Compact Washing Machine

[glenn-k]

Maybe something for the cabin?

http://www.x-tremegeek.com/templates/searchdetail.asp?productID=11490

Here's an agitator washing machine that is truly portable. You can just pick it up! Long haul truckers and RV enthusiasts will love it and it's ideal for cramped dorm rooms, guest houses or cabins. You can even use it alongside your home washer to presoak stained clothes or wash delicates. Includes seven liter canister, locking cover and base motor unit.

This a a piece of rope for a clothesline could possibly take care of some trips to the laundromat. :-/

[OkieJohn]

Hi Glenn, here is an even more compact washer. Haven't tried it, but it sure looks interesting.  Its from the wonderful folks at Lehman's.


http://www.lehmans.com/jump.jsp?itemID=1600&itemType=PRODUCT&path=1%2C2%2C127%2C284&KickerID=77&KICKER




Dang 4th try at posting a pic and it still isn't right  :-?. I'll come back later and try to fix it.

[Amanda_931]

I got that second one when I first moved down here--and hated it.

I think this might be a different model.  Might have solved at least one of the problems I had.

Of course one of the problems was that I don't have running water.  Now I've got that little pumped hot water heater (works pretty well) so I could just pump hot water in it.  Instead of heating water on the stove, carrying it outside and pouring--sometimes very hot--water into something that might well rotate while I was doing that.  I don't think I ended up with a burn scar the last time I used it.

But the pressure means that if there is any grit in the sealing system it's going to leak.  And I thought that the setup at the time meant that it was basically un-cleanable at the drain.

But I got a wringer to go with it.  Still use that with the Danby twin tub--not because the spin dry doesn't work well but so I can piggyback loads of laundry more easily.

Outside, the Danby is better for summer use.  For starters it does not completely drain--I put RV antifreeze in it in the winter.

Some people widely regarded as Faux Amish (or at least converts) up in the next county use the Janes washer--also available from Lehman's, probably with the bigger wringer.  I've seen their young girls outside doing the laundry when I was up there buying butter.

[glenn-k]

You nearly had it , Okie John.  

Note that the top one is motorized.  A plus if you have electricity and are lazy like me. :-/

[OkieJohn]

Thanks Glenn for the pic fix.  Was confused while trying to puzzle it out.  The pic was labled as a .jpeg  but when I looked on my computer picture file, it and others from the Lehman's site were listed as "T" files. no clue what that means [smiley=laugh.gif]. One of these days when I can handle some frustration, I will try it again.

And I am with you on the electric motor part.  Let the machine provide the elbow grease. And I plan to reread all the helpful picture posting info in the Forum News ares.

[glenn-k]

You were missing the two inside square brackets -on [img]

I put them in is all.  You can just highlight the picture name then click the picture button above on the posting dialog box and the brackets will go to each end automatically or click the picture button and past the image name between them.

[Dberry]

I've spent a good bit of my career away from home and done more than my share of laundry without a machine.  I don't see what those gadgets have over a sink/tub and some laundry soap and a broom handle.

Most of work is done by the enzymes in the soap if you just give it 30 minutes to do it's job, give it a stir a couple times.  Drain the sink, fill again a couple times and stir and drain to rinse.  Wring out the clothes and hang up near a fan.  If you are in a hurry, you can press some clothes inside a couple towels and roll them up tight to get a bit more water out and then iron a shirt or pair of pants to dry them.  Works better in arid regions than the swamp though.

[Amanda_931]

Dberry is right as far as cleaning goes.  (did the movie of Accidental Tourist have him washing his clothes in the shower?)

But getting the water out is a different story.  Wringers are good.

This really does spin-dry, as far as I can tell.  Guy seems to be in England--talks about demonstrating it in Somerset, also about losing a stone--14 pounds, so that may really be a horizontal axis machine.

