[throwing_away]

I'm also a software engineer and recently got new LG washer and dryer.

I have not yet figured out how to manually change the settings, as the buttons don't do anything when you press them.

I leave it on "normal" and it seems fine, and surely there is a way to activate those buttons, but I haven't found it.

I could probably install the app on my android device and use it to connect them to wifi, where I could presumably configure them.

Instead, however, I am looking at electronics-free diesel trucks.

[mmierz]

I have an LG washer/dryer as well. On mine, you need to rotate the large central knob by one "click", then the buttons start to work.

Why? No idea.

[resize2996]

How's that diesel truck research going? I've thought about getting into auto repair as a hobby, but wrenching on modern cars would basically be my day-job with added wire fiddling.

[throwing_away]

I learned that most diesel cars and trucks are still dependent on electronics for fuel injection and also have a higher minimum-quality of diesel.

The prepper nerds seem to advocate for Cummins 12-valve engines from the 1990s or the Toyota 1HZ.

There's a whole lot of old diesel LandCruisers out there. I'm guessing that's the sweet spot for it still being a normal car that mechanics can maintain while still being comfy and looking cool.

[ahartmetz]

You can avoid buying crap with obfuscated UIs... mostly.

[theendisney]

Maybe a washer can be made without electricity. Have a tank of cold compressed air and use a blow torch to heat it and make new compressed air.

[_heimdall]

Look up the Wonderwash. It basically looks like a small propane tank on an axle that you manually spin to wash your cloths. It works surprisingly well for washing cloths without electricity.

[rurp]

How long does it take to manually dry a normal load with that thing? My dryer takes at least an hour to dry a modest sized load of normal clothes so I would expect a non-powered one to take many hours, but maybe my modern dryer is really so bad it doesn't save much time.

[_heimdall]

With the first few loads I wrung cloths out by hand and tossed them in the dryer. I didn't notice it being longer, but I also didn't time it so 20-30% longer wouldn't surprise me.

After a few loads I bought a hand crank cloths wringer, basically two rollers that squeezes the water out. That thing honestly works better than a spin cycle, cloths are more dry than coming out of the washer and I have noticed the dryer finishing faster (I usually run it on an auto sense mode rather than a timer).