Washing Machines for Boats

[clyst]

Anyone got details of a small 240v washing machine suitable for use 50ft yacht. Due to plumbing and position/access difficulties I envisage a twin tube type. is there such a beast out there or is it a case of back to the drawing board?
Cheers and fair winds to you all!
Terry

 

[pvb]

Why not phone the technical guys at some of the bigger yacht builders who routinely fit washing machines, and ask them what they specify? Try Oyster and Hallberg Rassy for starters.

 

[KevL]

May I direct you to this link from the livaboard forum -

http://www.ybw.com/cgi-bin/forums/showthreaded.pl?Cat=&Board=LIVEABOARD&Number=272370&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=7&vc=1#Post272370

KevL

--
It may be the early bird that catches the worm but its the second mouse that gets the cheese.

 

[byron]

My boat is fitted with a washing machine much to the amusement of my friends in the rag 'n stick race brigade.
The main thing to look for is one that "go's easy" on the water.
Plumbing is exactly the same as with a house, water in, water out. I'm not sure what you mean by a 'twin tube type' so might I suggest you look up washing machines on websites such as Comet and see if the dimensions you require are found there.

http://www.alexander-advertising.co.uk

 

[mickp]

Best type for a boat is the manual type dont know who makes them but we used them on minesweepers, they are like a big egg shape on an "A"frame, fill with clothes hot water and turn handle for five minites gets clothes cleaner than any machine, works on pressure. Does not drain batteries and uses far less water, also takes up less space.

 

[Chris_Stannard]

Saw a dutch lady in cherbourg who had a drum she filled with hot water and clothes ans added soap powder, then put it in the stern lazareete and went to sea, she reckoned by the time you got in you just rinsed and hung out to dry. Naven't tried it yet but am going to.

Chris Stannard

 

[Chris_Stannard]

Saw a dutch lady in Cherbourg who had a drum she filled with hot water and clothes and added soap powder, then put it in the stern lazarette and went to sea, she reckoned by the time you got in you just rinsed and hung out to dry. Haven't tried it yet but am going to.

Chris Stannard

 

[ccscott49]

They do make smaller ones, smaller that is than a domestic one, automatic, never seen a twin tub type for a boat, or house for that matter, anymore. The main problem with washing machines on boats is water, or lack of it, most people who have a washing machine have a watermaker, unless you only intend to use it in port, which defeats the object. IMHO

 

[heerenleed]

There is the (Austrian, I believe) brand of Eumenia which produces small automatic washing machines. They take about 3 kilos of dry laundry. They use approx. 50 litres of water on one normal run, unless you take the type which is also a drier, which takes some 90 litres of water. I think you will find them on the web.

Also, I think I have seen small machines of the brand Candy.

Many liveaboards in the Netherlands use these small machines. You may need a generator, as the fuses in many older marinas don't allow for the appetite of a washing machine. but it will depend very much on where you go.

Peter a/b SV Heerenleed, Steenbergen, Netherlands

 

[AlanPound]

The boat I sail has a Zanussi "Studio range", which is a bit smaller than the average type, and fairly frugal with the wet stuff (although I cannot recall how much it uses).

Clearly, only suitable for use when stationary and reasonably level: it *will* work off the generator, but we need to be careful not to run too much other heavy stuff at the same time, as it does seem to be a little sensitive to line voltage fluctuations (or that is how it appears) - it had a nasty habit of the program stopping with the thing still full of water (until a Zanussi engineer put us straight on that).

I guess a purely mechanical program controller would be more robust, but they "don't make them like that anymore" (TM)...

 

[david_bagshaw]

phillips do a small top loader,(conventional design, loads through doors through the side of the drum) which we have used on board for last 10 yrs, about 25 ltr / load acording to the booklet. havnt had any problems with running it on a genny, but it does not have microprocessor control.

David
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