Bighorn 3010RE Installed Dishwasher in Kitchen cabinet

[Garypowell]

When I joined the forum a couple of weeks back my first post was if anyone had removed their stove and installed a dish washer. Linda and I are now on our 5th fifth wheel (since 1995) and have always thought of this modification but never tried. I had some interesting responses but no one reported they had tried.

As I looked closer at the stove I could see it would not be possible before our first trip as the stove and cooktop where one unit. And it seemed too big of a project in such a short amount of time.

Linda noticed that the one of the kitchen cabinets backed up to a bathroom cabinet. It also seemed that a shelf in the kitchen was at the same basic level as the floor of this bathroom cabinet. An idea was born.

As you will see below I proceeded very cautiously and made sure all would fit and work before cutting a stud out. Even with the wall removed between the two cabinets I could simply reinstall them if needed.

First we identified the dishwasher (http://www.compactappliance.com/Dishwashers/Appliances-Dishwashers,default,sc.html) and decided that if this custom install idea would not work we could "live" with the dishwasher being on the kitchen counter.

We purchased the unit, tested it and found that it worked excellently.

The attached pictures tell the story but......

1. Picture of cabinets before.
2. Shelf examination and drilling pilot hole to get some idea of spacing. You’ll see the pilot hole on the next picture.
3. Removing one shelf and mapping out where the unit would sit. You can see the pilot hole right next to my favorite beverage.
4. Cutting through the wall. I put the level down into the wall as I wanted to see where I was in the basement.
5. Measuring how far back into the bathroom cabinet the unit would sit and if there was room for plumbing.

At this point I called Heartland to make sure the "stud" was not load bearing. I was assured it was not and that it could be removed.

6. The stud removed and a base board installed. You will notice the opening is offset. This is due to another stud to the right and the face of the bathroom cabinet is there too. I had to shim up the bathroom floor as it was about 3" lower than the shelf in the kitchen.

7. Close up of base board fitting into shelf….a small shim needed.

8. Trim board reinstalled.

9. Dishwasher installed.

10. Dishwasher with door opened.

11. You can see the view from the bathroom with the hole in the floor for plumbing and electrical. The two bolts go all the way through to the basement. The idea being that this will bear a majority of the weight of the unit rather than the shelf in the kitchen.

12. Plumbing in place. Obviously not a pretty sight and I am sure I will clean it by shortening some of the lines later.

13. I installed a shelf (using different lengths of legs) to cover plumbing and make this space usable again. The shelf also keeps the unit from sliding back. I also installed two “L” brackets on the front to keep it from sliding forward.

14. Plumbing from below. The drain line is from the shower and the supply is from the kitchen run. I did not take a picture but I insulated all of the hot water lines. Also not being real confident of my plumbing prowess I put a 2' by 4' plastic tub under all the plumbing with two water alarms installed.....just in case!

The power comes from the vacuum receptacle that I put a three way splitter into. Linda was OK with the reality that we cannot do dishes and vacuum at the same time.

15. The first load using the 12 volt pump. Since then I have pressure tested the lines with city water but was not able to run a load of dishes as the generator was back in the garage by this time.

It probably took me 10 hours over 5 days to accomplish this. The project might not be for all but since Linda and I work on the road (Sales Reps) we try and make things as easy as possible for ourselves in the evening. We start our first sales trip in two weeks out to Louisiana and back (covering upper FL, Lower GA, AL, MS and LA) so I am glad I got this done in time……and we still have our oven.

 

[TravelTiger]

Wow, that is awesome! Looks like a great solution!

 

[Nabo]

Now that's impressive !!!! Way to go. The wheels are turning on how we can modify our coach.

 

[JohnDar]

Quite the modification! My only concern, based on how our home dishwasher functions, is how are you venting the heat/steam that is generated during the drying cycle? If it's trapped in the cabinet or condensing on the wood above, it might become a problem over time.

 

[jbeletti]

Really nice Gary!

 

[back2nature]

Wow. Amazing mod.

Sent from my cell using Tapatalk2

 

[Garypowell]

Johndar. Great point. When I ran the unit at home I could not see any steam coming off. It is so quite we will run the unit with the kitchen side door open. If I see any problems in operation I'll post them. I realize moisture in a unit can be a real problem.

Gary

 

[Freckles]

Very nice thanks for sharing !!!

 

[porthole]

Been trying to figure where on the Cyclone to do just this, but the 3010 is just a bit limited on room. Next trailer will have one though.
looks great, I do have one suggestion, build a drain pan under the unit since it is over your electrical panel.

 

[JohnDar]

Johndar. Great point. When I ran the unit at home I could not see any steam coming off. It is so quite we will run the unit with the kitchen side door open. If I see any problems in operation I'll post them. I realize moisture in a unit can be a real problem.

Gary

Cool! Years ago, we had a small counter-top dishwasher, then graduated to the larger ones and then built-ins. Seems they all exhausted hot moist air from vents in the door when they were drying.

