As some of you may know, we have a combo washer/dryer in the “garage” of our tiny home. Although it pales in comparison to a washer and dryer that we were used to in our home, it is wonderful to have the access to laundry right in our own trailer!
After some getting-used-to, some *slightly* shrunken clothes, and some very strong odors of “burning” when we left it on too hot for too long…we found a good system!
For those of you thinking of this washer/dryer in your unit, let me take you through our positives and negatives before we purchased it…
| Positives | Negatives |
| Easy Access | Very small drum/capacity |
| Takes up space (weight) in trailer (space that could be storage) | |
| Does not dry loads consistently | |
| Uses lots of water to fill rear tank |
At the end of the process, even though it didn’t seem like there were many positives, we decided to give it a shot and see how we liked it. The answer – we love it! Sure, it is not the best as compared to a household version, but we have to do laundry, and it is better than needing to walk to the campground laundry. We are able to start a load of clothes and then go out and about for the day. When we get home, they are washed and dried!
Kristin requested a clothes line in the back room, and we found a twin line that mounts to the wall. We also learned that using the “low heat” button on all loads (except towels) was helpful in preventing shrinking, wrinkling, and the awful burning smell in the drying cycle.
If you are thinking of getting one:
- Weekend camper: I would probably take the extra storage space instead, unless there was already ample storage space.
- Full-time family, especially with kids: it is a must! The occasional bathroom accident is quickly washed away! You can even run the onboard generator and water pump while you are traveling if laundry is needed on an otherwise travel-designated day.
Back to the problem!
Kristin and Sydnee has gone to Texas to visit some friends for a weekend, and the boys and I had spent the weekend cleaning the truck inside and out! We were washing the 3 microfiber rags we used when I walked in to a bizarre array of flashing lights:
Upon further inspection, I found out the reason it was flashing…..
“Oh no…”
So, I went to the wizard for help…the Google…
I found a spectacular manual on the washer! It is not a user manual, per se, but it was as good as it gets for what I needed at 10 o’clock at night in the middle of no-where, Central Virginia.
I will upload it here for anyone needing the help, in a middle of the night, desperate for answers. We have a Splendide WDC 7100XC, but it is very workable for many other “Splendide” combo models (its actually for the 2100).
Here’s how I quickly arrived at the fault…
A quick look through the manual and it appeared this issue might just be an “easy fix.”
The fix!
- Materials needed:
- Bucket
- Cup
- Cookie sheet
- Medium slotted (flat head) screwdriver
- Paper towels
Using the cup, transfer the water to the bucket…the more you get out the less mess that will follow in the next steps…
Next, remove the bottom cover:
Use the screwdriver to slow pry the bottom panel off on each side. Almost ZERO force is needed, so be gentle!
Place the cookie sheet just below the black turn knob on the right and slowly turn to start water flow. The water will need to flow (at minimum) through the piping just under the metal drum, to the drain, so you will need to close the black knob when the pan becomes full and then repeat until there is no longer water coming out.
I could not get the knob to fully twist by hand, so I had to use some channel locks (pliers) to gently finish the job.
Success! I found the problem…the drain was blocked by a rouge….MASK! COVID…you ruin my life again…
