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Nobadays
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# Posted: 17 Aug 2019 10:47am
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I know I should have more data before I post but this little washing machine has been so good that I needed to let you all know. Of course this is aimed more at those, like us that spend 5-6 months a year at the cabin.
We tired quickly of going to the laundromat every other week and spending around $10 each time for wash and dry.
The model we got after reading reviews was the Panda PAN56MGW2 . Here is a link to it on Amazon: URL We lived in China for several years and these machines are common there.
We have not put a Kil-o-watt meter on it but it is estimated to use 103kwh per year, and I believe that is based on the national average of 6 loads of laundry/week. WAY ABOVE what most of us do... we are around 3-4 loads every two weeks and that includes sheets and towels. My wife usually waits until mid morning on a sunny day to do the wash.... solar system still floats without flinching.
Water usage, I wish I could find how much water each water level setting uses, but can't. That said it has 8 water level settings so you can, after a little experience set it to match the amount of clothing in the machine. We use "quick wash" which is about 25 minutes total, wash/spin/rinse/spin and though I can't find it right now I remember reading somewhere that this uses about 8 gallons of water.
The spin cycle is amazing. The cloths come out pretty much just damp so dry pretty quickly on the cloths line.
We have had no leakage or other problems a few of the reviewers had. Our cabin actually had a washer hookup in the downstairs bedroom...code... we found a hose quick release at the local hardware that fit the supply hose perfectly and screws onto the cold water outlet.
Anyway... for what it's worth a pretty nice little machine....
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ICC
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# Posted: 17 Aug 2019 10:57am
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Cool. 
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Absolutely
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# Posted: 17 Aug 2019 01:24pm
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Is this thing winterizable? Unless you are able to completely drain the water from it it will freeze and become damaged. I have to bring my Sun Joe pressure washer home every Labour Day weekend to avoid exposing it to sub zero temps.
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Nobadays
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# Posted: 17 Aug 2019 03:22pm
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Absolutely.... I hope so. I plan to take the drain hose off the bottom and disassemble the pump (or look for a drain plug). It only weighs 50 pounds so I can turn it all directions to try to get the water all out. If I don't feel it is completely empty, then it will come home with us like your pressure washer. .
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Steve_S
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# Posted: 17 Aug 2019 03:49pm
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Thanks for the Review, been pondering something like this for myself because the laundry mat thing seriously SUX ! I used to have a Westinghouse Unit about 30 years ago and it was pretty decent for what it was so I've pondered on what is available now.
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aktundra
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# Posted: 17 Aug 2019 04:32pm
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Appreciate the review... On those month long summer trips, the kids need more than the "Breathing Mobile Washer" (Fancy plunger). I've read good things about the Panda washer before.
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ICC
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# Posted: 17 Aug 2019 04:32pm - Edited by: ICC
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RV antifreeze. The Splendide washer/dryer combo unit in my RV has instructions on how to winterize. They have 2 suggested methods. The one I use involves starting and stopping different cycles and doing a reset to ensure the A-F goes thru both the hot and cold inlet valves. This method assumes one is running the A-F through the RV water system. The cycle is stopped when you begin to see A-F in the drum. Then spin is run and that's it. It takes a couple of gallons to do the entire RV system. Been doing that for years and it always works; never had to replace any freeze broken parts.
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mj1angier
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# Posted: 17 Aug 2019 04:34pm - Edited by: mj1angier
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I guess depending on how you supply it with water, you could put RV antifreeze in it for winter. Then just run it a start of season to clean it out
Edit: ICC beat me to it
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Nobadays
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# Posted: 17 Aug 2019 06:38pm
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ICC... MJ1.... Good idea! I will try to get all the water out I can then figure out a way to pump RV antifreeze through it. We use RV antifreeze in all our drains and the toilet so it is always on hand.
My wife did one load of wash today and do you think I could find my Kil-o-watt meter? Yeah...no. Told my wife I did a short review on the washer and she said, "I love it. It's a great little machine."
There are others out there to be sure.... Haier makes really good stuff but for th he money I'm thinking this one would be hard to beat.
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evanssophiya
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# Posted: 10 Sep 2019 09:52am
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I'm happy I saw this discussion. I was just looking for a good washing machine. Thanks for the review and for other tips. I go to place an order...
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Nobadays
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# Posted: 21 Oct 2019 04:10pm
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getting ready to close up the cabin for the winter.... well we will be back up the middle of December through the middle of January... then again for a week or so each month until May when we will move back for the summer.
Panda washer... still love it! We took it out side today and took the various lines off that could be take off, turned it every which way, but alas we could still hear water sloshing around in there somewhere. So we took ICC's/Mj1's advice and pumped RV anti freeze through it. As it is a cold only machine to begin with we didn't have to worry if we got AF in the hot side valves.
Procedure... We dumped 2 gallons of AF into our 7 gallon water container that is fitted with a regular hose faucet. Hooked that to our Chugger pump, then the pump to the washer inlet (tried gravity feed but that wouldn't work.) Put the washer on Quick Wash and water level set to 1L. Ran a little over a half a gallon inti the washer then hit spin cycle to pump the anti freeze/water mixture out. Then repeated the process with the rest of the AF in the water jug. This time we captured the AF back into a gallon container. got one full and one only about a quarter full. We dumped the quarter of a gallon and a little out of the full one into the washer drain to ensure that P-Trap was full of AF.
Only issue is now at the end of the spin cycle as it slows down there is a grating noise, sounds like from near the sprocket to the drum... though everything spins easily and can't recreate the noise by hand. Maybe that standing it upside down wasn't such a good idea! It still seems to work well...hoping the noise goes away....
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Nobadays
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# Posted: 18 Apr 2020 10:52am
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Update on the winterized Panda washer....
We ran a partial wash cycle with 4L water setting, then hit spin and let the pump remove the water, and finish spin cycle. We have the washer sitting in a hot water heater pan as it is on a wood floor, just in case. No water in the pan so all is good! And, that grating sound I heard last fall at the end of the spin cycle appears to be gone.
Overall I think pumping AF through the washer was a fine idea, thanks ICC!
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ICC
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# Posted: 18 Apr 2020 11:05am
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