 

The bottom line is that worse case scenario, the machine is fed with cold water if both heat sources  are turned off;albeit resulting in a slower wash cycle. 

Edited January 31 by rusty69

[magnetman]

On a Boat which has no mains lecky connected it seems a no brainer to run hot water into the washing machine fill. 

 

At least arrange a valve so the option exists.

One could perhaps use a shower mixer as the input.

I guess if you want an unattended wash then it won't work so it depends on the individuals washing machine management protocols. 

[rusty69]

Well, either way, its better than before we had the machine. We used to stuff our clothes in a shopping basket, hang it behind the prop and chuck washing powder in the canal.

[magnetman]

I do hand washing. Warm water, soap, wash hands. Sorted.

[cheesegas]

On 31/01/2024 at 07:25, blackrose said:

 

The initial heat from the kettle of boiled water keeps the water warmish for maybe 10 minutes of being sloshed around with the cold water and then it's basically cold as the heat dissipates. So for the remainder of the cycle it would be cold. 

 

Setting the machine at 30C allows the machine to complete a warm wash and I haven't had any problems doing that so far in terms of the power drawn so it's not necessary for me to set the machine to cold. I might be wrong, but I don't think the machine actually has a cold setting? I think 30C is the lowest? (Zanussi ZWC1300W) I'm not very good with the machine settings so maybe it can be set to cold, but anyway it's not what I want to do 

I have the same machine and it doesn't have a cold wash setting. I've got a thermostatic mixer valve set to about 40C feeding the machine from my Rinnai, which works fine for a 30C wash setting but the element does still come on for precisely 2 seconds. If your inverter can't handle it, you can unplug it inside which doesn't seem to affect its brain.

 

In summer I have the machine heat the water with its element as there's plenty of solar, so I have a manual bypass valve on the mixer to fill from cold. You can just switch the Rinnai off but the machine fills slowly as the thermostatic valve tries to get all the water from the Rinnai, which restricts the flow noticeably compared to the cold supply.

[magnetman]

Mine was a Zanussi ZWC1301. This does have a cold wash setting. Maybe the 1300 is a slightly different model. 

Here you go. Cold wash on Zanussi ZWC1300

 

[BWM]

You can normally pop the valve out of its housing by removing the circlip and then pressurising the system - be ready to catch it though as it comes out at some velocity! An accidental discovery..

[Mad Harold]

On 31/01/2024 at 08:57, rusty69 said:

Well, either way, its better than before we had the machine. We used to stuff our clothes in a shopping basket, hang it behind the prop and chuck washing powder in the canal.

Brilliant! Patent the idea and you'll make a fortune.😝 But make sure you use bio degradable sudso or you will  upset the fishers.

[magnetman]

54 minutes ago, Mad Harold said:

Brilliant! Patent the idea and you'll make a fortune.😝 But make sure you use bio degradable sudso or you will  upset the fishers.

Is that the fisherw****rs who leave biodegradable fishing line, floats and hooks in the trees?