Washing machine advice please

[KezzerN]

The boat I am buying already has a full size washer/dryer on board but I want to be able to remove that one and use my own washer.  My washer has an eco wash where it reduces the amount of water of a standard wash and also reduces the length of cycle and amount of water used if you put in smaller loads.  Attached are the details for my eco wash on the machine.  Do you think that this would be suitable.

 

Many thanks for your advice.

Kez

Edited November 28 by KezzerN

[Jen-in-Wellies]

For boats, the remaining moisture content is important as this determines how long it takes to dry on board, when you can't line dry outside. Lots of dampness in the air and condensation on the windows. Vertical axis twin tub washing machines and portable spin driers are much better at spinning out excess water than automatic horizontal drum machines. Example. Heated dryers are impractical on boats unless on a shore line.

As you are thinking of replacing an existing automatic machine, your boat should have the required electrical supply, but check the size of the inverter. Some washing machines have trouble working off inverters and the existing one should already be proven to work with the inverter on board. Check that this is actually the case though, if the boat is usually on a shore line. Your own washing machine is an unknown with working on the inverter until you try it, so you could go from a working set up to a not working set up by swapping them out. It's been known for the same model inverter and same model washer to work on one boat and not another.

[MtB]

11 minutes ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

Your own washing machine is an unknown with working on the inverter until you try it, so you could go from a working set up to a not working set up by swapping them out.

 

For test purposes it might be marginally easier to remove the inverter and a battery from the boat and take these to the intended future washing machine, than lug the intended future washing machine to the boat, remove another washing machine and install the intended future washing machine in its place then find out it doesn't work.

 

 

[Tacet]

Best check the machines can be physically inserted and extracted from the boat without too much hassle before starting an exchange.

[junior]

Does the one on the boat not have the same functions as the one you want to install?

 

I'd be very wary of removing something that (one would assume) already works, to replace it with an unknown.

[magnetman]

 

It would be worth checking the inverter as suggested. Its not implausible that the washing machine was only used when connected to mains elastic trickery. 

 

Inverters and washing machines are uncomfortable bedfellows. I can be similar to having a hoarde of small lobsters in your bed. 

 

Definitely worth checking. 

 

Water use is relevant. 

[Alan de Enfield]

15 minutes ago, magnetman said:

Water use is relevant. 

 

If it doesn't work, water use is zero !

And, if it does work then you normally pass at least one water point per day (when you are cruising)

[IanD]

3 hours ago, KezzerN said:

The boat I am buying already has a full size washer/dryer on board but I want to be able to remove that one and use my own washer.  My washer has an eco wash where it reduces the amount of water of a standard wash and also reduces the length of cycle and amount of water used if you put in smaller loads.  Attached are the details for my eco wash on the machine.  Do you think that this would be suitable.

 

Many thanks for your advice.

Kez

 

Most modern washer/dryers also have eco cycles, many weigh the load to reduce water/energy use, and have faster spin speeds than yours so will leave the washing drier even if you don't use the dryer. Bear in mind that if you replace it with just a washer, you have to find somewhere to dry all that wet washing -- not easy in a narrowboat, especially in winter when it's raining which is when you're most likely to need to wash wet/muddy clothes, and drying indoors can lead to condensation problems.

 

Obviously running the dryer consumes a lot more energy which you have to provide (2.6kWh for mine on wash+dry), but I assume that's already been thought of on the boat you're buying -- and you don't *have* to use it.

 

Unless it's old and kn*ackered or doesn't work, I'd suggest keeping the onboard one and selling off yours.

Edited November 28 by IanD

[KezzerN]

Thanks everyone for your input.  There is so much to learn with everything narrowboat!

 

The inverter is a “Mastervolt” rated at 2500w.

 

I shall find out if the washer drier was used on the go or only on moor up. 

 

I had a relative that was in the fire service and they said they would never, ever use a drier in a house as so many fires were started by them.  The only way they would use a drier was if it was in a shed well away from the house.  The thought of using one in a narrowboat fills me with horror. 

 

Everyone's help is much appreciated.  Thank you!

 

[magnetman]

9 minutes ago, KezzerN said:

Thanks everyone for your input.  There is so much to learn with everything narrowboat!

 

The inverter is a “Mastervolt” rated at 2500w.

 

I shall find out if the washer drier was used on the go or only on moor up. 

 

I had a relative that was in the fire service and they said they would never, ever use a drier in a house as so many fires were started by them.  The only way they would use a drier was if it was in a shed well away from the house.  The thought of using one in a narrowboat fills me with horror. 

 

Everyone's help is much appreciated.  Thank you!

 

 

I had an indesit tumble drier when I was living on the barge with the Woman and the offspring for several years on a mooring. It was alright but I did have a rule about only operating it when someone was on the Boat. 

