I bought one of these because my washing machine is awaiting repair and my attempts at handwashing in the bath leave a lot to be desired.
The reviews I’ve read on here are accurate. You get a timer varying from 6 minutes to 15 minutes, manually fill it with water and have to drain it yourself with the supplied drain hose.
The spin is pointless, it’s just so slow and the basket fits a couple of pairs of socks and underwear at most. For me this doesn’t matter, it’s not going to be my daily clothes washing machine.
One thing that did worry me is after one 15 minute run and 12 minutes through another it cut out. I thought it could be the fuse, changed it - nothing. I could smell the machine was warm (that sort of hot electric smell) so I popped the cover off the back and used a temperature gun to check the motor which was sitting at 140 degrees Celsius. It did cool down and started working again so there must be a thermal cutoff in there somewhere. I found the likely reason for this is nearly all the vent holes on the bottom were covered in a thin film of plastic from manufacturing. I poked this out with a screwdriver, will it be enough to keep it cooler? Hopefully.
I also noticed all the mains electric cables and switches are in a small clear plastic bag zip tied to the side of the washing machine. I’d be amazed if this was safe and given it is 6 inches from a motor that was belting out 140 degrees of heat it could melt. I’d recommend keeping an eye on this and definitely do not allow water to get in the bottom of the unit.
Overall safety concerns aside it did a better job than I could by hand. I’ll modify mine to get the wires in a waterproof and melt proof enclosure. I’d recommend you do the same.
Update after a few weeks of use: Still overheats constantly and cuts out after 1 x wash and about half a rinse, to the point I think it's probably dangerous. As a result I'm not going to use it anymore.
| Brand | DMD Collective |
|---|---|
| Model | DMDWS1 |
| Product Dimensions | 39 x 39 x 62 cm; 7.5 kg |
| Capacity | 3 Kilograms |
| Maximum Rotational Speed | 1200 RPM |
| Installation Type | Freestanding |
| Part Number | DMDWS1 |
| Special Features | Portable, Quiet Operation, High Efficiency, Gravity Drain, Timer Functions |
| Colour | Black |
| Control Console | Knob |
| Number of Standard Cycles | 2 |
| Access Location | Top Load |
| Voltage | 2.4E+2 Volts |
| Material Type | ABS |
| Included Components | Power Cord, Drain Hose, Inlet Hose, Spin Basket |
| Batteries Required? | No |
| Item Weight | 7.5 kg |
