Washing machine selection

[EricMark]

The supply is 230v 4A and this runs 12v 25A step battery charger into three 140AH batteries and a 3Kva Inverter not true sine wave.

 

The water is heated with solid fuel, Engine waste heat and fuel oil heater.

 

Baby on the way want a washing machine which can run on inverter and use as little electric as possible.

 

Cool washes of course and no thyristor control as this don't work well with inverters.

 

Any ideas as to makes and types that will fit the bill?

 

There is space for full size machine.

[blackrose]

The supply is 230v 4A and this runs 12v 25A step battery charger into three 140AH batteries and a 3Kva Inverter not true sine wave.

 

The water is heated with solid fuel, Engine waste heat and fuel oil heater.

 

Baby on the way want a washing machine which can run on inverter and use as little electric as possible.

 

Cool washes of course and no thyristor control as this don't work well with inverters.

 

Any ideas as to makes and types that will fit the bill?

 

There is space for full size machine.

 

I'm not an electrical expert like some others on the forum, but I think you will struggle to find a modern washing machine that will run from an inverter that doesn't put out a pure(ish) sine wave.

[Gibbo]

I'm not an electrical expert like some others on the forum, but I think you will struggle to find a modern washing machine that will run from an inverter that doesn't put out a pure(ish) sine wave.

 

I see two choices. A second hand one with mechanical programmer or one of those new twin tubs. A few on here have those and seem really impressed with them.

[romarni123]

To add if you use a front loader and use the lowest heat setting the clothes wont be that clean unless you use the newer detergents and for baby clothes they can cause skin irritations as they are harsh

[Justme]

I see two choices. A second hand one with mechanical programmer or one of those new twin tubs. A few on here have those and seem really impressed with them.

 

We are less impressed with ours now. Yes it washes ok & uses little power & takes whatever water you put in it (except boiling).

 

BUT

 

In the first year we needed to change the spin motor damper mounting springs TWICE.

(I did them myself, or it would have cost to send it back to them)

Just outside of the 12 month warranty the spin motor failed.

Whilst fitting the new motor I re did most of the wiring connections as they have been done with those stupid crimp cups (like the American screw cups). With no protection from water worth a jot. The wiring diagram on the rear of the washer has most of the colours wrong.

[Gibbo]

We are less impressed with ours now. Yes it washes ok & uses little power & takes whatever water you put in it (except boiling).

 

BUT

 

In the first year we needed to change the spin motor damper mounting springs TWICE.

(I did them myself, or it would have cost to send it back to them)

Just outside of the 12 month warranty the spin motor failed.

Whilst fitting the new motor I re did most of the wiring connections as they have been done with those stupid crimp cups (like the American screw cups). With no protection from water worth a jot. The wiring diagram on the rear of the washer has most of the colours wrong.

 

Alright once you've rebuilt them though?

 

Mrs Gibbo wants one of these...............

 

http://www.dhub.org/object/247427

[Justme]

Lol cant see me getting that one past the planning committee.

 

Yeh after a bit of fetling its ok.

 

Just not what I would expect for the price tag.

 

But remember we do use ours for 4 people, full time, I get very dirty working outside. So a bit of wear & tear is to be expected. Doggy wiring is not OH and the terrible fill pipes that are supplied. I have also changed the drain hose too. All of that in the first 16 months.

[choogh]

Lol cant see me getting that one past the planning committee.

 

Yeh after a bit of fetling its ok.

 

Just not what I would expect for the price tag.

 

But remember we do use ours for 4 people, full time, I get very dirty working outside. So a bit of wear & tear is to be expected. Doggy wiring is not OH and the terrible fill pipes that are supplied. I have also changed the drain hose too. All of that in the first 16 months.

 

Asda do a Hotpoint top loader for £300, it of course does all the normal washing cycles, plus, half wash, etc spins at 1000rpm, 5.5kg load, and inverter friendly.. Oh yes, its small enough to fit in the bathroom.

