Installing a Splendide

[Mike Hohnstein]

I'm sure you will do well, just don't be in a hurry for the "dry" cycle to end.
It never does.MH
----- Original Message -----
From: Don Bradner
To: wanderlodgeforum@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Wednesday, March 21, 2007 10:34 PM
Subject: [WanderlodgeForum] Installing a Splendide


I've found that having/using a washer/dryer in an RV is somewhat
controversial. Just today, a gentleman I met said that, while his was plumbed
for one, he would never install one because his wife says "I don't go on
vacations to do laundry!"

I suspect my wife would do laundry on a vacation, but we really don't consider
ourselves "vacationers." We spend roughly 6 months out of each year traveling,
and sometimes going home is the vacation! In any case, Joy says that a
washer/dryer is absolutely required. Our first SOB was plumbed, and we installed
ourselves with the biggest issue being just getting it in. Our second (most
recent) had a factory-installed W/D.

As we looked at PT Birds for several months it appeared that most had
washer/dryers, although the majority were unvented - unacceptable but an easy
swap-out. Some had them in a bay, which I was informed by SWMBO was also
unacceptable. Ultimately we settled on one that had never had a W/D, and I had
explicit instructions that this MUST be rectified in fairly short order.

Yesterday and today were spent on this task. I wasn't willing to tackle it
entirely on my own, so I engaged a local RV repair outfit, and they got the sale
of the Splendide 2000S as well. I have a good relationship with them, and they
are quite willing for me to work with them, which both reduces my bill and keeps
me completely in the loop.

I knew there were a lot of complications, primarily just getting one to fit.
The only possible location was the closet in the bathroom, seen on the left in
this picture: http://www.arcatapet.net/travel/images/9...3725-1.jpg with
its two sliding glass doors. In the back right-hand corner of the closet is a
trace containing the vent for the black tank. Behind the drawers, the drain from
the kitchen enters that vent line, so we felt comfortable adding the washer
effluent to the line as well. The main problem was clearance, both side-to-side,
and front to back. Side-to-side the door would not open far enough to clear the
left side of the W/D. The left side has to be clear, because the soap tray is
flush against that side and must have room to be pulled out. This problem was
solved by removing obstructions on the left door that stopped the right from
fully opening. A vertical piece of ply
Front to back clearance was not adequate because of the square trace around
the vent pipe. That was removed and cut off at the top of the W/D, at which
point we could just squeeze the unit in. We would have preferred the larger
Splendide 2100, but the extra inch of depth was prohibitive.

A 16-inch square hole was cut in the floor of the closet to facilitate access
to the hot/cold water pipes, and braces were added below to support the cutout
when it was replaced. After that is was a pretty straightforward install of
plumbing, wiring, and dryer vent. I ended up with a cost, including Calif tax,
of about $1450 for the W/D, plumbing parts, and labor. I think I probably saved
about $500 by participating, and I know exactly how it is installed if anything
goes wrong.

Don Bradner
90 PT40 "Blue Thunder"
Eureka, CA





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