Washing machines typically contain an enormous heavy lump of concrete to stabilise them during the spin cycle. This makes it appallingly inconvenient to move around.
The waterweight washing machine contains a flexible honeycombed bladder instead, which is filled and drained from the machine's water supply. The machine is shipped empty, and automatically fills the bladder with water when installed. The bladder drapes into all the internal nooks and crannies of the machine, making up for the fact it's not as dense as concrete, and the honeycombing stops it from sloshing about. When it's time to move the machine the water can be pumped or passively drained.-- aglet, Feb 01 2006 Removeable blocks Washing_20Machine_20BallastWater bladder idea baked in [hippo]'s first anno. [ConsulFlaminicus, Feb 01 2006] Seems awfully smart to me. Bun for you.
However, since the weight difference between a giant bladder of water and the weights currently used might be significant enough to affect operation, I propose a slight addition to your idea.
x = weight of existing system .. y = maximum weight which could be achieved by building a water bladder which filled all presently available space .. x-y=z .. z = weight of built-in concrete or steel plates. Overall, the machine would weigh much less if its stabilizing system was z instead of x.-- pigonthewing, Feb 02 2006 I will bun this one for the fact that it makes good sense. Although as much as I hate moving my washing machine I figure that the struggle is well worth having the concrete block underneath. I would feel more comfortable knowing that a concrete block is holding the machine in place rather than a bunch of honeycomb tanks sloshing the water around.-- Jscotty, Feb 02 2006 I was just about to link "Washing Machine Ballast" but [CF] beat me to it.-- hippo, Feb 02 2006 Actually, I don't understand the need for honeycomb design. Why not just fill the "bladder" completely. If there's no air in the system, it won't slosh.-- pigonthewing, Feb 02 2006 random, halfbakery