We are lucky to have a washer and dryer onboard. We use it frequently when connected to full hookups. This year, due to poor planning and crowded campgrounds, we moved frequently and seldom had full hookups. Most of the time we had electric hookups, but only sometimes did we have water.
As I watched the laundry basket pile grow taller and taller, I knew we definitely needed to wash at least a few things. We were hooked up to water and I realized that there was enough room in the gray tank to run a load or two of clothes.
Here’s how I knew I had enough room in the gray tank to do laundry:
- Learn how much water each cycle uses in your RV’s washer. Our washer uses between 7 and 15 gallons of water per load, so I chose the setting that used the least amount of water and compared it to what was in the gray water tank.
- Check how much room is left in the gray water tank. Our gray tank holds 66 gallons and our levels were at a third. So I knew there was more than enough room for at least one, if not two, loads of laundry!
- Use the fresh water tank and pump. We could have run the washer without a water hookup using the fresh water tank and water pump, but we prefer to have water hooked up and not run the water pump that much.
- Watch gray levels and dump when needed. We were moving and dumping the tanks in the morning so it was so easy to have fresh, clean clothes. Why didn’t I think of that earlier, like … years ago?
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If you believe the level gauges, I’ve got a Bridge in Brooklyn for sale.
I’d never trust mine and I’ve got See Level
And my Flojet water pump pumps 3.2 Gallons a minute so your pump in a full load would run 5 minutes but not all at one time
Tom,
I calibrated my tanks (with the SeeLevel gauges) by HAND filling each tank A GALLON at a time..ON LEVEL GROUND… and calibrated the % accurately. As long as I am level, my accuracy is +/- 2 gals. It works well for me!
There are plenty of laundromats across this country. We spend less than two hours at one to do two weeks worth of laundry. We do have a Splendide in our coach but it would require us to do laundry every day as it is WAY too small.
I frequently do a load or two of laundry while the motorhome is traveling down the highway.
We have usied the washer and dryer with full hookups, partial hookups and no hookups. We NEVER leave the gray or black tank valves open, including while doing laundry. I am hesitant to run them while driving due to concern about the drum mechanism and bearings while bouncing down the highway. I don’t think they were designed for that kind movement.
How can you trust the gauges to tell you how full or empty the grey tank is?
agreed! The grey water tank gauge is at least as likely to be inaccurate as the black tank. You have no control over exactly how much the washer will expell and that could be a disaster. Not worth it. But hey, I just rather go to a laundromat and get them all done in an hour.