Miele washing machine keep draining after completing all cycles

[dave78]

Hi All,

I've a problem with my Miele premier 520 washing machine - it goes through all cycles as it should and when it gets to draining and remaining time show 0 on the display it won't stop draining despite water was drained away pump is still running and machine won't stop. I cleaned pressure chamber already because it was full of stuff and was causing "check drain" issue, tried to reset by switching off for 1min and open - shut door 6 times in 12 sec sequence.

Couldn't find such topic with similar issue, therefore ask.

Thanks in advance.

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

Hello Dave. A blockage in the pressure system should also cause the washing machine to refuse to spin. If it does the proper fast spin ok then I can't see how a blockage in the pressure system would cause this problem. Once it's done a full cycle including the spin it shouldn't be waiting for any signals from other parts or sections, it should just turn off after a set time period. So the fault is strange. 

[dave78]

Hello Andy, Thank you for you quick answer. Yes as I mentioned all seems to work ok apart from last cycle that supposed to stop the drain pump. Could it be result of fautly pressure switch or something else ?  Normally during cycles it drains and fills ok, spins fast as normal.

Could it be related to the overfill we had because of blocked pressure chamber which caused it and water started coming through the washing machine sealed door ?

What about the white plastic box connected between the drain pump and outlet hose - is there something to look at and check ?

 

Need to also mention that the machine doesn't display any error - faults.

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

Hello Dave. No, it can't be related to the pressure system because a fault on the pressure system would cause functional errors, overfilling, not taking in water, or not spinning. Any fault you can think of should cause functional errors or error codes. If the washing machine washes, rinses and spins OK then all parts must be working. If it sticks right at the end with the pump running when all water has drained away and won't turn off, I can only suspect a fault on the control pcb. At this point the washing machine is not waiting for anything to happen, everything has completed and it's just a matter of turning off. However, I would definitely not consider trying to replace the pcb. It would be horrendously expensive and having not experienced the fault I couldn't 100% guarantee that would fix it.

[John O]

I have a Meiele washer, the salesman said "this is one of the best brands sold in Norway".   I took his word for it.  Silly me.

Anyway, my washer goes through the cycles, and does not drain.   However, when I begin anew (usually just a separate spin cycle) the first thing the washer does... is drain.   This is fairly routine so I am actually having to wash  in one cycle, and drain and spin in another.   It always starts by draining, probably why it smells musty... the machine always full of water when its empty.  But at the same time, at the end of the cycle it will pump, sometimes for up to 20-30 minutes while remaining full of water.   My experiences with Whirlpool and with mechanics in general is that this will wear out the pump quite fast, and a new pump will not be worth buying, because it will just burn up too.

This is very counter-intuitive to how an appliance should work.  I was hoping for answers, but since the pump and all the mechanical components seem to work, it would appear to be a programming error since everything must be electronic these days for efficiency.  This is why I have to wash my clothes twice, because of said efficiency, as I watch my electric bill creep up from doing twice as many loads of laundry as I should.

Miele does not seem to be a very good brand.  I found references to this draining issue dating back to 2011.  To fix this, I'm going to toss my Miele and buy a Bosch or Hitachi, both have worked well for me before.     This seems the only viable solution here.

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

2 minutes ago, John O said:

 

I have a Meiele washer, the salesman said "this is one of the best brands sold in Norway".   I took his word for it.  Silly me.

 

Hi. To be honest I'm pretty sure he's still correct. Miele can have all sorts of problems and be nowhere near as good as they used to be but still better than the rest. Having said that, that doesn't necessarily mean they are best value, or even the best brand to buy because of their expenseiveness and other factors. 

Bosch for example is nowhere near as well made. However, I would argue there's a reasonable case that they are a better brand to buy because they are so much cheaper to buy and repair but still of decent standard. 

Unless I've misunderstood, you seem to be saying the pump is running but it's not draining the water? If that is the case the electronics can't be responsible and the pump is the last thing to suspect. The cause of that, 99% of the time, is a blockage somewhere. 

[andyr12345]

(when I win the Lotto LOL) I have my sights sets on the nearly 2 grand miele W1 with touchscreen , wifi and autodose - looks like a really nice washing machine

https://www.miele.co.uk/e/w1-front-loader-washing-machine-wcr-860-wps-pwash-2-0-and-tdos-xl-and-wifi-lotus-white-10994810-p

https://media.miele.com/images/2000018/200001856/20000185683.png
 

Edited July 9, 2022 by andyr12345

[John O]

On 09/07/2022 at 12:09, Whitegoodshelp (Andy) said:

Unless I've misunderstood, you seem to be saying the pump is running but it's not draining the water? If that is the case the electronics can't be responsible and the pump is the last thing to suspect. The cause of that, 99% of the time, is a blockage somewhere. 