You are becoming one of the "Mod Kings."

 

[Garypowell]

Porthole,

Thanks....frankly something I had not thought of but a very good point. What hit me first was maybe to use a shower membrane like is used in new construction. this could sit under the unit with very little height adustment since there is very little room to move up. This sheet of plastic could then be shaped back into the bathroom cabinet to direct the water down the hole into my safety pan that has the water alarms in it.

Believe me for a few loads of dishes I'll probably stand in front of it for the whole load just watching and listening!

If you have not noticed yet I tend to be a work in progress kind of person. I get most of the idea down but obviously have not thought about a couple of things....but once pointed out there is always a solution. Just like Johndar's point about moisture....I would use this same plastic (unseen from the front) but fastened above and again if any condinsate happened it would be directed towards towards this drain pan too.

Thanks again for pointing this out.....I'll come up with something.

Gary

 

[porthole]

In our house my air handler is in the attic along with a water heater coil for my heat. Just a HVAC tin pan hammered into a shoe box lid type pan with a drain on one end. The drain is in the soffit in fornt of a window.

The shower pan idea would probably work just as well and maybe easier to form.

So, what do you figure, about a full meal for four worth of place settings etc?

 

[oscar]

As the chef AND chief bottle washer all I can say is wow.....NEED! (OK, want.......)
Thanks for the link to the unit. Never heard of them...

 

[Garypowell]

I thought I would write an update on my installation of a dish washer. We have used the unit for the past three weeks and in general have been very pleased.</SPAN>

The dishwasher was down for several days as it would not drain. Once I had the chance I unhooked the drain line I did a wash draining into a bucket….all was well. This meant I had a blockage in the line I had installed. I investigated this way as most of the drain line I added was in the basement and I was not looking forward to taking the wall down again. But unfortunately I had to.
</SPAN>
I found a piece of plastic in a union between two of the fittings. It must have come from something internal as it did not look like anything that would have been on a plate and it was too big to have made it past the strainer system inside the dishwasher.
</SPAN>
One of the problems I suffer is not being anything close to a plumber. My plumbing usually looks like a “convention for fittings”. When I reinstalled the line I was able to remove most of the fittings and tubing I had added. It turned out the drain line from the unit itself was long enough to hook almost directly to the 1 ½ drain line (through the Y I had installed and a 3/4" nipple) from the shower. So I don’t think we’ll have this problem again as the whole path is now ¾” all the way.
</SPAN>
When I first wrote up the project I had two good constructive points made. One was that I had installed the unit right above the power distribution center in the 3010RE. So I purchased some “shower pan” material and built a pan (pictures attached) that I placed under the unit. It is crude at best…..but does the trick of protecting the electrical below it. It is shaped such that it will dump any water that collects into the basement…which I had already put a pan in to collect any water leakage.
</SPAN>
The other concern was that the unit would vent steam and possibly damage the cabinetry around it. Again a great point….except now that we have used the unit we realize it does not vent until you open the door. Every other dishwasher I have ever owned has a “click” at the end of the cycle that opens a vent….where the vapor comes out. This unit simply does not have this.
</SPAN>
What we discovered is that if we open the door right away we get a ton of steam but if we leave the closed for about an hour and then open it…..no steam comes out as everything is cooled down.</SPAN>

We do run the unit with the cabinet doors cracked open….just sitting on the latching mechanism.</SPAN>

All-in-all we are very pleased with how this has worked out. We probably do about 1.75 loads a day. It is rated to hold a place setting for six but does not account for what it takes to make that meal.








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[Theresau]

Has anyone purchased the countertop dishwasher - I'm considering this. Camping World has a Vesta model and Amazon has some add'l choices. I think it would fit well on the 3251 TS countertop - we're going to check to see if we could run the water lines somehow through the wine rack and then we would just have to plug it in. If we can't do the water lines easily that way, we'll change the faucet so it can be hooked up.

Theresa

 

[Trenk]

Installed a dishwasher under the sink, wife loves it

 

[danemayer]

Hi Trenk,

Welcome to the posting side of the Heartland Owners Forum and thanks for joining in the discussion. I'm sure a lot of people would be interested in a description of your installation along with pictures.

 

[jmgratz]

Personal opinion - The problem with having a dishwasher is putting dishes in the dishwasher without wiping them or rinsing them off could lead to food particles going into the Gray tank. Then you have the issue of getting the gray tank rinsed out. So since you have to wipe or rinse them off anyway you might as well hand wash them. BTW a dishwasher uses much more water and electricity and adds even more weight to the coach. MHO

 

[ParkIt]

Pretty soon you don't become afraid of your unit....this proves just about anything can be changed to suit you

 

[Trenk]

With a little revamping of the plumbing under the sink, the dishwasher fits fine. we can also close the doors when it is not being used.