Foretravel Owners' Forum For owners and Fans of Foretravel Motorcoaches September 14, 2025 ...

Washer/Dryer Disaster

August 20, 2013, 01:50:04 pm

I have a 2002 u320 with  combo washer/dryer in the bathroom area. It has never been used since I've owner the coach for 3 1/2 years. On an outing last week, came in to the coach and noticed a wet spot on the carpet. Not knowing where it came from, my wife opened the washer door without first looking in, guess what, the damn thing was full of water and flooded the bathroom and part of the bedroom. What a mess!!

No one has ever touched the dryer or the knobs. I have no idea how this happened. Could it be faulty plumbing in the coach or Called FOT and they had never heard of this problem either...... Has anyone out there ever had this problem???  Am replacing the carpet.

Ralph 

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Re: Washer/Dryer Disaster

Reply #1 – August 20, 2013, 02:03:37 pm

Might indicate a leak through the washer fill valve(s). 

Westland Sales is the customer/technical service group for Splendide and they have always been very helpful.  Contact Splendide Laundry Centers Sales or Service Departments in Clackamas,

ETA found this on their Maintenance page

Splendide Laundry Centers Consumer Tips

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Re: Washer/Dryer Disaster

Reply #2 – August 20, 2013, 02:39:17 pm

I have seen this happen many times after 46 years of fixing commercial laundry equipment, the rubber seat in the valve has turned hard from lack of use, and is bypassing,turn off the water behind the unit.

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Reply #3 – August 20, 2013, 03:37:59 pm

So true, Bill...Use it or lose it...The washer/drier needs to be exercised as much as the other many motorhome components.

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Reply #4 – August 20, 2013, 05:08:09 pm

Well you all are probably right. Everything dries up without use. I didn't get behind the unit, but turned off the water valves to the unit in the main bay shut off area. I'm just going to remove the unit and use the space for storage.  Thanks for the input.

Ralph

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Re: Washer/Dryer Disaster

Reply #5 – August 20, 2013, 05:13:38 pm

We took one out of our ORED years ago because of space. Listed it on EBay and it sold right away to someone in Maine. She paid me and had some friends from Kansas pick it up a couple of months later as they passed through Oklahoma.  Looking back there was a lot of trust involved but there is a definite demand for those units.

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Re: Washer/Dryer Disaster

Reply #6 – August 20, 2013, 08:57:23 pm

A great idea for an unused washer dryer, is turn it off at the water manifold. Eliminates surprises and stresses from high city water pressure surges.

Most coaches and stick homes are not built with water manifolds, to reduce plumbing costs, so since we have this luxury, we should take advantage. We are planning to soon work on our toilet and will turn off the toilet at the manifold.

FYI, we also did not use our washer/dryer and took it out to give us back a lot of valuable space. We also took out our stand-alone ice maker and love the extra kitchen cabinet space.

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Re: Washer/Dryer Disaster

Reply #7 – August 20, 2013, 09:08:59 pm

I have wondered where the shut off valves are on my '91. Anyone with the same year that can help? Am considering removing too, as the timer motor is dead.

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Re: Washer/Dryer Disaster

Reply #8 – August 20, 2013, 10:33:03 pm

Some older model Foretravels do not use water manifold shutoffs. I assume behind washer are water shut-off knobs. For a permanent removal, cap off pipe. After removing washer dryer, we removed some water & drain pipes and caped them off to improve our closet space.

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Re: Washer/Dryer Disaster

Reply #9 – August 21, 2013, 12:05:20 am

@Peter on our 92' the washer/dryer shut offs are under the floor in the cabinet next to the washer/dryer. There is a 6"x6" access panel covered with carpet. I suspect that's where yours will be also.

EDIT: just checked and you have to pull the whole carpet up. It was easy it's wasn't tacked down. You will have to move all of your wife's shoes to get to the floor if your coach is anything like mine.

see ya
ken

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Re: Washer/Dryer Disaster

Reply #10 – August 21, 2013, 10:50:43 am

Our connections (water and electric) are under the refrigerator. I suspect that when the time comes to install the unit I'll either have to do things by feel or find someone who doesn't need trifocals to see.

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Re: Washer/Dryer Disaster

Reply #11 – August 21, 2013, 12:48:45 pm

Ok, thanks, I'm going to tackle taking out the washer this weekend, I'll post the results.

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