[Christine]

I would seriously consider this: Potty Training from Birth Other links are available. It will certainly keep down on the washing.

[romarni123]

There is a harris twin tub for sale on ebay from 20 quid

[EricMark]

Thank you all for help all passed on. Not too sure they were planning on top loader but does seem answer.

Not sure about barrel type although agreed it is lowest power consumption wise.

[Heffalump]

 

?? no?

 

eco friendly

[jenlyn]

The supply is 230v 4A and this runs 12v 25A step battery charger into three 140AH batteries and a 3Kva Inverter not true sine wave.

 

The water is heated with solid fuel, Engine waste heat and fuel oil heater.

 

Baby on the way want a washing machine which can run on inverter and use as little electric as possible.

 

Cool washes of course and no thyristor control as this don't work well with inverters.

 

Any ideas as to makes and types that will fit the bill?

 

There is space for full size machine.

 

we tried all sorts of washing machines and inverters, (sum up), kipor 2600 generator and cheapest washer dryer on the market (low wattage), costs, about 50p a wash

[Chris G]

Asda do a Hotpoint top loader for £300, it of course does all the normal washing cycles, plus, half wash, etc spins at 1000rpm, 5.5kg load, and inverter friendly.. Oh yes, its small enough to fit in the bathroom.

 

Look at the water consumption before you buy a top-loader

Look at this:

[nb Innisfree]

Does anyone still manufacture top loaders with the same washing action as a front loader? the type where you open the top door and then a trap door on the drum, advantage was drum was supported on two bearings instead of one as in a front loader. I believe they were or still are very popular in France.

[Gibbo]

Look at the water consumption before you buy a top-loader

Look at this:

 

The top loaders we are talking about here are a different kettle of fish. They're nothing like normal "household" ones. They use as much water as the operator puts in them. There is someone on here who reckons they can get a full wash and rinse using about 3 tablespoons of water (maybe a slight exaggeration there for those with comprehension problems).

Edited April 5, 2010 by Gibbo

[blackrose]

To add if you use a front loader and use the lowest heat setting the clothes wont be that clean unless you use the newer detergents and for baby clothes they can cause skin irritations as they are harsh

 

Really? My front loader gets clothes clean at the lowest heat settings with any detergent. (Zanussi ZWC1300W) It's a small machine (3Kg load) so it's only really suitable for single people or perhaps couples.

[nb Innisfree]

A European version of this would be handy for some.

[romarni123]

Really? My front loader gets clothes clean at the lowest heat settings with any detergent. (Zanussi ZWC1300W) It's a small machine (3Kg load) so it's only really suitable for single people or perhaps couples.

I think my hubbyis just a minging git who is always covered in oil, grease.

 

Hes worse than a mutt, if he can get covered in it he will

[colin stone]

The supply is 230v 4A and this runs 12v 25A step battery charger into three 140AH batteries and a 3Kva Inverter not true sine wave.

 

The water is heated with solid fuel, Engine waste heat and fuel oil heater.

 

Baby on the way want a washing machine which can run on inverter and use as little electric as possible.

 

Cool washes of course and no thyristor control as this don't work well with inverters.

 

Any ideas as to makes and types that will fit the bill?

 

There is space for full size machine.

 

WMs are a real problem. Mechanical, hot and cold water fill have all gone. The only H&C fill is a Samsung and that does not use the hot fill a low temps, only above 60C - which is pretty daft.

 

I use a Bosch cold fill, but adapted the fill circuits to take hot fill for the first part of the wash. Using hot water for the fill and a wash uses 0.1kWh. Will only run on a full sine wave inverter.

[Timleech]

A European version of this would be handy for some.

 

A bit of googling suggests to me that it may have never reached the market?

 

Tim

[EricMark]

To date LG says phone retail outlet. Not really much help. Beko, Hoover Candy, Miele and AEG/Zanussi/Electrolux all say their washing machines will not work. Bosch says "Thank you for your enquiry. All of our washing machines have a minimum power of 2.3kw. therefore they require connection to 230v 50hz with 13 amp fuse protection." which rather states what is already known and does not answer the question really. So it seems Hotpoint top loader for £300 from Asda as suggested on this forum is only option. Or buy a generator to run washing machine which may be not such a bad idea.

