It took us over 2 years of owning our Montana to finally settle on getting a washing machine and dryer installed. But our last trip out convinced us beyond reason. So we put all the wheels in motion and we now have it all done.
We had ours installed at our local dealership / shop but I did considerable prep work. The washing machine and dryer sit on a shelf directly on top of the water heater. So, knowing how flimsy these Montana's are made, I removed the cabinet doors and the middle shelves. I then removed the floor (above the water heater), and reinforced all the supports holding the main two shelves. It took about 3-4 days of work, cutting, fitting, attaching, and painting the new wood supports and also laid a second layer of 1/4 inch plywood on top of the existing 2 main shelves. Because washing machines rock and shake, they have a tendency to wear holes under their feet. This provided a layer of protection to keep the original shelves from getting damaged or crumble because of vibrations from the feet.
So, everything in place. When I went to pick up the camper after the install, the dealership told me that I had done a fantastic job on adding all the additional support, and having everything prepped in advance, it made the install very easy for them.
So, here's the before and after photos:
We've had the washer and dryer for about a week now, and we've used it every day, testing things out. Because we keep the camper parked at home, we live in the country, and can dump on either the ground or in our septic tank, it makes figuring out the actual usage very helpful. By catching the water draining from the washing machine in a bucket, it's easy to track exactly how much water it takes for each different cycle, and which cycle works best for us.
Here's the finding. On the short cycle, it uses about 8 gallons of water. On the longest cycle, it uses about 10 gallons of water. Also, the water drains into the grey tank, same as the shower and bathroom sink. Knowing this, now gives me a good gauge on how full the grey tank gets and how often I need to dump. It also gauges how much water I'm using out of the fresh water tank, because I never hook-up to shore water and leave the faucet open. I always run my water pump.
The longest cycle is 1 hour and 19 minutes. The shortest cycle is 30 minutes. The washing machine can handle a pretty decent size load, but definitely not as much as the front loader we have in our house. I think, if doing a nominal load of laundry every day, or every other day, the dryer can handle that with no problem at all. We set the dryer on 1 hour for every load we've done, and so far, everything is dried in an hour, including jeans and towels. The secret is not to over load it. If it doesn't "tumble" it's too too much.
So, for us, this is a success. Yes, when the washer spins out there is vibration through the entire camper. And it's quite obvious this is because of the balance in the washing machine drum. Because, when the drum is empty, there is no vibration at all. I suppose every washing machine vibrates on it's spin cycles. The difference is, the one in our house sits on a concrete floor, not on 4 wheels!
In my first week opinion.... this is a great success and a very welcome addition to our camper.
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