Installing a washer/dryer combo unit on a trawler.

Pgitug · Apr 19, 2015

What brand of washer/dryer is best?
What installation issues were a surprise?
In hind sight what advice can you offer?
Are you glad you bought one?
We are considering a unit for our boat as my wife is tired of the boaters lounge laundry rooms.

Bay Pelican · Apr 19, 2015

Bay Pelican has had two Splendide units over 16 years. Love them. Caution, many people have complained about the ventless units. If you get a Splendide make sure you have a true sine wave inverter of at least 2,500 watts. A number of the 2,000 watt inverters will not run the wash cycle. At anchor we almost always run the wash cycle off the inverter.

220 volt units are great for 220 volt boats, but few North American boats have 220v inverters so it would involve running the genset for an hour just to do the wash cycle.

We do not use the dry cycle here in the Caribbean, as drying by hanging is fast. When we were far north we used the dry cycle occasionally and followed the instructions to not load the machine more than half way for drying. Still took a while with a 110v unit.

bayview · Apr 19, 2015

Our last boat had a stacked unit. Worked great but it used a lot of water and I always ran it dockside or using the genny. A huge convenience. Outside venting is a must IMO.

RT Firefly · Apr 19, 2015

Greetings,
Mr. BP. I've also heard the 110v units were a bit weak on the dry cycle. The 220v units are rumored to be much better.

Pau Hana · Apr 19, 2015

We have a Splendide vented unit and love it.

O C Diver · Apr 19, 2015

Have a Spendide vented and have been very happy with it so far.

Ted

obthomas · Apr 19, 2015

My boat did not have a washer/dryer. I cleared out a cabinet in the forward cabin and had to take a doorway apart to get a new Haier HWD1600 installed. The Hair has a problem that the condenser dryer gets clogged with lint and I have to take it apart and clean it about twice a year. Other than that it has been a good unit.

RNL · Apr 19, 2015

I had a stacked apartment unit in my boat originally. The dryer , 110v, worked great and I had no complaints about its drying abilities. The washer was nice but NOISY and used way too much water. I now have a Splendide. I dry with it more than wash and appreciate the new storage area with the smaller footprint. I think it will serve my needs better with the space advantage too. I just wash and dry smaller loads with it than the former.

Glen

Pgitug · Apr 19, 2015

Sounds like Slendide is the current favorite. When I did a search that was the unit that came up with the best reviews for both Marine and RV applications. I did also see, as you all have pointed out, that it is better to make sure and get the model that vents. I was not thinking about being able to run the unit off of a 2500 watt inverter. So I figure that you can run that while traveling and not have to run the gen set. Nice. Mama is going to be happy!

hmason · Apr 19, 2015

We also have the washer du jour: a vented Splendide. We are happy with it. We did have an experience that is a lesson to all. After starting a wash and walking away for a bit we returned to find a small flood in front of the machine which was churning happily along. We stopped the cycle, shut the water valves and the water kept leaking out. We discovered that a piece of clothing got trapped in the door when the machine was loaded. This caused a gap in the door seal allowing the water to leak out. Once the cycle begins the door locks and even stopping the washer won't unlock the door.

Fortunately it was a weekday and Splendide support was available by phone. They said to pry off the panel at the bottom of the washer and inside the panel on the far right side is a clip holding a string. Grab the string and pull. The door popped right open. A good thing to make note of should you ever need to get that door open when it is locked.

Howard

Pgitug · Apr 19, 2015

hmason said:
We also have the washer du jour: a vented Splendide. We are happy with it. We did have an experience that is a lesson to all. After starting a wash and walking away for a bit we returned to find a small flood in front of the machine which was churning happily along. We stopped the cycle, shut the water valves and the water kept leaking out. We discovered that a piece of clothing got trapped in the door when the machine was loaded. This caused a gap in the door seal allowing the water to leak out. Once the cycle begins the door locks and even stopping the washer won't unlock the door.

Fortunately it was a weekday and Splendide support was available by phone. They said to pry off the panel at the bottom of the washer and inside the panel on the far right side is a clip holding a string. Grab the string and pull. The door popped right open. A good thing to make note of should you ever need to get that door open when it is locked.

