Washing Machine for cruising

A decade ago friends of ours Dave and Stacey McCampbell were cruising with a 12v dc washing machine aboard.  The idea intrigued me, but our boat preparations were no where near that stage of finality, so did not do 'much' research.  I did discover that in the U.S. even 120v. A.C. units were very difficult to get.  The benefit of these small washers were the applicability of them to small boat cruising.  Small physical dimensions coupled with very low power consumption made these an acceptable or desired inventory item.  Twelve volt (12vdc units) would not have to use an inverter, saving on the conversion of electricity.  However, since these units draw so little and are used so infrequently, the cost saving realized on purchasing a unit built for the masses (120-v.alternating.current.) vs. a (12v.direct current ) unit, would be paid for, 'up front'.With some ingenuity, a space could be found to secure the beast while underway as well as space to use one while at anchor.

While shopping in Central America we would often see many different brands of these mini-washer/spin dryer double tub units.  Ideally, I would love to find a single tub unit with small dimensions, but so far have not.

I have found these units, measuring approximately 32"H x 28"W x 16"D for $140-$180 range.  Slightly larger units cost a bit more but the size is not required for a couple aboard to keep up with laundry.  The smallest sizes seem perfect though.

Yesterday, in Changuinola, Panama, we passed a dept. store in town that had an advertised special...looked like a clearance sale on a small washing machine.  While in the store I checked them out and this was nearly the smallest and price had been dropped from $149 to $109.  My brain lit up with activity.  Was it worth it, should I try it?  Do we have space(NO)? Where could I put it for a "trial'?  Well, you know who won, or should I say, you know how long it took me to pay for the thing!!

At $109.99, it was worth a try.  We are heading to the San Blas islands for 2 months and it would be a great test of the concept.  I won't install the unit anywhere, but keep it secured inside the boat (somewhere), and put it in the cockpit once a week or so to do laundry.  If we like the concept I'll install it below decks somewhere  or get another but slightly smaller one (probably at $149 or so) to install.  This beauty can be resold to another cruiser at a great price.

The power draw in "Washing" cycle is 300 watts (spin cycle 135 watts).  This is an easy load on our small but efficient sine wave 1100 watt inverter.  The cycle for washing is from 3-15 minutes, so even the longest wash would only consume 75 watts of power, or about 6 amps. I ran it for a test run and found the water got colored with 'dirt' in the first few minutes and didn't get any worse after that so I feel 6 minutes would be fine if Energy Usage was the Concern.... No problem- At 6 minutes divided into 300 watts, 30 would be used! (Less than 2.5 amps/cycle) We ran it for a Wash Cycle and 2 rinse Cycles  (3 x 2.5 = 7.5amps.) and 3 Spin cycles of 2 minutes each (so .10 of 135 is 13.5 watts or 2.2 amps.) Our solar system could handle this without a blink and so could our battery system if used at night.  Wonderful!  Our plan is to wash, and spin electrically for under 10 amps of usage/week or so, then hang dry-- BOTH totally solar funded.

Wonderful!  Hmmm. consider 8-10 gallons per load (wash+2 rinse=24-30 gallons).  Ideas??