Converted my Space Saver Dryer from 240 to 120volts

[Nashville Kat]

Not terribly hard to do- the drawback is that when you half the voltage on a heater coil, the wattage is cut by 4, not just half.

So it runs cool and takes longer, but fits in my bathroom inside the house and with no special 240 wiring- though I intend to use it on the circuit by itself in use. (The washer is out in the garage still, with another old dryer)

The motors actually usually run on 120 volts and the heater element only is wired with the 240, so there's a way to wire it up.

I've been chatting on automaticwasher.org as I did it and musing about the design:
http://www.automaticwasher.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?51910_45
snuck in a picture of the old 66 build, to spread the love around.

I got that EXPENSIVE oil filter DELIVERED by the way, for my Sears lawn tractor- but my post about my difficulties and expense there was deleted and called a "corporate rant". I thought it was some pretty solid consumer reporting actually.

Below- my Kenmore Space Saver- now converted to 120 volts.

 

[Nashville Kat]

So now I'm setting up a Haier 1.46 cu ft portable washer in the bathroom with it. I was originally going to move the old full sized Maytag from the garage inside, until I realized it wasn't gonna fit through the 24" door without putting in a whole new door frame and door. So I got this Haier new on ebay for about a third less than the retail at Walmart, and a pretty nice little unit- bigger than I thought it would be!

http://www.walmart.com/ip/5043376?w...55161350&wl4=&wl5=pla&wl6=34989828550&veh=sem

It's got only one water inlet, so I'm running it through a laundry faucet with a hose end, to mix temperatures the way I want. The bathroom had a double sink and long counter top I got rid of last summer , cause another water heater is going there too . So anyway there are water lines and a down drain already in the wall. And I'll gradually phase out the water heater out by the old washer in the garage that has a 35 or 40 foot run to the inside plumbing (Florida!)

Probably have it done in a day or two so I'll take some photos.

Anyway- now I can do almost all of my laundry INSIDE the house instead of going out to the detached garage/ shed, but I'll still have the older machines and water heater out there for bigger things if I need to wash out there.

Pretty cool!

 

[bluegoatwoods]

Nice home-brew engineering. My favorite kind.

One advantage you'll find; having two dryers can speed things up. You can keep that washer running, when you've got a lot of laundry, without getting backed up.

 

[Nashville Kat]

Got the plumbing up and the Haier portable installed today- using a laundry faucet with a 3/4 hose thread built in to the end, for the single washer hoose inlet- there's no need for a leaky adapter, and I have full control over the water temp with the faucet. The drain hose goes right into the wall where the old sink drained

I was surprised when I got this machine at how big the tub actually is- MUCH LARGER than it looked in pictures on the net- it's actually about 17 inches deep- the red printing is centered at the yardstick's midpoint- by 15 inches in diameter- under the upper lip- and with no agitator taking up space in the center, it really hiolds quite a lot- a full smaller plastic laundry basket-

so now I can wash and dry lightweight normal stuff inside, and still do heavier items in the old machines still in the shed.

I'm excited!

 

[scotto-]

That's cool NKat......I just converted this wood burning fireplace I built 30 years ago at my parents home......
from this




into this natural gas burning with a ledger stone facelift fireplace





Almost finished, just have to finish the stone capping on the mantle, and finish grout and install the gas logs and valve.

Which look do you like better, the original slump block or the ledger stone with sandstone hearth ?

 

[scotto-]

Yeah.....volts times amps equals watts, which has nothing to do with this:

gas burning bike

Ohm's law.....not mine