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Forum Index : Other Stuff : 12-Volt Clothes Washer
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MacGyver Guru  Joined: 12/05/2009 Location: United StatesPosts: 1329 |
A while back, I tossed up a post about a 12-volt clothes dryer. That went over like a lead balloon; hope this one's a bit better. Background: I intend "living" in my travel trailer when I retire -- always did like camping. Anyway, my trailer has a real "tub" for bathing (midgets) and I thought of a way to use it to wash my clothes. Okay, here goes: I have a Rule 2000 12-volt submersible pump to which I attached a "wand" made of 1/2" PVC pipe drilled along its length (24") in 5 rows. The end is capped and water sprays out all those little holes. I fill the tub with warm water, add a spot of detergent and with the pump switched on, then pass the wand over the dirty clothes. For pants, I just jam the thing down the legs and let the soapy water spray through the denim. For shirts and towels and other flat garments, I have another piece of PVC pipe, which is split and snaps over the "wand". It covers all the holes except one row. I merely drape what I'm washing over the thing and pull it over the line of squirting holes a few times. Soon, the tub water is filthy. I then drain it off and fill it with "rinse" water, then start the pump and do things all over. I rinse two or three times. After that's done, I run things through a hand-cranked clothes wringer then hang them in the sunshine. Oh, by the way,I trashed the 12-volt clothes dryer, because it was too hard to balance when it got going -- downright scary! Nothing difficult is ever easy! Perhaps better stated in the words of Morgan Freeman, "Where there is no struggle, there is no progress!" Copeville, Texas |
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Downwind Guru Joined: 09/09/2009 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2333 |
I have to give it to you that youre a thinker??????? I can just see bubbles and froth going every where and one very wet Mac? Why take your clothes off just hose yourself down standing in the tub. Then stand in the sun like a scarecrow. 
You never know you might enjoy the bubbles down your trouser leg. 
Think of the water you will save washing you and the clothes together. Would have thought you would add a tub to the trailer wheel rim and do the washing while driving. Wash cycle on one rim and rinse on the other rim. A front loader washer so to speak. Yes officer i know i was speeding but i was on the rinse / spin cycle!!! 
Im only envious you have a trailer and i dont. Pete. Sometimes it just works |
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| Dinges Senior Member  Joined: 04/01/2008 Location: AlbaniaPosts: 510 |
You need one of these: 
(called 'wasstamper' in Dutch - no idea of the correct English word) I have one, and they work surprizingly well. They work even better when you have one of these as well: 
(doesn't need to be blond, other models may work too). What RV'ers over here often do: put the clothes in a bucket with lid; fill with water and detergent. Put on top of camper, go for a ride. The heating action of the sun, combined with the movement of the camper, do the washing. When at destination, rinse and dry. Peter. (<-- denies all accusations of the Dutch being cheap and stingy) |
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| VK4AYQ Guru Joined: 02/12/2009 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2539 |
Hi Mac I found a 13 gallon plastic drum with a clip on sealed lid works well if you half fill with water a bit of soap and clothes and throw it it in the back of the pickup or boot of the car, leave for one day and rinse in the morning, if used in pickup dont go round corners to fast without halter rope as you waste time picking it up from the roadside. Trip to and from fishing is about right. All the best Bob Foolin Around |
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| MacGyver Guru Joined: 12/05/2009 Location: United StatesPosts: 1329 |
Crew I knew posting this would be like wearing a tee shirt with a bulls-eye on the front. Actually, I kind of like some of your ideas better. I have a plastic canister with a screw-on lid, sealed with an "O" ring, originally intended to mix a sack of post-hole concrete. Maybe I'll make a contraption that'll spin the thing whilst it sits centered between two rollers and use it as a washing machine instead. I could turn it with a 12-volt motor, which runs off that battery -- recharged by my windmill if I ever get back to finishing it! Projects . . . projects . . . . . . . . Mac Nothing difficult is ever easy! Perhaps better stated in the words of Morgan Freeman, "Where there is no struggle, there is no progress!" Copeville, Texas |
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Gizmo Admin Group  Joined: 05/06/2004 Location: AustraliaPosts: 5078 |
You know, speaking of mixing cement, a cement mixer might be a good idea. 