 

I am pretty sure the fire risk is associated with people failing to clean the filter screen. RTFM.

 

It gets blocked with light material which causes two negative outcomes. One is that the hot air can not get out of the unit so easily and the second is that there is a load of hot dry combustible material available. 

 

So yeah. Clean the filter screen regularly and be on the Boat when its running and problems go away. 

 

 

Tumble driers are marvellous contraptions IF you have the power. 

 

These days I am off grid with no generator so nowhere near enough power for all this sort of thing but with adequate provision I would certainly have one. 

 

 

Edited November 28 by magnetman

[blackrose]

5 hours ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

For boats, the remaining moisture content is important as this determines how long it takes to dry on board, when you can't line dry outside. Lots of dampness in the air and condensation on the windows. Vertical axis twin tub washing machines and portable spin driers are much better at spinning out excess water than automatic horizontal drum machines. Example. Heated dryers are impractical on boats unless on a shore line.

 

When I first installed a washing machine onboard with a 1300rpm spin speed I had to turn it down to 700rpm because despite balancing the machine's feet 1300rpm felt like it was going to shake the boat apart. 

[IanD]

45 minutes ago, blackrose said:

 

When I first installed a washing machine onboard with a 1300rpm spin speed I had to turn it down to 700rpm because despite balancing the machine's feet 1300rpm felt like it was going to shake the boat apart. 

Mine spins at 1600rpm with no noise or vibration problem. Maybe modern ones are better at balancing the load, or have better noise/vibration isolation, or both?

 

P.S. Or has transit bolts removed, see post below... 😉 

Edited November 28 by IanD

[magnetman]

11 minutes ago, blackrose said:

 

When I first installed a washing machine onboard with a 1300rpm spin speed I had to turn it down to 700rpm because despite balancing the machine's feet 1300rpm felt like it was going to shake the boat apart. 

 

I had a similar problem with a Zanussi compact machine. It turned out that there are transport bolts fitted which prevent the machine being damaged during transit. 

 

I had not read the manual and thus did not know about them. I ratchet strapped it down to stop it moving about then someone told me about the bolts and it was much calmer after I removed them. 

 

Something to do with the balance weight. 

 

 

[IanD]

30 minutes ago, magnetman said:

 

I had a similar problem with a Zanussi compact machine. It turned out that there are transport bolts fitted which prevent the machine being damaged during transit. 

 

I had not read the manual and thus did not know about them. I ratchet strapped it down to stop it moving about then someone told me about the bolts and it was much calmer after I removed them. 

 

Something to do with the balance weight. 

 

The moral of this tale : always RTFM... 😉 

Edited November 28 by IanD

[magnetman]

Definitely. 

 

However having done some research it appears these bolts usually go into the drum. 

 

I think @blackrose might have had the same unit as I did. It was a Zanussi 3kg compact 1300rpm spin. The machine did operate in that the drum was not locked but the bolts were holding the concrete counterbalance weight. Thats why it was walking all over the place. 

 

And I thought it was the Woman overloading it ! 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 28 by magnetman
edit to remove evidence

[KezzerN]

Manual?  What is one of them? 😅

 

Thanks everyone for your further input.  Whichever one I go with it will eventually give up the ghost and I was thinking about one of this sort for replacement: https://www.amazon.co.uk/COSTWAY-Washing-Capacity-Portable-Apartment/dp/B0CMXFWD2H. They seem to get mixed reviews with some saying they don't last very long.  What is your experience, if any, with them?   Are any brands better than others or are they much of a muchness?

[IanD]

4 minutes ago, KezzerN said:

Manual?  What is one of them? 😅

 

Thanks everyone for your further input.  Whichever one I go with it will eventually give up the ghost and I was thinking about one of this sort for replacement: https://www.amazon.co.uk/COSTWAY-Washing-Capacity-Portable-Apartment/dp/B0CMXFWD2H. They seem to get mixed reviews with some saying they don't last very long.  What is your experience, if any, with them?   Are any brands better than others or are they much of a muchness?

You said the machine installed was a full-size washer/drier, presumably installed and plumbed in. Why replace this with a twin-tub washer which almost certainly won't fit in the same space?

Edited November 28 by IanD

[Jen-in-Wellies]

35 minutes ago, KezzerN said:

Manual?  What is one of them? 😅

 

Thanks everyone for your further input.  Whichever one I go with it will eventually give up the ghost and I was thinking about one of this sort for replacement: https://www.amazon.co.uk/COSTWAY-Washing-Capacity-Portable-Apartment/dp/B0CMXFWD2H. They seem to get mixed reviews with some saying they don't last very long.  What is your experience, if any, with them?   Are any brands better than others or are they much of a muchness?

I've typically got around 5 years out of one for one person. Compare well with an automatic. You need to supply the hot water for these yourself. How is hot water made on your boat?

