Miele Dryer T8823C Door Not Opening

[Chook]

Long story short in the process of repairing a T494C Dryer, I managed to procure a T8823C which functioned well but with all the distraction on the moving day, I can’t recall if I checked the door opened. After several days of sitting I ran one cycle and the door opened, I thought problem solved however, it subsequently hasn’t worked since. I’ve manually opened the door about 5 times, I am thinking there is some solenoid on the door lock which is faulty. I would much appreciate if anyone knows what the usual cause of these door lock issues are.

 

[jj4091]

Yes there will be a solenoid on the lock assy. but it appears to be quite an expensive part so would not recommend changing it without further investigation. The things you need to check are the drain pump for blockages and the pressure switch & circuitry or any tubing that goes to it as the machine may think it is still full of water.

 

[Chook]

Thanks JJ. I will check that out. The day it was moved was a bit eventful. The seller didn’t know the dryer was connected to the washer so it took some time to get that all sorted by which time some inclement weather was moving in so more distractions to get it loaded. When I was off loading it at the other end with the help of my kind neighbour and titled it back to lift it off the tailgate, water started coming out from the bottom of the machine. I immediately knew it was the collector tank and subsequently removed it however, I discovered the tank was full to the brim. I suspect the tank had not been emptied for quite some time. After moving the dryer into position I left it unplugged for a few days to let any residual moisture in the machine dry out. When I plugged it in for a test run is was when I discovered the door would not release. It also seemed to be into a cycle so I let it finish and at the end the door released but, only that once. I have been searching for a exploded diagram for it but have not locate one yet.

 

[Chook]

After being away, I returned with a view to open up the dryer panels to locate a door lock related solenoid. The one aspect of this door lock issue that raised questions for me was the operating manual door opening instruction stipulated it applied with power on or off. (i.e. is the latch released mechanically?) After some deliberation and trying to avoid pulling apart the machine, I closed the door to the near the latched position to verify there is a power supply cut off microswitch in the door latch. Next, I fully closed the door then applied pressure to the door whilst pushing on the orange door release knob and the door opened without any problem. After evaluating the findings of this exercise, I came to the conclusion that the door opener is mechanically actuated and I had not been pressing the door opening knob with sufficient pressure (I only needed to apply about another half pound of pressure and the door released without any issue).
I think the tactile feel of the washing machine door release knob was what caused me to be cautious with the dryer door release knob.

So all good for now, fingers crossed it continues.