Installing a Splendide

[Don Bradner]

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 plywood (carpet covered), the "button pusher" for
the closet light, and the cover over the back of the latch. All peeled off with
lots of trepidation about breaking the glass.

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