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I hacked my washing machine

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Re: I hacked my washing machine

#151

Post by mulmen »

rssoconnor wrote: post #147
mulmen wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My dryer takes three hours because it is ventless (aka worthless). A regular load of laundry takes 4.5 hours to wash and dry. It’s the worst appliance I have ever had the displeasure of operating. It has no redeeming qualities. Sometimes it doesn’t even dry the laundry.

I also have a ventless, but it is a washr/dryer all-in-one unit. It probably also takes 4.5 hours to wash and dry, but I wouldn't know because it happens when I'm sleeping (which just happens to be the same time as the ultra-low time-of-day electricity rates where I live) . It's pretty great. Definitely recommend.

My laundry room is under my bedroom so the noise is disruptive. Especially when the anti-wrinkle setting runs for three hours on a load of towels.

Re: I hacked my washing machine

#152

Post by darknavi »

steven555 wrote: post #96

Im hacking my fridge, its not software but a hardware hack, its an expensive motorhome fridge, runs on gas, 12vd, and 220v, it had an internal fire on the electronic controller, so it fried the cables and internals but the fridge is still more or less ok. the idea, is to rather than buying a new control board (250usd) which would need extensive work to refit as all plugs cables are shot, to replace this with a new sy…

I started "hacking" my propane grill (OK just trying to cludge some repairs) and decided after a few hours that I am not confident enough in my own work to muck with anything around flammable fuel.

Re: I hacked my washing machine

#153

Post by jacquesm »

cobbaut wrote: post #118
jacquesm wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Miele.

Miele from my grandmother still running here, 1988 machine! No defects, still pristine inside. No guarantee though that today's Miele is the same quality.

They are. Bought a washing machine more than a decade ago, still going strong, and a dishwasher more recently and it was every bit as solid as the rest.

Re: I hacked my washing machine

#154

Post by 3D30497420 »

wolrah wrote: post #138
3D30497420 wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I considered that, but the washer and dryer are stacked (limited space) so the vibrations of the washer would be picked up in a dryer vibration sensor.

Is that really a problem though? If you're washing another load at the same time as the dryer is running, wouldn't you generally want to wait until both are done anyways so you can swap the wash to the dryer after getting the dry load out? Also at least in my experience the dryer takes longer to run than the washer, so if I've just rotated a previous load and started both at the same time I'm always waiting on the dr…

Not always. I only put sheets and towels in the dryer, everything else gets hung up. So I may do two or even three washing loads in the time of a single dryer load (it can be very slow). So I'm much more interested in when the washer finishes than the dryer.

Re: I hacked my washing machine

#155

Post by 3D30497420 »

FredPret wrote: post #139
3D30497420 wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is (largely) what I have for my "dumb" washer. What makes mine unique is the washer is in my apartment building's cellar, too far for Wifi. So I have a LoRa transmitter that routes the message to a LoRa receiver on my home network. Unfortunately, as you noted, I haven't figured out how to handle the dryer as the load is too much for all the smart plugs I've found. I wish there was a clamp-style monitor on an ext…

I wonder if it would be practical to McGyver a solution into place by coiling some wire around / next to the dryer's power cable - to detect flowing current - and connecting the coil to an Arduino / Raspberry Pi

Maybe? I'm not super great with electrical work.

My understanding is that detecting an electrical current through a power cord typically doesn't work when measuring all the wires together, because the current in the live wire is canceled out by the return current in the neutral wire. This is why clamp-style meters are usually put at the electrical panel, where individual wires are accessible. Since I live in an apartment, that isn't an option for me.

Re: I hacked my washing machine

#156

Post by m463 »

ash_091 wrote: post #97
m463 wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The fun is that you can reuse the setup for a japanese toilet, monitor energy use and use the data to play applause sounds in the bathroom after use.

Pretty sure Japanese toilets support this use case natively.

They DO have extensive settings on the LCD on the back of the remote if you pull it off the wall...

Re: I hacked my washing machine

#157

Post by FredPret »

3D30497420 wrote: post #155
FredPret wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder if it would be practical to McGyver a solution into place by coiling some wire around / next to the dryer's power cable - to detect flowing current - and connecting the coil to an Arduino / Raspberry Pi

Maybe? I'm not super great with electrical work. My understanding is that detecting an electrical current through a power cord typically doesn't work when measuring all the wires together, because the current in the live wire is canceled out by the return current in the neutral wire. This is why clamp-style meters are usually put at the electrical panel, where individual wires are accessible. Since I live in an apart…

Seems like it's not really a great plan, but could maybe be made to work:

https://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/634852/exter...

It's also possible that your machine lets off some elecromagnetic noise you can detect directly.

The other thing you could try is put some sort of a microphone / vibration on it, then train a small NN on the waveform to distinguish between the washer and dryer.

Re: I hacked my washing machine

#158

Post by dzhiurgis »

cdr wrote: post #107
MarioMan wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My washing machine is a "dumb" machine from the '90s. The wash cycles run based on the position of a glorified timer knob: it doesn't have a computer or sensors to detect if it needs extra time aside from the water fill stages. Thanks to this consistency, I just set a 40 minute timer on my phone, and it's always done by then. Can't get much simpler than that. If I need reminders, there's always the alarm snooze funct…

It's actually really, really easy to get the state of a "dumb" washing machine (or any other electric machine) into Home Assistant using a smart plug. You can use something really basic like "power draw for > n seconds followed by no power for > m seconds" to detect when a cycle is finished. You can get way fancier and look at power draw curves to determine what part of a cycle it's in, or which cycle, if you really…

CT clamp could work, but dunno if there are inexpensive ones.

Re: I hacked my washing machine

#159

Post by dzhiurgis »

MisterTea wrote: post #124
elygre wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So, maybe. And also maybe not. https://www.forskning.no/forbruk-ntnu-partner/er-vaskemaskin... (in Norwegian) quotes research from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. The article says that a washing machine used to last 20 years, and now only lasts 10 years. However, it also says that machine usage has doubled, from four to eight times a week. So, the new machine lasts the same number of cycles, but t…

An article from 2025 is pulling data from a 2003 study that compares usage from the 1960's to what I assume is 2003, right when He and CPU controls were starting to become popular. My 1990's Whirlpool lasted for 25 years before a barrel support rusted out. It had a mechanical timer and did a good job cleaning my clothes. Now I have this awful HE LG thing that I ALWAYS use the bedding mode otherwise it just mashes the…

Mashing the shit out of it is what actually washes your clothing without high temperature and minimal amount of detergent. I can't stand top loader washers that are ubiquitous here in NZ - they are so useless.

Re: I hacked my washing machine

#160

Post by dzhiurgis »

SecretDreams wrote: post #55
laurencei wrote: post #29

I did something with my Bosch washing machine (not like the OP). My washing machine is at the other end of the house from my home office. Sometimes I would put a load of washing on, and despite setting an alarm, might forget (perhaps I am in an important meeting etc). So I decided to solve it. Using the Bosch API - I can tell both when a cycle is complete, and if the door is open. Currently I use their default versio…

I occasionally do a washing load before bed that I know I might not wake up for to put into the dryer. Fortunately, my machine has an "extended tumble" cycle of sorts that will keep the clothes fresh all night at the expense of a bit more water, but while saving my bedtime routine. We end up with a lot of these nighttime loads because we're toasted all day watching kids and we prioritize laundry off-peak electricity…

My Chinesium washer uses 0.4kWh per load. 4 cents worth of arbitrage.
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