Howard

Thanks for the insight. It's great knowing in advance of problems. And you know that sooner or later it's going to happen..

Britannia · Apr 20, 2015

My boat came with an apartment style stacked washer and dryer (vented) - GE I think. It's a 240V setup - which isn't a problem for me - I have 240V at the dock and just run one of the generators when underway or at anchor. Works like a champ.

Richard

Xsbank · Apr 20, 2015

I have a 120 to 240 transformer for sale. We just removed a stacker set from a friend's boat and the transformer is now surplus. I don't know what it is worth, it's heavy so shipping might be an issue. Bus?

Make me an offer?

Wxx3 · Apr 20, 2015

RNL said:
I had a stacked apartment unit in my boat originally. The dryer , 110v, worked great and I had no complaints about its drying abilities. The washer was nice but NOISY and used way too much water. I now have a Splendide. I dry with it more than wash and appreciate the new storage area with the smaller footprint. I think it will serve my needs better with the space advantage too. I just wash and dry smaller loads with it than the former.

Glen

Ditto to all :dance:

Alaskan Sea-Duction · Apr 20, 2015

Pgitug said:
What brand of washer/dryer is best?

Pgitug said:
What installation issues were a surprise?
In hind sight what advice can you offer?
Are you glad you bought one?
We are considering a unit for our boat as my wife is tired of the boaters lounge laundry rooms.

I just finished installing a Splendid 2100XC (Vented). I ran both cold and hot water to the unit. I used ½ inch Pex tubing with sharkbite fittings and shutoff valves mounted inside the cabinet. You can get these at Home Depot.
Drain, I plumbed in the boats current drain system using 1 ½ in PVC. I connected the unit drain to a barbed fitting (on a tee), but ran the drain pipe higher than the unit to prevent syphoning. I also installed a one way vent for the drain so I didn’t have smells making their way into the cabinet.
I installed a water proof electrical box, and pigtailed the 120Vac electrical off the box for my aft heater/A/C.
I didn’t want to drill any additional holes in the boat so I ran the vent to a vent box that was already part of the boat and fabricated a some clips to hold the vent in place
The Admiral has used it quite a few times and loves it.
http://www.splendide.com/splendide_wd2100xc.htm
http://www.sharkbite.com/

N4712 · Apr 20, 2015

We have a GE stack unit, 220v. Its quiet but uses a fair amount of water, but that's no big deal.

what_barnacles · Jun 10, 2015

I think for wrinkles older splendide's or even malbar units work better than the new ones. The new ones seem spin the drum just a little to fast while drying and the clothes tend to just stick to the drum instead of tumbling. At least in the 2 2100xc's I put in my rv did that.

Another issue I had with the 2100xc was the rubber bellows that is used to transport the drum's exhaust air to the vent in the back has a tendency to plug up with lint. It is a small to large pain to pull the back off and get the bellows loose so you can fish out the big wad of lint goobers.

The older splindide (ventless) and the malbar never had any of these issues. Both dried the clothes wrinkle free but you cant stuff the machine full regardless.

Even with their faults I cant imagine being without one.

Manly Q. · Jun 10, 2015

Hi Howard.

It is my experience with a front loader that if you turn off the power and wait 2 / 3 minutes the door will open without a problem.

Also I am not sure why your machine operated while the door was not completely shut, my machine will not start like this.

Regards,

David.

Alaskan Sea-Duction · Jun 10, 2015

The admiral loves our new unit and will make traveling a lot better...

No Mast · Jun 10, 2015

Washer and dryer onboard is new to us as of November. It's so convenient. We have 220V setup and vented dryer. They work great and a large load of towels dries completly in 40-60 minutes. We run the Genset for it if not at the dock. We very much enjoy getting to a dock and not have to worry about getting laundry done. Leaves so much more time for exploring (or drinking)

Installing a washer/dryer combo unit on a trawler.

Guru

Moderator Emeritus

Guru

Enigma

Guru

Guru

Guru

Senior Member

Guru

Guru

Guru

Wannabe

Guru

Dauntless Award

Guru

Guru

Guru

Veteran Member

Guru

Guru

Similar threads