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Concrete-free washing machines are lighter to transport, just as good in a spin

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Re: Concrete-free washing machines are lighter to transport, just as good in a spin

#21

Post by ynniv »

rplst8 wrote: post #8
andy_ppp wrote: post #5

For those on the lazy web like me; the answer is fill a hollow plastic counter weight with water when the machine is installed rather than lug great slabs of concrete round the world.

That's like a huge "duh, why didn't they do that" sort of thing. Wow. Theoretically, they could probably make all of the free space in the washer part of a giant tupperware style container and allow filling of different compartments to precisely balance the machine.

And the answer is... cheap computing power. If the plastic balance isn't full or leaks out, the spin cycle becomes extremely dangerous. Traditionally we used a system that was not prone to this kind of failure, but now that the cycle is computer controlled and we have cheap accelerometers we can use a more complicated but lighter alternative safely.

Re: Concrete-free washing machines are lighter to transport, just as good in a spin

#22

Post by [deleted] »

baybal2 wrote: post #19
Murkin wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Only issue might be the container not being 100% full causing the water inside to slosh and increase the vibrations. (Probably not that hard to solve)

>(Probably not that hard to solve) Yeah, just throw a 2 channel PID controller and a bunch of servos. It most likely be rather cheap (sarcasm)

[deleted]

Re: Concrete-free washing machines are lighter to transport, just as good in a spin

#23

Post by gpm »

Murkin wrote: post #13
andy_ppp wrote: post #5

For those on the lazy web like me; the answer is fill a hollow plastic counter weight with water when the machine is installed rather than lug great slabs of concrete round the world.

Only issue might be the container not being 100% full causing the water inside to slosh and increase the vibrations. (Probably not that hard to solve)

It's a washing machine, it needs to be hooked up to a pressurized water pipe anyways. Just hook up the tank (before the valve) and it should always be completely full.

Re: Concrete-free washing machines are lighter to transport, just as good in a spin

#24

Post by [deleted] »

Murkin wrote: post #13
andy_ppp wrote: post #5

For those on the lazy web like me; the answer is fill a hollow plastic counter weight with water when the machine is installed rather than lug great slabs of concrete round the world.

Only issue might be the container not being 100% full causing the water inside to slosh and increase the vibrations. (Probably not that hard to solve)

[deleted]

Re: Concrete-free washing machines are lighter to transport, just as good in a spin

#25

Post by Retric »

andy_ppp wrote: post #5

For those on the lazy web like me; the answer is fill a hollow plastic counter weight with water when the machine is installed rather than lug great slabs of concrete round the world.

Concrete weighs 2.5 as much per given volume 150 vs 62 pounds per cubic foot. So, there are significant trade offs involved.

Also, adding a sealed water container creates a few more ways for these things to break down which was a larger concern when washing machines lasted ~5x as long.

Re: Concrete-free washing machines are lighter to transport, just as good in a spin

#26

Post by ynniv »

diroussel wrote: post #12

I wonder when active damping systems will come to washing machines. You'll need sensors to measure vibrations, a control unit and some small but fast actuator coupled to a small counter weight. The technology shouldn't be much different to the noise cancelling earphones I'm wearing right now. But with a larger actuator.

My current LG washer spins the drum at startup to detect balance and load, so it probably accomplishes some active balancing by modulating the drive motor during the spin cycle. This one still has a regular concrete balance though.

Re: Concrete-free washing machines are lighter to transport, just as good in a spin

#27

Post by jrs235 »

Retric wrote: post #25
andy_ppp wrote: post #5

For those on the lazy web like me; the answer is fill a hollow plastic counter weight with water when the machine is installed rather than lug great slabs of concrete round the world.

Concrete weighs 2.5 as much per given volume 150 vs 62 pounds per cubic foot. So, there are significant trade offs involved. Also, adding a sealed water container creates a few more ways for these things to break down which was a larger concern when washing machines lasted ~5x as long.

What if they used sand instead of water?

Re: Concrete-free washing machines are lighter to transport, just as good in a spin

#29

Post by mschuster91 »

gpm wrote: post #23
Murkin wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Only issue might be the container not being 100% full causing the water inside to slosh and increase the vibrations. (Probably not that hard to solve)

It's a washing machine, it needs to be hooked up to a pressurized water pipe anyways. Just hook up the tank (before the valve) and it should always be completely full.

> It's a washing machine, it needs to be hooked up to a pressurized water pipe anyways.

There's an Aqua-Stop (with multiple valves, including a passive, magnetic one that works even in power loss situations) right after the water pipe connection, to avoid water damage in case the pipe or a valve inside the machine breaks.

Automatically filling the tanks is dangerous, because it will lead to issues in case e.g. the air-outlet gets stuck due to rust or lime particles from the pipe entering the tank with the water.

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