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Has anyone had succes at fixing a broken condensing tumble dryer. The machine spins and warms up, but doesn't collect water. I replaced the water pump but that was not the issue as no water was collecting at the reservoir at the back of the unit. So I now think is the condensing unit. I've given it a clean but still no water collecting. Anyone know the likely issue with the condensing unit? The dryer is close 8 years old.
Cheers
Does yours have a removable heat exchanger that can also be cleaned? Ours does and recommends giving it a spray with shower head. First time we did this it was full of lint. I would imagine that could cause problems condensing eventually if never done.
I think all will have one, though some might need a strip down to access. Might be worth a look.
Might be the next thing to try. The heat exchange doesn't come out...but I did try squirting water through it which did clean some of the lint. But it still doesn't cool to collect moisture.
It would be a bit odd for a condensor to "not work". There's not much to go wrong - it's just plates that let air flow and water condense. I'd be checking to see if there was any blockage in any of the hoses to stop warm wet air moving onto the condensor. Also checking to see if the fan is turning ok and actually moving air through the machine. It's usually down the bottom connected to the motor.
And as the others have said, check the condensor for lint blockages
I had the same issue a few weeks ago, dryer kept stopping and error code came up with different result each time I googled it. Advice was replace heater, replace or clean condenser and so on. I cleaned condenser, no fix. Checked heater, it was working. I tipped it on its side, disconnected the hoses (they just had C clips) and when trying to blow through them realised one was blocked. Got the track pump out and blasted a shot of air through to clear it, dryer then worked first time!
Condenser needs regular rinsing. As the engineer told me when he replaced the failed thermostat fuse on my Miele. Of course I hand read that part of the manual and was surprised when he pulled it out of the bottom of the machine 😂. Perhaps there is a block from that to the water reservoir at the top of the machine? Or it’s a pump not pushing the water up to the reservoir?
Whenever I’ve cleaned mine ive not seen a lot of lint, but clearly it doesn’t take much.
Managed to take the drum out and found the heat exchange very clean. So it's not that. I have a multimeter and I think the 25uf capacitor for the condenser isn't working. Any know anything about capacitors. I can't not find any replacements in stock...
That capacitor you linked is for the motor to get it spinning. If it goes you'd find the motor wouldn't start up (it would probably hum but not spin). So if the motor is spinning the drum up it's not that.
In terms of collecting water, the actual heat exchanger is pretty simple and there's not really much to go wrong. Moisture will collect in a reservoir at the bottom of the machine and be pumped up to the drawer/tank -- I think the pump is usually driven by a float sensor. If the pumping isn't happening is it possible water is leaking somewhere?
What model of dryer is it? That's a big help when determining issues.
If it's heating up and spinning then that cap isn't going to help.
It's a grundig gtn39250gcw. No water collects, the drum spins and the clothes stay warm and moist. So I think the heat exchange/compressor isn't working. There is also a 8uf capacitor and when I tested that it seemed to work and the 20uf didn't. But I don't have much experience with multi meters. The 8uf has a value slowly raising to 1, the 20uf doesn't do that
Looking at the cables and the 20uf is the compressors capacitor....seems strange the motor has the smaller capacitor but thats how it's set up....
So anyone know where to source the capacitor? RS doesn't have any in stock
I got a replacement capacitor for my tumble drier off eBay.
Sharkbait,. Was it a "official" replacement or a capacitor that matched the one that was broken