[cuthound]

4 hours ago, magnetman said:

 

I had an indesit tumble drier when I was living on the barge with the Woman and the offspring for several years on a mooring. It was alright but I did have a rule about only operating it when someone was on the Boat. 

 

I am pretty sure the fire risk is associated with people failing to clean the filter screen. RTFM.

 

It gets blocked with light material which causes two negative outcomes. One is that the hot air can not get out of the unit so easily and the second is that there is a load of hot dry combustible material available. 

 

So yeah. Clean the filter screen regularly and be on the Boat when its running and problems go away. 

 

 

Tumble driers are marvellous contraptions IF you have the power. 

 

These days I am off grid with no generator so nowhere near enough power for all this sort of thing but with adequate provision I would certainly have one. 

 

 

 

Absolutely correct. Tumble dryers need to have their filter cleaned every use and for good measure I have always removed the back and hoovered out any fluff once a year.

 

We have had tumble dryers for almost 50 years and the only incident we had was when the cat brought a mouse in and let it go. Unbeknown to me it took up residence in the tumble dryer.

 

I only found out when one day the tumble dryer began to emit a strong burning smell. Upon investigation I found a cremated mouse on the element and a load of dried cat food stored inside the casing...

 

 

[KezzerN]

That poor little mouse. 😪

 

The reason I was looking at other options was because I never have much luck with electrical items and I am just exploring what choices I might have when the machine pegs it. On one boat I looked at they had one of those twin tubs on the cruiser deck and it took up little space. Having one out there would free up more space internally for storage.

 

The water is heated via either the Webasto or the calorifier via the engine.  Talking of heating water for a washing machine. If you are moored well away from anyone else, and want hot water very early in the day, which would be better (cost effective/electric use): using the Webasto or having the engine ticking over to get the water via the calorifier?

[cuthound]

2 hours ago, KezzerN said:

Manual?  What is one of them? 😅

 

Thanks everyone for your further input.  Whichever one I go with it will eventually give up the ghost and I was thinking about one of this sort for replacement: https://www.amazon.co.uk/COSTWAY-Washing-Capacity-Portable-Apartment/dp/B0CMXFWD2H. They seem to get mixed reviews with some saying they don't last very long.  What is your experience, if any, with them?   Are any brands better than others or are they much of a muchness?

 

We have had a similar twin tub for about 7 years without issue, but we don't live aboard.

 

Initially Mrs Hound was sceptical but soon found that it washes much quicker than the automatic at home (typical wash and spin takes about than 15 minutes) and it dries the clothes much better, meaning damp washing hanging around for less time.

 

The only downside is you are the "automatic" bit and have to fill it, empty it and transfer the washing between the two drums.

[IanD]

19 minutes ago, KezzerN said:

That poor little mouse. 😪

 

The reason I was looking at other options was because I never have much luck with electrical items and I am just exploring what choices I might have when the machine pegs it. On one boat I looked at they had one of those twin tubs on the cruiser deck and it took up little space. Having one out there would free up more space internally for storage.

 

The water is heated via either the Webasto or the calorifier via the engine.  Talking of heating water for a washing machine. If you are moored well away from anyone else, and want hot water very early in the day, which would be better (cost effective/electric use): using the Webasto or having the engine ticking over to get the water via the calorifier?

The Webasto; if you use this, something like 75% of the energy in the fuel goes into heating up the water. If you run the engine, next to nothing goes in until the engine warms up and the thermostat opens, and after that less than half the energy goes into heating up the water, the rest goes out of the exhaust pipe -- or some goes into the batteries if they're being charged.

[KezzerN]

Thanks for the input on the twin tub and the Webasto. Is the Webasto quiet in terms of what others outside of the boat can hear - would it not disturb neighbouring boats if they were close by?

[blackrose]

4 hours ago, magnetman said:

 

I had a similar problem with a Zanussi compact machine. It turned out that there are transport bolts fitted which prevent the machine being damaged during transit. 

 

I had not read the manual and thus did not know about them. I ratchet strapped it down to stop it moving about then someone told me about the bolts and it was much calmer after I removed them. 

 

Something to do with the balance weight. 

 

 

 

Yes I had read the manual and removed the transit bolts.

[Tony Brooks]

1 hour ago, KezzerN said:

Talking of heating water for a washing machine. If you are moored well away from anyone else, and want hot water very early in the day, which would be better (cost effective/electric use): using the Webasto or having the engine ticking over to get the water via the calorifier?

 

As at the start of the day the batteries will be discharged to some degree, you may as well use the alternator to load the engine. This will get it hot faster and reduce engine wear. If possible set the revs to the maximum charging amps and then as the amps fall gradually reduce it. It's even better with lithiums, because they will load the engine more and for longer than lead acids.