low pressure washing machine (0.3 bar)

[crollorc]

hi,

newbie, so please excuse cluelessness!

we are renovating a bungalow and looking for a washing machine to suit our gravity fed (non-mains) system.

we only have a 3m – 4m drop from top of attic tank to bottom of washing machine.

do you guys know which machines would be most suitable at low pressures like these.

also, for an unsuitable machine, would it be possible to change to a low pressure water inlet valve?

thanks for your advice,

crol

[kwatt]

Re: low pressure washing machine (0.3 bar)

Bad news I’m afraid…

crollorc wrote:do you guys know which machines would be most suitable at low pressures like these.

None that I am aware of, all need a minimum of 1.0 Bar pressure that I’ve seen in many years.

crollorc wrote:also, for an unsuitable machine, would it be possible to change to a low pressure water inlet valve?

Now no longer done by anyone.

The reason being (I think for most, certainly those I’ve looked at) is that they rely on a decent pressure to fill quickly enough, clear detergent and not to cause a filling timeout error. Essentially if the machine doesn’t fill fast enough the logic in the boards assume there’s an issue with the supply and, you cannot get around that so far as I know.

Even if you could the wash times would be substantially extended, like into many hours with pressure that low so, it’s not really practical.

The only option really in many cases is to look at fitting a booster pump to lift the water pressure and, that probably won’t be cheap as well as sitting in the domain of plumbers.

K.

[crollorc]

Re: low pressure washing machine (0.3 bar)

kwatt wrote:Bad news I’m afraid…

K.

that all sounds depressing!

if we were to get a used washing machine, are there particular brands that would have lasted well and might be suitable?

also, do washing machines use pressure-reducing spirals or suchlike which we could remove?

thanks for your advice,

crol

[kwatt]

Re: low pressure washing machine (0.3 bar)

crollorc wrote:if we were to get a used washing machine, are there particular brands that would have lasted well and might be suitable?

Any that may have been suitable are probably long gone, most would be 15 years or older.

crollorc wrote:also, do washing machines use pressure-reducing spirals or suchlike which we could remove?

Nope, afraid not. And, even if it were, you wouldn’t gain enough to get around the fill timeout.

Asides which, most water valves need a minimum of 1 Bar to even lift, or open. From memory even the old, old Hotpoint ones needed a 0.5 Bar minimum and that was sketchy.

K.

[Seamy]

Re: low pressure washing machine (0.3 bar)

If you are renovating you can put a pressure tank, vessel thingy on the system to keep constant pressure (i think), i’m not a plumber but if you know one maybe they can advise, or as mentioned a pumped system which runs on demand . Does the header tank not fill from mains water? Could you not hook up to the incoming mains supply or is there none?

[crollorc]

Re: low pressure washing machine (0.3 bar)

Seamy wrote:If you are renovating you can put a pressure tank, vessel thingy on the system to keep constant pressure (i think), i’m not a plumber but if you know one maybe they can advise, or as mentioned a pumped system which runs on demand . Does the header tank not fill from mains water? Could you not hook up to the incoming mains supply or is there none?

there is mains but i am based in ireland and the mains pressure is woeful.

our plumber used wide pipes (3/4″ or 1″ i think) from the header to the washing machine to maximize the pressure, so i may give it a go before buying a pump/pressure vessel.

i would imagine a lot of machines use the same inlet valves? do some of these have lower pressure requirements than others?

i’m just trying to work out which machines would be more likely to work at lower pressures on the off chance it works out!

thanks again for all the advice,

crol

[Seamy]

Re: low pressure washing machine (0.3 bar)

Am in Ireland too…

Thought they were sorting out the water system for you’s down there, aren’t you being charged for it. 😈
What make of machine are we talking about here, most appliances with poor pressure will leak water in all the time as they actually need pressure of water to keep the solenoid valve closed.

[crollorc]

Re: low pressure washing machine (0.3 bar)

Seamy wrote:Am in Ireland too…

Thought they were sorting out the water system for you’s down there, aren’t you being charged for it. 😈
What make of machine are we talking about here, most appliances with poor pressure will leak water in all the time as they actually need pressure of water to keep the solenoid valve closed.

Hi Seamy,

I would be surprised if the water system is improved within the next decade!

I’m trying to pick a WM at present. I noticed that the Hotpoint AQ113L297 manual indicates it will work down to 0.5 bar.

If the inlet valve were to leak due to low pressure, would this be detected or would it result in a flood?

Crol

[crollorc]

Re: low pressure washing machine (0.3 bar)

Just reading the manuals of some WMs, I found that the LG WM I looked at [F12B9Q/TD(W)(A)] operates at 0.3bar and above.

How to LG WMs stand up to the competition?

[Seamy]

Re: low pressure washing machine (0.3 bar)

I’ve an LG, have it near 10 years, only had to replace door rubber.

Inlet valves need a certain amount of water pressure to keep the diaphragm seated in the solenoid. They tend to trickle through if there is poor pressure & this can overfill & leak overnight for instance.

[madrat]

Re: low pressure washing machine (0.3 bar)

Easy way round that is to turn off inlet valve when not in use, just make sure you put the valve in an easy to get at place.

[Author]

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