print washer on folding table – engineering question

[Chester McCheeserton]

This is a follow up post to my bathroom darkroom question –

I got a folding fish cleaning table that claims it can support a weight of 220 pounds. My kostiner 11x14 print washer weighs, I believe, 33 lbs dry.
I want to try having the print washer sit it in this table, (after I'm done with the printing session and have removed my dev/stop/fix trays) and running the wash in here, it would be so much more ergonomically correct than having in on the floor of my shower. But obviously I don't want the weight of the washer to collapse the whole shebang and have a huge mess to deal with. I'm thinking of maybe constructing a crude 2x4 T base to prop underneath table as kind of a 'safety'...

Anyone have any experience they can share with something similar?

[Drew Wiley]

Will it hold 220 lb stable? (without wobbling). I'm skeptical. It looks flimsy. And how long will it be to the assembly bolts rust? (You could replace those with stainless steel).

[Graham Patterson]

You can get the approximate full weight by measuring the internal dimensions and applying the weight of water for whatever unit of volume you choose.

I'm a little less skeptical of the overall strength than Drew, but I would wonder about the effect of local loading (big sink, small washer footprint) on the sink base, and stability with the weight quite high. You have to make your own risk assessment. One flood and the Civil Authority will be having words!

[Chester McCheeserton]

Will it hold 220 lb stable? (without wobbling). I'm skeptical. It looks flimsy. And how long will it be to the assembly bolts rust? (You could replace those with stainless steel).

Yea, I don't know - that's just what they claim.
I'm also a little skeptical, although it is less flimsy than it looks. Like it's way sturdier than a normal church style folding table. The frame is steel. I'm not sure the assembly bolts would ever get wet but will look at that.

[Chester McCheeserton]

You can get the approximate full weight by measuring the internal dimensions and applying the weight of water for whatever unit of volume you choose.

I'm a little less skeptical of the overall strength than Drew, but I would wonder about the effect of local loading (big sink, small washer footprint) on the sink base, and stability with the weight quite high. You have to make your own risk assessment. One flood and the Civil Authority will be having words!

Yes. It's borderline to be sure. But if 220 lb capacity is accurate, and feeling the stability with the dry sink in it, I'm inclined to try it gingerly. Was also trying to gauge if placing washer not in middle but more over one of the leg sets would be less risk.

[Fred L]

I wouldn't attempt this at all. The weight load is likely under ideal conditions but my worry would be if one set of legs collapsed, well that'd be a helluva mess. I wouldn't trust these folding legs to support several hundred pounds tbh.

[Mark J]

It seems to me that it would have to be safe as sold to support the whole sink being full. Can you check what the approx WxHxL of the full sink would be, and compare to your print washer volume & weight ?

[Drew Wiley]

Get a real machinery stand. Try a woodworking or warehouse supplier. Or build something out of wood and seal it well. You don't want any ambiguity over the term, "collapsible". I sold machinery for decades, and long ago came to understand how certain products are marketed with a high BS coefficient when it comes to weight ratings. That applies to even ladders. You'd be way better off with a serious set of collapsible steel or even rigid reinforced plastic sawhorses, and the sink arrangement set atop that. They'd even cost you less.

[Eric Woodbury]

You should be fine. You have the washer on one end, directly over the legs. The washer doesn't weigh anything close to that and there are no dynamics here. Avoid earthquakes. Just give it a test. Fill your washer and see what you think.

You can get little plastic stools for sitting in showers. They look really flimsy, but support people all the time. One would certainly support your washer. Or put it on the biffy and gain some counter space.

[Keith Pitman]

How many gallons will the print washer hold?

I roughly calculated that the 220 capacity of the table would allow for 22 gallons of water, likely much more than the capacity of the washer. My calculation was 220 pounds less the dry weight of 33 pounds, leaves 187 pounds capacity for water. 187 divided by 8.5 pounds per gallon gives you 22 pounds. Of course, the paper would add some weight too.

That said, I wouldn’t test the limits.