Those of you with washer/dryers in their RVS, while a dryer usually needs a lot of electricity, are RV inverters usually big enough to run the washer while underway? Seems like that would be a good use of washer time if it was possible... Start the day with enough water in the tank for the wash cycle then dump when you arrive at your destination.

I would not do it just because of the high speed spin. I would be afraid of damaging the washer depending upon road conditions. Other than the spin, might be fine.

Done it a few times with no issues.

Do it all the time, no problem.

I wash clothes when stopped, at an rv park or laundramat.

Usually not but we have done it

Washing clothes while underway | Good Sam Community

20 Replies

scabello
Explorer
Jan 05, 2020
Do not run while underway. I used to do it ... then one day the belt broke! What a pain to go in there and swap it. Pull that heavy equipment out and open it up in the middle of the coach...

The new belt was wider — so i thought the original was a defective design. So back to using washer and dryer on the road. Then the belt slipped off! Not worth the effort to repair. Dont do it.
Edd505
Explorer
Jan 01, 2020
Alan_Hepburn wrote:
When we bought our RV I read all the manuals - the washer/dryer manual said it uses a maximum of 14 gallons of water per load so we figured it would work well while we were driving. So, one day we decided to try it: put a small load in and hit the road. Everything went well - we even forgot the machine was running. That is until it started its high speed spin cycle: while it's trying to balance the load in the drum it can cause quite a vibration - we were sure we just blew a tire or something, until we remembered the washer was running!
Rice
Explorer III
Dec 31, 2019
garyemunson wrote:
Those of you with washer/dryers in their RVS, while a dryer usually needs a lot of electricity, are RV inverters usually big enough to run the washer while underway?

I, like others, am uneasy about how the spinning of the washing machine would interact with the RV jostling down the road.

But to answer your question, I used a Kill-a-Watt to measure the electrical draw of my old Splendide 2000 combo unit. The most it used while washing was during the super-high spin at the end of the cycle, with the pump running (the pump runs only intermittently during spinning). That was about 400 watts.

During the regular spin cycle, it used 240 watts when the pump was also running. The pump itself uses about 100 watts.

The wash cycle, where the drum turns one way and then the other, maxed out at 150 watts.

For the full 1 hour and 15 minute cycle (one wash, three rinses), it used 0.210 kilowatt hours. That would be about 18 amp hours out of the batteries.

When washing, the Splendide is not a high-amp appliance like a microwave or hair dryer.
Mile_High
Explorer
Dec 30, 2019
We like to do laundry while running down the road. If I remember correctly, we have to run back and restart the washer and/or dryer if I happen to shut the generator off and restart it for any reason.
All_I_could_aff
Explorer
Dec 27, 2019
I don’t like leaving wet clothes in the washer longer than necessary, but to each his own. I’d wash an hour before bed, then put in dryer at bedtime.

By the way, I aspire to one day have a big Diesel pusher with 4 slides and washer/dryer, but for now, it’s just a 20 year old 17 foot hybrid trailer!
Executive45
Explorer III
Dec 27, 2019
I put a load in before going to bed at night. Next morning, clothes are ready to be dried and put away. Easiest way to do laundry..Mine does not go through the inverter...Dennis
dougrainer
Nomad
Dec 26, 2019
time2roll wrote:
I can't imagine any issue with a sine wave inverter or running the washer in general... or the dryer for that matter. Grey tank would be my only concern.

The issue is simple. You can only run so many hi amp appliances thru an Inverter. When NOT Inverting, you have pass thru 120 power going thru your Inverter. There is a limit to how many appliances can be run thru an Inverter. That limit is the SIZE of the Pass thru Inverter 120 breaker/s AND its Transfer relay. Yes, no RV Washer/Dryer will overload a 2000 watt or larger Inverter. But why make the Inverter work that hard? Run your Genset. It needs regular running also and most RV'ers never run their Genset enough anyway. Doug
Bird_Freak
Explorer II
Dec 25, 2019
My wife always did the laundry on the way home in the mh. I left with a empty grey tank and plenty of fresh water. Fired up genny when she started.
Eight years with no problems.
js218
Explorer
Dec 25, 2019
150 gallons fresh, 125 gallons gray,75 gallons black no problem doing wash rolling down the road with gen set on.
time2roll
Nomad
Dec 25, 2019
I can't imagine any issue with a sine wave inverter or running the washer in general... or the dryer for that matter. Grey tank would be my only concern.