Spin-dryers are great.

http://www.cyclean.biz/mainmenu.html

[benevolance]

Washing board and a bar of Sunlight Soap works amazing...Soak it for 15 minutes in scalding water with some soap...When it is cool enough to get your hands in work it with the washing board...Rinse and dry...

Playing on a soccer and baseball team I learned how to get grass stains out...My mother refused to wash my uniforms... they would be coated in mud... you could scrape it off...She refused to let me put them in the washing machine with anything else....So it was off to the set yub with scalding water....

Luckily we had the wood stove heat the hot water so it was nearly boiling coming out of the tap...

I make beer and I mill the grain with two rollers and a long handle that is adjustable....

I do not see why you could not have two rollers.. one fixed and the other adjustable...And have a long handle on one roller and a gear/ chain to make the other  one spin in unison with it... The long handle would allow for lots of torque and it would allow you to wring the clothes out easily efficiently...

Surely someone must sell something like this....If not I could weld up a prototype....I have some failed grain mill rollers around the place.

I just had this brilliant idea for using automotive leaf springs to make a non electric self sustained washing machine that would have a wash cycle and a spin cycle and you just would take a minute to wind up the two springs with a hand crank and then let it go do it's thing...

The larger load the longer you want to wash.... thus a few more cranks.... One hole to crank on each side of the washer... the crank rods stand straight up and down... like winding a car over 100 years ago to start it...

To wash you want the transmission to spin half a cycle one way and then half a cycle in the other direction...This is easy to achieve... the transmission in the middle of the washer has a gear with teeth all the way around it ...There are 2 gears in contact with the one main gear...But each of those gears have teeth exactly one one half of their surfaces.... If you wind the springs in the same direction they will both spin at the exact same speed whether under load or not...So when one gear's teeth are in contact it will spin one way... until it runs out of teeth and the other gear comes in contact and spins it the opposite direction....

To wring the clothes dry you simply make the two gears work in unison spinning the transmission the same direction all the time... wind one spring up and the other down....

Am I the only one here itching to build something like this???

The only problem I see is making sure there is a decent base with proper weight distribution to make sure the whole thing did not flip over or move around when you were cranking the springs up for a load of clothes...

If the handles were long it would only take a couple minutes to load up the springs and then you dump in the water and clothes and bob is your uncle..

I just drew up the blueprints and I think I have it worked out on paper...

Here is where I throw it to the peanut Gallery...Am I nuts here guys...Is there something that I am missing?

Man I love trying to tinker with stuff....I refuse to use the weber store bought grill we have...I made one myself from a car rim...It works awesome!!! welded up a stand for it...

Food tastes better on the grill you make yourself...I do not care what anyone says...Just sort of like the beer I make myself I prefer to store bought....A big kick to pour a glass out of the beer fridge for guests..They see it works and tastes good...A neat feeling when they ask for a refill!

maybe we should have a make it yourself category Glenn! Where people make simplistic things themselves and they are self sufficient...

I can hardly wait until I tell my wife I am building a washing machine that uses car springs for power to wash the clothes...She will likely refuse to allow her things in it...Maybe it will be good for the shop rags...they are so nasty I just put them on the fence and hose them down with the pressure washer after they soak in the set tub with some handcleaner  mixed in.....Let them dry and re-use...Looks like crap all those nasty rags hanging there....But the wife made it clear they were not to enter into the house and into the washing machine.

I played the "I did not know honey card already" when I was rebuilding a motor and I put the pistons, pushrods, rockers, valve covers in the dishwasher and used some purple power for soap...Man it was an awesome parts washer....But if the dog had a house I would have slept in it for the rest of my life...

I grew up in a auto salvage.. so I thought she would expect that sort of thing when we got married...The family house was on 50 acres that was half filled with cars... we never had a lawn or a playset... there were junk cars in the back yard and all around the house....2000 cars with parts everywhere....

hehe...we got married and I put 35 cars on the lawn here and she started getting a little upset..Well so did the neighbors :-/

[glenn-k]

I  used to make my own beer too, Peter, but it kept disappearing so I quit.  
We have some nice hops growing by the front porch now though.  Not enough to do much with - maybe alter.

