Bosch WAQ284S0GB Soap Drawer Leak On Hot Washes

[bkw]

Hi,

I have a  new Bosch WAQ284S0GB  ( installed yesterday) that leaks from the closed soap drawer (from both underneath and from the handle) on the initial empty  90 degree cotton wash. This was recommended by installers ( who were excellent and from a well known chain of stores) to remove any grease/oil from the manufacturing process. I called Bosch yesterday and their response is that if this turns out to be an installation fault they will charge me.  

So I went back to the installers with this information; they suggested I run a full 90 degree cotton cycle with sheets and towels. The same thing is happening; considerable steam is issuing from the soap drawer and the condensation drips from the drawer down the machine onto the floor. If this happens long term, I am concerned the  underside of my kitchen worktop will be damaged beyond repair.

The machine is leveled correctly. There are no blockages in the  3 sections of the drawer.

It appears it is condensation resulting from the hot washes. The entire underside of the soap drawer when pulled out  is wet and dripping. At the end of  90 degree washes especially, the handle area of the drawer is normally very wet.

This appears to be a design flaw rather than a fault; the handle should be sealed from the inside of the drawer with a rubber seal around the drawer edge too.I suppose I will still have to report this as a fault.

For a £400 machine, it does not seem normal. But if it is a common issue, I do not wish to go through the trouble of returning it and getting another machine only to have the same problem. My 10 year old Hoover A1600 this replaced never had this issue.

Thanks,

William

[andyr12345]

Hi William, yes, sounds annoying - definately sounds like condensation (thats silly if they said if it was an installation problem, how on earth would condensation dripping from the soap drawer be anything to do with installation) - most soap drawers on most machines will have soap drawers designed to let steam escape from the drum ... and soap suds. - If you put wrong washing powder or liquid in the drum and it over suds, you just watch the suds come out of the soap dispenser area and the hole where your hand goes into where you open the dispenser drawer with your fingers. 

How warm is the room with the washing machine in? - is it in a cold room, or a cold utility room or garage or cold kitchen? that could be causing more condensation than necessary coming out of the drawer than normal as the steam comes up through the soap drawer and hit the cold air in the room maybe. 

In the normal lifetime of the washing machine you are going to be washing at much lower temperatures than 90c ... your going to be doing washes of 30c/40c and at most 60c .. do you have the same issue when the washing machine is doing those wash temperatures?  - only you shouldnt be having a load of condensation and wet steam coming out of the dispenser drawer at those temp's really (assuming the room it is in is around room temperature of 19-21c and not cold) otherwise yes the steam could settle on the wood of the worktop , make it wet and it will rot after a while. 

If you find a lot of condensation when this new machine is on, you know the room you have it in does it have a window, or a wall fan nearby the machine? - maybe you could open up the window or install a wall extractor fan and turn that on to cut down the condensation in  the room where the washing machine is operating?

 

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

Is it installed in a cold place? 

[bkw]

Many thanks for your reply, Andy.

The problem has been resolved itself now without the need for an engineer's visit. The temperature in the kitchen is cold at 14 degrees.

We have run three more 90 degree washes with the load being fuller each time and have observed the steam and condensation produced being less each time.

As mentioned previously the apparent problem was initially when the installation engineer telling us to run a cleaning 90 degree wash   on an empty load which produced considerable amounts of steam and condensate. Running a full load at 90 degrees still does result in much less  steam being produced with a few drops of condensation from the bottom of the soap drawer. I think we can live with this.

Thanks again for all your help.

William