41–50 of 166 posts
I find innovations like this wonderfully elegant when they're so obvious in hindsight. It boggles the mind nobody thought of this before. There must be other problems with radically better obvious-in-hindsight solutions out there too.
What makes you think nobody thought of this before?
Sorry to be off topic, but shouldn't it be "worked as well"? Not a native speaker, but it sounds strange.
Very interesting idea, though as many have pointed out, I'd be worried of leakage in the long run. A plastic container should be cheap to replace, however.
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Because it wasn't a priority. Plastic is more expensive than concrete. It's only now that "look how green we are" is able to tip the balance to where it's worth implementing. If someone really wanted they could come up with a more complicated counterbalance solution and probably eliminate the dead weight entirely. I really want to see how they came up with their numbers. I suspect that they're overly optimistic. +/-1…
I somewhat doubt that a hollow plastic tank is significantly more expensive than a concrete block. Factor in the added cost of shipping the much heavier concrete block, and it seems like the manufacturer would also save money in the process.
And there is no real "visible" added cost of transport.
A 70 kg washing machine is typically 0.60x0.60x0.90=0.324 cubic meters, let's say 0.7x0.7x1,00=0.49-0.50 including packaging, it has a a very low "density" of 70/500=0.14.
On a truck with a platform of 2.40 m x 13.00 m (a normal large truck with a loading accepted of around 30,000 Kg ) you can usually put (in two levels) between 100 and 110 washers (2.40/0.7=3 13/0.7=18 2x3x18=108).
So you have this big truck, designed to carry 30,000 Kg and you load it with 8,000 Kg instead.
Do you think you will get a discount from the trucker?
And do you think that you will get a further discount if the load is 5,000 instead?
As well, do you think that you will get a discount from the delivery (and installing) guy if it weights 20 Kg less (but the guy needs to remove the top cover, fill the tank, re-assemble the cover)?
From an environmental viewpoint there are undoubtedly savings but the manufacturer (or the customer) won't be able to appreciate them in practice.
god dammit, yet another stupid idea I thought nobody would ever like. ps: same goes for almost every dead weight transport. Road blocks, you name it. Someone computes the wasted energy ? pps: what about vertical axis spinning models ? I remember people saying they were inneficient. Anyone can explain ? ppps: I remember a guy in africa coupling a dead bike to a vertical spinning container. sigh
Horizontal axis is better because it tumbles the clothes through a small puddle of water at the bottom. Vertical axis requires lots of energy to agitate, and a lot of water.
>"We found it worked as good as a concrete counterweight, stopping the spinning drum from heavily vibrating the machine," Sorry to be off topic, but shouldn't it be "worked as well "? Not a native speaker, but it sounds strange. Very interesting idea, though as many have pointed out, I'd be worried of leakage in the long run. A plastic container should be cheap to replace, however.
Newer washing machines have less concrete in them that before - My guess would be that in the past the water tank would have been to large to actually fit the machine. I also wonder how the plastic will stand up to the vibrations. You might get leaks because the plastic will flex and eventually rupture from stress. The reason why newer machines have less counterweight is that the motors are electronically regulated t…
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it's one of those ideas that seems so obvious and sensible in retrospect it makes you wonder how many other stupid designs are hidden in plain view, and why did this problem not get solved until 2017, when there are robots on Mars and probes orbiting Jupiter and Saturn ?
I got this idea long ago but I couldn't think of a way of using this idea. Then I thought it was obvious and that it was not implemented for some non obvious reason I didn't know.
This seems to be such an incredible innovation, the questions arise : is it really feasible and why has it not happened before?
Well, concrete is solid and water is liquid. I know it sounds obvious, but have you ever seen in your life a plastic flask or tank or jerry can that after several years leaked? It is of course doable, but how durable will it be? Imagine the kind of vibrations and shocks a jerry can used as a counterbalancing device in a relatively hot environment needs to bear. A good, environment-friendly idea would be to make the c…
I never knew washing machines had concrete in them :(
they show what happens if you take the block out. Also how comercial machines do without it by balancing the load.
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Then you need to pay to ship sand. The upside is it would probably be easier to install, downside if it breaks you need to deal with sand.
But it doesn't need to be shipped from the factory in China to the user. Sand can be locally sourced cheaply. Washing machine installers just need an additional material on their truck, in addition to the tools and plumbing supplies they already carry. 25kg of sand costs $0.50 from a landscaping yard.