[benevolance]

Glenn

In all fairness I half make my own beer. I do not grow my own hops or spend lots of time culturing yeast...People can spend a lot of time on beer...

I try to keep it simple....Mill the grain....Throw it in a burlap bag... steep it make the mash, cool it... strain it.... let it sit a few weeks...Strain it again...Pump it into a stainless steel keg and then charge it with Co2...Place a 5 gallon stainless steel corny keg in my beer fridge and push the beer out the draft tap in the side with Co2....Works great...

When I am feeling really lazy I have even been known to but the malt extract and just boil it up on the burner, cool it and place it in the stainless carboy....and after 2 weeks transfer it into the stainless keg charge it with Co2 and let it sit awaiting fridge duty.

From the time I start to the time everything is cleaned I can make a batch of beer and have it in the Carboy Keg aging in little over an hour if I cheat and use the malt extract....It still makes great beer and if you want it to have a full blown flavor you can add hops at the end of the brew cycle for more flavour...But even the 40 dollar kit and a extract tin has more flavour than buttwiper....That is what we call it around here.

I do not have the problem of the beer disappearing since it is in my fridge...When I made it in bottles it would vanish...But the sediment in the bottles from the priming sugar was too much of a hassle for me...

I saw a drawing of a counter pressure bottle filler that would charge the beer with Co2 and push it into the bottles... I would like to build that and try it sometime...I could print labels and give beer away as gifts...etc... Would be fun to try to make beer specifically for a buddy and if he really liked it give him a couple flats of it for Christmas...

But where to find the time.....

At least my wife is working away this year...I miss her insanely....But I get twice as much done...

Men are not supposed to admit to things like Cuddling and going for nature walks or drives... But I did stuff like that with my wife all the time... Got in the way of building things and making beer...

Life is one big lesson I am learning my wife was put here to help me survive my brief time here....I get more work done...But in every other sense I am sort of wandering around lost without her....

This every second week-end thing just does not cut the mustard....I know I am still relatively young and new to marriage....But it does not matter... Life is short and I firmly believe that if you are lucky enough to find something truly precious you are supposed to hold onto it....

This is getting depressing...I really miss my wifey now...

I need to go watch some girls gone wild and smash beer cans on my head to get the Macho groove back now...

[glenn-k]

I did the canned malt too - made one batch that would put you to sleep for three hours -- don't know what happened there.  Good hops I guess. :-/

[benevolance]

maybe you made some kind of belguim bock beer that was like 10-11% alcohol....They have some hard core beers over there in Europe...Meant to be drank at room temputure...

I dunno about you... but if it is not ice cold I cannot drink it when beer is concerned....

I like to keep my beer around 5%.. maybe 6% at most....Which is still hardcore for some american drinkers that are used to 3% pasteurised beer....In Canada all regular beer is 5% and some are 5.5%...They have always been that way...Even before all the malt liquor and specialty beers are concerned.

I made the beer fridge for one reason...Well two...One I love gadgets...And two it is so nice to have decent quality ice cold beer on tap for friends and family...We have a couple extra rooms so when we grill they can chill out on a mattress after...my mom in law who now lives with us due to a recent divorce dislikes Beer and wants me to start making wine...Which I am no real fan of...

Gotta keep mom happy I guess...I did steal her daughter away

I have gotten decent at grilling just about everything on the grill...Sweet potatoes....Corn.....Onions, and whatever meat we are eating....throw the Onions, Sweet potatoes down in the coals wrapped in tin foil....I have a lot of fun grilling for family... they come over we tell stories and jokes There are a bunch of guitars around here... we drink and be merry.... If there was a way to grill peanut butter I would do it I think....I think the grill is the greatest invention in the history of mankind...Well that and beer...and maybe the welder.. no particular order

I think it is why we work hard most of the time...So we can truly enjoy the times when we get to relax