Busted tumble dryer

Soldato
Joined
31 May 2009
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On hols at the moment, back this weekend, but just before we keft our tumble drier appeared to fail.
The device now rotates at slower than normal speed making a truely awful sound during a rotation, heating unit still appears to be working.

Its a hotpoint condenser drier thingy.

Anything obvious i could check or open or attempt to replace prior to binning the unit and replacing it?

I think its around six years old but might be older.
If replacing, whats current thinking on tumble driers? I know people are raving about lg direct drive washing machines, do they do smilar in condenser driers?
Current washing machine is a bosch excel 7, has behaved itself well since purchase.
 
Ours went the same way, stunk and just rubbed itself to death.

We replaced it with a Bosch condenser which I must say is excellent, it dries the clothes then stops all by itself when the clothes are dry.

Seems to be very economical in speed of drying and excess heat produced.
 
Had a Hotpoint do the same on me albeit not the condenser version. The bushing at the rear of the drum gave up and it cut its way through the support bracket before jamming. Best bit, Hoover upgraded the bushing to a bearing though a bit late for me...
 
Hotpoints of that age are notorious for the bearing failing, it is a bit of a fiddle to change it but not expensive.

If you replace it look at the White Knight range of tumble dryers, they aren't much to look at but they are real work horses.

Give me the model and I will link you to the parts.
 
Hotpoints of that age are notorious for the bearing failing, it is a bit of a fiddle to change it but not expensive.

If you replace it look at the White Knight range of tumble dryers, they aren't much to look at but they are real work horses.

Give me the model and I will link you to the parts.

I am back home now oldcoals, its a Hotpoint CTD00P apparently.
 
It could be worth taking the top off the machine which usually involves 2 screws on the rear of the machine near the top and then pushing the top part backwords until it clicks and then lifting it off.

sometimes the drum can end up not sitting on the bearings correctly causing it to rub and not turn properly/at all.

It happened to my drier a couple of times and it was really easy to fix just by lifting the front part of the drum up and it didn't even take much force
 
It could be worth taking the top off the machine which usually involves 2 screws on the rear of the machine near the top and then pushing the top part backwords until it clicks and then lifting it off.

sometimes the drum can end up not sitting on the bearings correctly causing it to rub and not turn properly/at all.

It happened to my drier a couple of times and it was really easy to fix just by lifting the front part of the drum up and it didn't even take much force

Tried that, didn't help.
Looking at things now, with the top off and the back part removed so I can see the heating unit and the jockey wheel.
I am oddly unable to tell where the grating noise is coming from, the drum does turn, but at a lower than normal velocity.
 
Carbon brushes on the motor.

Also remove the belt & try turning the drum, & same with motor pulley, any noise, drum easier to turn?

No sock or similar thing gone over the rim & stuck between drum & outer liner.
 
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If you're after replacing one on a budget I can recommend a Beko dpu8360w A+++ rating 8kg condensing dryer with sensor to automatically stop, can be had for £315.

Don't get me wrong I appreciate there are better makes out there but if you're on a budget but want good efficiency and features it cant be beat.
 
If you're after replacing one on a budget I can recommend a Beko dpu8360w A+++ rating 8kg condensing dryer with sensor to automatically stop, can be had for £315.

Don't get me wrong I appreciate there are better makes out there but if you're on a budget but want good efficiency and features it cant be beat.

I would recommend something even cheaper. ;)
 
The back bearing was fine, as it appears the other plastic like bearing are. The jockey wheel or whatever drives it seems to be the source of the noise. The belt is fine also, firm and taught, turning without grating.
When opened I also noticed damage around the heating element, although it is still functioning fine.
I think the issue might reside in the motor, but I am a little confused as to why it would still turn just at a reduced rate, there appear to be two transducers within the motor unit, if one was down could this account for reduced power?

I think given the damage around the heating elements I might be a little unhappy to fix the rest of it myself, and find it burns my house down later from an alternative problem that develops after. Will consider replacement options. Its incredible to see that this unit costs around 5.11kWhrs (units) per drying cycle, yet some of those nice new bosch machines are 1.4 and 1.6 units per cycle. Shame their initial cost is prohibitive, as their running costs appear significantly less. Had a brief look through the white knight range when you suggested that one someone else thread previous oldcoals, I am going to have a proper look later in the week, when the pay comes through, might purchase one of their units.
 
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