Phil L wrote:
Phil L wrote:
Yes, providing the head of water doesn't drop too low it should be
fine...bad things might happen if it drys up completely though, so
you may want to top it up from time to time

Forgot to add here

it doesn't require a fantastic amount of pressure, the machine simply opens
a valve for a set length of time, it can't 'know' how much water has passed
through in that time, unless it uses some sort of float valve, in which case
it doesn't matter how high or low the pressure is.



I beg to differ, most machines use a solenoid valve to control their
water intake, these valves do have a minimum pressure to open.
I just picked a random machine and downloaded a manual...
AEG Lavamat 1260 needs a minimum of 7PSI, that is .48 Bar, or 4.8 meters
of head.

IBC's are about 1m high, so when they are full the pressure at the tap
is 0.10 bar - The washing machine's inlet is probably about 80cm off the
ground? so if the IBC and the washer are on the same level, you need a
pump or you need to raise the water source as the static pressure would
be 0.02 bar - in fact, if you wanted to pump the water, you would need a
pump and a pressure vessel, as when the WM opens it's valve, you
wouldn't get any flow for the pump to see at that pressure, so it would
never start.

Also, all machines I have seen do have a sensor to detect the water
level, otherwise if you were washing towels one day and a few t-shirts
the other day, the water level would not be the same (the towels will
absorb a heck of a lot more water!)

Sparks...