Seriously. You could run it off 12v easily. You can tip it over to empty the cloths out. Glenn The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, the second best time is right now. JAQ |
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| Downwind Guru Joined: 09/09/2009 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2333 |
Hi Mac. If you get your speed right for your drum rotating on rollers you could then polish gemstones as this is how they are done. You use different grade grit in stages added to the water and tumble it around slowly with your gems/rocks inside. Just take your underware out first. Pete. Sometimes it just works |
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| Dinges Senior Member Joined: 04/01/2008 Location: AlbaniaPosts: 510 |
Continuous rotation in one direction doesn't work for washing machines, rendering the cement mill, drum-in-car-wheel, a tumbler, etc. unusable. There's a reason washing machines continually reverse direction, they're not doing that to make it more interesting to look at.... 
With rotation in only one direction, clothes get tangled up. They discovered that a long time ago. Below is the link to a video that was aired here on TV about a decade ago, "the secret life of machines". One show was entirely dedicated to the washing machine: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUmBU3mXRkc&feature=related (to watch the episode on washing machines on YouTube) http://www.secretlifeofmachines.com/secret_life_of_the_washi ng_machine.shtml http://www.exploratorium.edu/ronh/SLOM/ (to watch them streaming) http://www.sciencezero.org/index.php?title=The_Secret_Life_o f_Machines (to download the episodes and view off-line) http://www.secretlifeofmachines.com/ It was a series I enjoyed enormously. The dry humour is the caking on the ice :-) MacGyver, I think a tinkerer like you would enjoy the series too. It can be downloaded for free, some shows are also on YouTube. Peter. |
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| cobo351 Newbie  Joined: 18/12/2009 Location: United StatesPosts: 34 |
MacGyver, I'm on board with your way of thinking. at least there is a couple of us here in the states that isn't waiting for the government to wash them for us. Cory |
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| VK4AYQ Guru Joined: 02/12/2009 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2539 |
Hi Mac Shouldn't be to hard to make your motor reverse every ten seconds so you don't get your nickers in a knot, good project for a picaxe { the electric IC one not the one with a wooden handle} I still like the drum rolling around in the back because you must go fishing to do the washing. All the best Bob Foolin Around |
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| Robb Senior Member Joined: 01/08/2007 Location: AustraliaPosts: 221 |
If you have ever seen a lightburn washing machine thats exactly how they made them. The same tub as their cement mixer but with smaller internal agitator fins without sharp edges. They had a separate spin dryer in front of the opening of the wash drum. The same mob who built these  |
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| Downwind Guru Joined: 09/09/2009 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2333 |
I think the Zeta used the same motor as the cement mixer to. The reason it was the Austraila's second car was it was not reliabale enough to be the first car. Did read something about them a while back and there was not many ever made. Cant understand why?????? Sometimes it just works |
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| Hank Onthewater Newbie Joined: 24/01/2010 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2 |
I am with 'Dinges' and 'VK4AYQ'. Trailer/car/boat movement gets most clothing in a closed bucket with water and soap reasonably clean over a few hours. When on a boat the rinse cylce could be as easy as putting the garments in a net, attaching a rope to that net AND the boat, and dragging this behind the boat for a while. A rinse in fresh water is optional. And no, I never had a shark chasing the net thinking it was a free lunch. And yes, Dinges' (old Dutch) "washing stumper" works, but finding one is the first obstacle, finding a volunteer operator the second one. To remain true to this thread one can buy of the following contraptions (around $75 aus) and power this with a 12 Volt motor, if turning by hand becomes too much of a chore. 
