Is it worth fixing my 7 year old washer-dryer?

JadeHighland

It washes okay but the dryer function has stopped. Will either go on forever without drying the clothes, or do the cycle and the clothes won't be dry. Not even hot. 

Had D&G come round to fix it, they cleaned a shoot that was filled with fluff. It didn't fix the issue.

I need a dryer or the kitchen is stacked with soggy clothes for days. I was going to call out someone else to try and diagnose, but I am thinking whatever it is, probably is going to cost £150 or so. Seems to wash okay, just the dryer isn't working.

Albermarle

Washer driers tend to be less reliable, so 7 years is probably quite a good result.
If possible would be better to have a separate drying facility/area of some kind.

kimwp

Dehumidifiers are ace for drying clothes quickly and I've heard good things about heated airers too. 

ThisIsWeird

JadeHighland said:

It washes okay but the dryer function has stopped. Will either go on forever without drying the clothes, or do the cycle and the clothes won't be dry. Not even hot. 

Had D&G come round to fix it, they cleaned a shoot that was filled with fluff. It didn't fix the issue.

I need a dryer or the kitchen is stacked with soggy clothes for days. I was going to call out someone else to try and diagnose, but I am thinking whatever it is, probably is going to cost £150 or so. Seems to wash okay, just the dryer isn't working.

Did you pay for a non-repair?

I'd have thought the obvious culprit would be the heating element, but surely they'd have tested for this?

EssexExile

ThisIsWeird said:

JadeHighland said:

It washes okay but the dryer function has stopped. Will either go on forever without drying the clothes, or do the cycle and the clothes won't be dry. Not even hot. 

Had D&G come round to fix it, they cleaned a shoot that was filled with fluff. It didn't fix the issue.

I need a dryer or the kitchen is stacked with soggy clothes for days. I was going to call out someone else to try and diagnose, but I am thinking whatever it is, probably is going to cost £150 or so. Seems to wash okay, just the dryer isn't working.

Did you pay for a non-repair?

I'd have thought the obvious culprit would be the heating element, but surely they'd have tested for this?

Repair men don't like to hang around while a load dries, they fix any obvious faults & run! Could be the heater element, solenoid valve, fan motor...

JadeHighland

Albermarle said:

Washer driers tend to be less reliable, so 7 years is probably quite a good result.
If possible would be better to have a separate drying facility/area of some kind.

If only I had the space!

JadeHighland

kimwp said:

Dehumidifiers are ace for drying clothes quickly and I've heard good things about heated airers too. 

 I have a dehumidifier which does speed things up somewhat, but it's not an overnight job still. Plus, clothes in the middle of the rack don't tend to get dried

ThisIsWeird said:

JadeHighland said:

It washes okay but the dryer function has stopped. Will either go on forever without drying the clothes, or do the cycle and the clothes won't be dry. Not even hot. 

Had D&G come round to fix it, they cleaned a shoot that was filled with fluff. It didn't fix the issue.

I need a dryer or the kitchen is stacked with soggy clothes for days. I was going to call out someone else to try and diagnose, but I am thinking whatever it is, probably is going to cost £150 or so. Seems to wash okay, just the dryer isn't working.

Did you pay for a non-repair?

I'd have thought the obvious culprit would be the heating element, but surely they'd have tested for this?

Nah, they gave me my money back. I have no idea what they tested, but he seemed pretty certain it was the fluff blocking air flow. Will call someone tomorrow and see how much a new heating element would be. 

ThisIsWeird

Hmm, possibly fluffy thinking.
Obviously I cannot tell what the cause is, but I'd have thought that 'fluff' would either still allow it to partially work, or would trip the machine and give a warning sign.
Make and model?

JadeHighland

ThisIsWeird said:

Hmm, possibly fluffy thinking.
Obviously I cannot tell what the cause is, but I'd have thought that 'fluff' would either still allow it to partially work, or would trip the machine and give a warning sign.
Make and model?

Beko WDIY854310

Bigphil1474

Did you have a policy with D&G? Thought they were supposed to replace if couldn't be fixed. Have you looked at heated airers or just an airer in front of a radiator? We use an airer in the bathroom in the winter and never had any issues. Mind you, we don't need a quick turnaround. (Never owned a dryer)

ThisIsWeird

JadeHighland said:

ThisIsWeird said:

Hmm, possibly fluffy thinking.
Obviously I cannot tell what the cause is, but I'd have thought that 'fluff' would either still allow it to partially work, or would trip the machine and give a warning sign.
Make and model?

Beko WDIY854310

Thanks.

Hmm, drawn a bit of a blank. 

I cannot see any reference to a fluff filter, or any associated cleaning of this part, in the maintenance section of the instructions, but only a mention that the water supply is used to keep the machine clear of flint. So I wonder what your D&G fellow was talking about? Could you confirm, please - have you ever cleaned out such a filter? Do you know if one exists?

I also cannot see any reference to 'error' codes on this model's display, which is unusual these days. I see more recent Beko models do have this feature, accessed via some weird button presses, and clearly intended only for service engineers' use, but suspect your model is too old.

I have found, tho', that your Beko came with 10-year parts warranty, so - theoretically - you may only need to pay a labour charge for a fix. And, such an electrical repair should be totally doable within an hour; locate and replace. Obviously, you'd need to confirm that your machine has been registered for this.

I'd drop Beko an email or online chat. Ask them if there's any way to determine what the fault cause is without dismantling the machine. And then ask about the warranty.

Tbh, it could be a very wide range of causes, from a £2 overheat thermostat, to a £40 element, to a £200 PCB. And everything in between.

A competent DIYer would be able to check many of the more obvious parts very quickly - elements and 'stats, for example - but, hey...