You have misunderstood by taking one part of my post out of context.  If you read my entire post, you will begin to see what the problem actually is.  It drains water just fine.....

But having checked the usual symptoms, standing water in the chassis, blockages, etc, that's not it.

 

Edited July 11, 2022 by John O

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

Hi. Sorry, it's a little confusing as you say it does not drain twice -

"Anyway, my washer goes through the cycles, and does not drain."

".. at the end of the cycle it will pump, sometimes for up to 20-30 minutes while remaining full of water. "

If you mean it drains OK at the beginning of a cycle but not at the end - even though the pump is running, I'd suspect some sort of blockage. I would take off the sump hose and make sure there isn't a plastic ball inside that's become gunged up and sticky.

These balls are often fitted inside the sump hose lead g to the pump to float up and seal off the water inside the drum. But if they get covered in grunge they can stick, and the pump will run but not drain.

As you also mentioned the washing machine smells musty this is definitely a possibility. 

[John O]

Strangely enough I did find a big plastic ball in the water pump.  It was too large (or seemed to be anyway) to make its way up the hose, but it must have.  This reminds me of something Dad told me about pranking people when he was young, put a marble in a persons gas tank, and it blocks the fuel. As they slow down (or if the car lurches) the marble rolls around and flow is restored.   When the washer is draining, the ball blocks the flow as it is too large to flow through the hose aperture, and when it stops pumping due to my intervention, the ball falls out of the hole and water flow resumes.  This was not in the hose, but rather the pump itself so I removed it.

After removing the plastic ball, and its funny you mention plastic balls, because this was not something that came from my laundry maybe a repairman’s trick to guarantee future business perhaps, the washer worked really well for a couple of days and started acting up again.  I opened it up again, there was sand in the pump, which should flush out but I cleaned it anway, probably just some residual debris.   Then, we had a few more days of good operation and clean clothes.  I am of the mind that this is designed to increase the number of service calls (which they are happy to take because it's pure profit) since you mentioned the ball gets stuck as it gets gunked up.   It will get gunked up, my washer was pretty dirty in there, but I have seen much much worse in other people's homes.

However, over the past couple of weeks the washer has been pumping more and more at the end of the cycle, but little water coming out.    This can continue for a while, but hasn’t reached the 20 -30 minute threshold yet.   When I start the washer, the first thing it does is drain water.     Likewise, when I set the washer to pumpa og sentrifug. /“drain and spin” it will pump out the water mostly.   Likewise, if I don’t, at the beginning of the cycle it pumps out the water without issue, sometimes a lot of it.

If the ball is something necessary, I consider that a cheesey design as is the chassis.  It was really difficult to get apart, and not intuitive.   I also don't understand why torx bolts, which aren't so common in appliances that I can recall.  I think it's like Whirlpool - they don't want you fixing it yourself.    This seems maybe /maybe not an electronics issue, but more likely a design "flaw" that is built in by the manufacturer, to keep you coming back.

Edited August 7, 2022 by John O

[andyr12345]

the white plastic balls do have a purpose, and its not an underhanded one put there by scrupulous repair people - its to stop the soap detergent going down into the sump hose and keeping it in the drum itself, it floats to top of the sump hose and seals the outlet of the outer drum at the start of the wash cycle (if working as it was designed to) - i have a feeling as well that if 'dirty water' travelled down your drain hose it would float the ball to the top, sealing the outer drum casing hole and also stopping the dirty water entering the drum which would then make the washing machine stink inside when the door is open.

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

Thanks Andy. Back in the 90s, these balls caused so much trouble that I simply took them out and threw them away. They used to get covered in sticky detergent or gunge, and then when water in the sump hose floated them up to the top to seal off the drum, the ball stuck in position and prevented water from being pumped out.

They are definitely not necessary. And I say that because for the first 20 years of my being a washing machine repairer, (and for at least 20 years before that), no washing machine had any such ball inside, and they all worked perfectly okay.

Having said that, there is a fair chance that they do actually help to prevent some detergent loss into the sump hose, which is their sole purpose. But I have no idea how much, and if it was genuinely a problem that needed solving. As I said, they only came out in the 80s, possibly late 80s, and prior to that washing machines washed laundry perfectly okay.