Anyone have a tumble drier that takes in water during the dry cycle?
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I've a Hotpoint washer/dryer and during the dry cycle.. every 10 or so seconds it uses a tiny burst of water. I think I read somewhere this water is sprayed into the drum or something as part of the drying process. I can't find where I read it but I'm pretty sure I did!
My question is has anyone else got this feature and importantly.. can you turn it off?
I ask because it makes a right racket in my apartment. I think because of how short a burst of water it's using my plumbing just hates it and so every 10 seconds I hear this thud noise as it starts using water and stops immediately. It's difficult to describe the noise but it's enough to p**s me off. Especially as it's every 10 seconds of a dry cycle that can take 2 hours sometimes.
Anyone know what the hell I'm blabbering on about?
I've checked the manual for the machine but theres very little in there and what is in there doesn't cover this "feature". My last washer/dryer didn't do this... this one does!
Help!
My question is has anyone else got this feature and importantly.. can you turn it off?
I ask because it makes a right racket in my apartment. I think because of how short a burst of water it's using my plumbing just hates it and so every 10 seconds I hear this thud noise as it starts using water and stops immediately. It's difficult to describe the noise but it's enough to p**s me off. Especially as it's every 10 seconds of a dry cycle that can take 2 hours sometimes.
Anyone know what the hell I'm blabbering on about?
I've checked the manual for the machine but theres very little in there and what is in there doesn't cover this "feature". My last washer/dryer didn't do this... this one does!
Help!
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Comments
Does the hot air vent into the room or go outside ?
I once used a washer/ drier machine that used a constant trickle of cold water to de-humidify the air output.
The main reason is that if the air in the kitchen gets too damp then the drier will stop drying.
You could try just not using it, clothes dry quite fast indoors this time of year and you'll save a fortune on your electricity bill.
"A fortune" - only if you have very limited aspirations to a fortune.
It costs around 20p to dry a load of washing in a tumble drier, that's far better than having laundry strung around the house creating a humid atmosphere when it's cold outside.
You can't turn it off otherwise it wouldn't dry anything, or if it did it'd take hours.
3KW x 2Hr * 11p = 66p, assuming the heater runs all the time and it is in fact 3KW
My central heating probably costs that much per day in the winter and when I dry clothes the house is still less humid than in the summer ( at least where I live on the South Coast) I have a humidity sensor thingy. It always amazes me how the electric bill is the same as the gas when the gas heats the whole house, hot water and most of my cooking.
Of course failing all that, just put it on before you go out and then you don't have to listen to it ;-)
Yep, that's how they work. All combi washer dryers use water when drying AFAIK. If the last one didn't make this noise it would only be because it was more gentle in how it turned the water on and off. OP, you could check your cold pipes and see if there are any lose brackets. It would be a pain if they're all buried under floorboards but if they are accessable it would be worth checking.
Considering you reckon that your ".......plumbing hates it" I'm wondering if your water pipe is hitting the wall.
1600 Spin in a decent washing machine
Tumble Drier tends to be 1-1.5Kw on standard operation max, so less than half of your claimed 3Kw.
With mine, the washing is cupboard dry in around an hour at 14p a unit.
So it's about 20p. It would even less if I had a gas-fired tumble drier or a heat-pump model.
Whereas when a person turns on a tap it's usually slowly done. If you suddenly turn on the tap it might thud however.
So there are these things call "hammer arresters", they cost about £30 and need to be installed near to the problem device.
Alternatively it seems that closing the main supply, then opening a tap (at the lowest point) to drain the system (close the tap), then opening the main supply again, can apparently fix the "hammering".
Hmm. I may try that. It's easy to turn the water off and run the taps etc. Worth a go.
Thanks for the replies.
That's how it works and so if you stop the water (that part broke on mine, so I know what I'm talking about) then all that happens is that hot wet stream is going around and around and your clothes never get dry, or if you vent that stream by opening the door every 10 minutes, then it just takes ages for you clothes to dry.
Also the main problem with washer/dryers is that the drum is just too small to tumble your clothes through the hot air, so they are not very good.
There are two types of stand alone Tumble Dryer: One that vents the hot warm air to outside the building via a 4 inch pipe or the one I have which is a condenser type that doesn't need any connections to anything apart from the electrical plug. This collects all the water in a container at the bottom which requires emptying but is very easy. Of course but these types have large drums and dry your clothes far quicker. Mine uses about 30p to dry a big load which is hardly worth the bother of getting the washing line out and pegging everything even in the summer. Of course in the winter, I can't live without it.
maybe I'm thinking of the drier my parents had in the 90's. That was 3KW 'cos my Dad used to moan when it was left running for 4 hours at a time. ( before 1600 rpm spin too I guess )
Personally I don't need one, like I say clothes dry in under a day when just hung up in my centrally heated house. It's only 50% humidity here at the moment, normally 60 in the summer.