 

As to generator I wonder as to type. The petrol seem cheap but use fuel which needs duty paying on it. Diesel seem expensive and I do wonder if running costs are any lower than adding generator to main engine. Some will run at variable speeds according to load and use an inverter to correct frequency. However at that sort of price maybe second inverter is way out. I know their money is tight and this was one reason for moving marina the other being one they were at did not like babies.

 

Dogs can bark but babies are not allowed to cry. I think really they did not want authorities visiting marina in form of mid-wife etc.

 

At end of day they will do their own thing. Maybe we can swap for year or two until baby is a bit older and me and my wife can go cruising and they can use our house? I fancy that but not so sure on my wife?

 

Got to be better than a caravan. People are friendly on the canal and I could always busy myself improving his boat.

[kevinw]

We've got a Zanussi studio washing machine on our boat, bought because at the time, we couldn't get a Candy. Electrics are all Mastervolt: Charger, invertor and Generator. The wiring is such that the washing machine will only work from the shoreline or genny, although I can rig it to run off the invertor just by plugging in elsewhere.

 

The genny is a Mastervolt 3.5kVA job with a "digital diesel" control, so we can get all sorts of statistics from it. We've found that the washing machine needs the genny to be set to run at 3000 rpm plus or minus almost nothing for the washing machine to run properly and so suspect it is very sensitive to frequency drift and possibly waveform harmonics. No longer have a means to look at waveforms, but I suspect that the output waveform of a generator isn't much cleaner than a MSW invertor.

 

Our washing machine runs perfectly on the invertor if required, but it isn't exactly an efficient way of using it. I think the trick has to be to find a machine that has a mechanical program controller and doesn't have a thyristor control for the motor speed. Hoover Keymatic like my mother used to have?

 

Pity the genny doesn't have a closed loop feedback engine speed controller rather than relying on a mechanical stop on the governor as I'm sure this would sort out the frequency drift with added load problem.

 

Kevin

[EricMark]

Thank you for such a detailed report. I do like the look of that generator but I bet it has a high price tag? In hind sight maybe I made a mistake getting my Son and Daughter-in-law a non sine wave inverter but at the time it was really designed to keep freezer going and work PC which is also their TV while on the move.

 

However with baby on the way the marina seemed to want them to move and the new one has a very low supply current of 4A so only way other than running an engine is batteries and inverter.

 

Personally I would be in favour of the laundrette and I would not attempt to do on board laundry as I would expect using the special soaps able to be flushed into the cut may be OK to have a shower and wash your hands but not so sure with amount pumped out by washing machine?

 

However now his Iphone is about his only internet connection I felt I needed to at least look at what was available for him. Although a small generator may produce the power he needs unless something like the Wispergen is used it would likely annoy his neighbours and at the price of a Wispergen that's a non starter.

 

So either he needs to find a larger supply able to run a washing machine or use the only one which seems to be recommended on here from Asda. It is a top loader which is going to be a pain as only just modified kitchen to take front loader but that's his problem for not looking earlier as to what he could use.

 

I have that idea in back of my mind that his wife wants an excuse to go to her parents on regular basis and no washing machine would in some ways suit her!

 

They have big ideas but no time or money to complete them and I will guess what ever I do they will do their own thing and likely I have waisted my time.

 

However I am sure I did same with my parents.

[Scotty D]

I cam eon this forum a year ago with the same question; low energy washing machine. I listened to people and ended up with the twin tub. It's cheap £80-£90, it runs through our 300W inverter. It's silent. It's small (I put it away in a cupboard when finished). I love it.

 

One disadvantage, it's too small to too big stuff like bed sheets so we take them to the laundromat when we change the sheets.

 

I'd highly recommend it.

 

Best

 

Scotty