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Hi, does anyone out there know of a modern washing machine that can handle low water pressure ? ive been told by a customer that whirlpool say she has the wrong machine installed and should have bought one that is designed to work in a low pressure enviroment.
Ive not heard of a specific manufacturer the tenders for low pressure areas.
Its just a quirey as whirlpool couldnt answer it ???Re: Low water pressure machines
Hi IP,
I’ve been asked that a few times and the short answer appears to be, no, there are none.
That said, they do all state that they need 1-10 BAR pressure so if you’re outside that range any manufacturer can disown the problem.
K.
Re: Low water pressure machines
Hi IP
All the tech spec from the different brands I have to hand indicate machines require 1 bar water pressure which equals a flow rate of 8 litres a minute. Anything less than that then a pump may be required if the customer has a bore hole or a well. If it is a main`s water feed then local water authority have to supply a 1 bar pressure IIRC.
HTH 🙂Don
Re: Low water pressure machines
Thanks guys, just really wanted another opinon on the kinda problem, i had read about the max/min pressures, so now its confirmed, Now i know what to tell the customer.
Thanks 🙂Re: Low water pressure machines
Hotpoint used to sell a special low pressure valve but I don’t know if they still do. It was probably just an ordinary valve with the restrictors taken out anyway. (And that is something worth trying. Get the filter out, then take out a little rubber washer using forceps or snipe pliers. There may be a plastic thing behind that too. You should end up with a completely open inlet to the valve.)
Mike.Re: Low water pressure machines
Hpt top loader had one when pressure below 3psi (Hpt 151343) single valve.
Re: Low water pressure machines
leavemetogetonwithit wrote:Hotpoint used to sell a special low pressure valve but I don’t know if they still do. It was probably just an ordinary valve with the restrictors taken out anyway. (And that is something worth trying. Get the filter out, then take out a little rubber washer using forceps or snipe pliers. There may be a plastic thing behind that too. You should end up with a completely open inlet to the valve.)
Mike.The effect of too low a water pressure is the valve can dribble even when the appliance is switched off, the tub can fill with water and then and leak onto the floor. This normally only affects the hot valve which is usually tank fed and at a much lower pressure than the cold.
The hot valve must have the plastic flow restrictor removed and will operate at less than 1 Bar without a problem. Most Bungalows, with a tank fed supply have a hot water pressure of only 0.3 Bar.
The only water systems that I have found to cause problems are single floor dwellings with the header tank in the airing cupboard above the HW cylinder.
Shane
Re: Low water pressure machines
don wrote:If it is a main`s water feed then local water authority have to supply a 1 bar pressure IIRC.
You are quite correct there Don. To elaborate further (if I may?:wink:) that is the minimum standard all water authorities have to comply to in the UK. And that they should guarantee to provide that pressure to the main stopcock at the boundary of the consumers property.
However you will find that if you call in a water company official to check your water pressure within your property, they will do that for you at no charge to establish whether you have sufficient pressure to operate modern electrical appliances such as washing machines and dishwashers.
Most companies strive to achieve a level above the minimum and in my area (Thames Water) go for 1.5 bar (21.5 p.s.i.) to your incoming main tap. Not guaranteed but they do at least accept the need for as higher a pressure as they can.
The problem most customers with washing machines that don’t function correctly have is that they try to run machines, not off the mains but off their water header tank supply. And that is usually were the problem lies and here is where you can test if there’s enough of a flow to make it happen…..??
Take off the fill hose into a 2 gallon (10 litre) bucket. Set your stopwatch and time how long it takes to fill that bucket? If it takes longer than 50 seconds to fill the bucket then the water pressure isn’t the best. If it takes more that 75 seconds then the water pressure(flow) is below 1 bar and any machine connected to a supply like that simply ain’t gonna work pal. 🙁
And to reiterate the point, there isn’t anyone these days makes a ‘low pressure valve’ they simply don’t exist….OK?
You’ve gotta have flow or it ain’t gonna go…….
HTH?
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