Anyway for what it is worth. ~ happy onthewater ~ |
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| VK4AYQ Guru Joined: 02/12/2009 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2539 |
Hi Hank Looks like it could be connected to a small windmill with suitable gearing. Probably makes butter to for farmer landlubbers All the best Bob Foolin Around |
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| MacGyver Guru Joined: 12/05/2009 Location: United StatesPosts: 1329 |
I sat in front of my front-loading washing machine and watch it do its thing today, just to see what it does for nearly the $2,000 it cost! All it does is slowly roll the clothes one way; stop, then roll them the other way, stop and so on. The only thing that's really different is that when it's time to spin dry, the thing takes off at near light speed and spins them at about 16 G's. They're almost dry after the final rinse. Along these lines, I'm changing my mind on this whole thing and probably going to wind up with something like the "Odjob" concrete mixer hung in a canvas sling and powered by a small 12-volt motor that utilizes a cam-operated reversing switch. I may rebuild my 12-volt dryer (spinner) and make it slower (it gets scary when it goes fast and is out of balance) or just use a hand-cranked wringer to get the bulk of the water out of the clothes. Anyone need a submersible pump and a wash wand? Nothing difficult is ever easy! Perhaps better stated in the words of Morgan Freeman, "Where there is no struggle, there is no progress!" Copeville, Texas |
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| VK4AYQ Guru Joined: 02/12/2009 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2539 |
Hi Mac Itried washing the dirt out of my painting drop cloths they are calico cloth about the same weight a jeans An it wasnt real succesful ended up putting them in an old agitator type washing machine with a powerwringer They were very popular here years ago, I have seen them powered with small petrol motor and 32 Volt Motor so I see no reason they wouldnt work on 12 volt with a suitable motor they are a bit bulky but bullet proof, if you can get one over here. All the best Bob Foolin Around |
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| MacGyver Guru Joined: 12/05/2009 Location: United StatesPosts: 1329 |
End Game Well, it's been almost a year and a half since I got the brainy clothes washer idea and today it's finally a done deal. That's not bad; for me! Anyway, I'm finally living my dream. I'm permanently set up in my trailer with the intentiion of "camping out" for the rest of this adventure (life). I tossed up something along these lines elsewher on the 4m, but I thought it best to start and end on the same thread, so here's what I've done: I'm using a plastic 5-gallon bucket with a "Gamma" lid. The lid snaps to the top of the pail and has a rather large screw-on secondary lid, which the manufacturer "guarantees" won't leak. It leaks. That's not a big deal for me, I just worked around the problem and use it so the lid hangs over the inside edge of my kitchen sink, with the bulk of the rest of things sitting on top of the countertop alongside: 
You'll see I've used a "cradle" to support the pail. Originally, I used my little lathe and built some long rollers using Delrin plastic bushings and some 3/4" copper as a tube. That worked, but it bound up every now and again, so I went to something simpler. The cradle is made of plywood and pine and is screwed together. I counter-sunk all the screw heads and ground off the screw ends on the underside so as not to snag anything or scratch my brand new countertop. Here's a shot of the Gamma lid situation: 
Each portion of the lid has its own O-ring to seal most of the water inside. Here's a shot of the inside of the tub showing two small, aluminum paddles (angle stock) which I riveted through the outside of the bucket and sealed with clear silicon caulking. These snag the clothes and then drop them when the whole rig is rotated in the cradle and that action helps move the water through the garments much the same as a commercial front-loading clothes washer does. 
This shows how I snipped out a "V" where the bail attaches to the bucket. I did that so I could easily remove the metal bail. Leaving it on interferes with rotating it in the cradle, but I need it to cary the wet clothing around not to mention to dump the dirty water after the wash is completed. 
This shows the bare wooden cradle. Note that one side is flush with the edge. I did this to enable the end that leaks to hang over my sink so the drip goes into the kitchen sink drain and not on the floor. 
All I do is put as many articles of clothing I want to wash up to about half full (dry) and add water to cover. I actually usually put the water in first, add the detergent and make sure it's all mixed evenly, then dump in the dirty clothes and screw on the Gamma lid. Next, I lay the thing in the cradle and roll it about ten times each way, then dump the water and do three rinse cycles. After that, I run the wet clothes through a wringer, which is down the street at the car wash, then I hang stuff out to dry. I'm in the process of purchasing my own wringer, but the silly things are over a hundred dollars, so I'm taking my time. So far, nobody at the car wash has told me to get out, but being 6'6" and about 250 pounds may have a lot to do with that. Still, I'd rather have my own. Finally, since "camping out" is kind of a head game when it comes to "living space" I use the washer for double duty. I use it as a little "stool" or "chair" in my shower. There's not enough room for a Shrek-sized fellow to bend over and wash toes and feet, so a stool comes in mighty handy. Also, sometimes I just let laundry sit for a day inside in the detergent to "soak". 
That's about it for the washer. It's not 12-volt, but it works nonetheless. Next up is an active solar clothes dryer. I know everyone is automatically thinking "clothesline" but it's not that. This will be a cabinet that collects sunlight and turns that into active heated air movement. The articles of clothing will hang inside with access through a door at the rear. I've already expirimented around a bit and have the design worked out. All I have to do now is build it. When it's flyin' I'll post it here. Hope this helps out someone else out there in la la land (where I live). All in all, it's really pretty practical and it saves me nearly $5 each time I have to do my wash. The place I live at charges $2 to wash and $1.50 to dry, but the dryers have to be done a little bit longer than once (the cycle is too short) and then my tee shirts shrink because the heat is so high! The solar clothes dryer is built and I posted it in "Solar". The thread is cleverly entitled "Solar Clothes Dryer". 
. . . . . Mac Nothing difficult is ever easy! Perhaps better stated in the words of Morgan Freeman, "Where there is no struggle, there is no progress!" Copeville, Texas |
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