My washing machine front panel is out of alignment

[Judith]

I washed a single sleeping bag recently and the machine started leaking.  I have washed this several times as I use it to sit on the lawn. I notice that the front panel is not in the usual place but appears to have been  "pushed out of place". The machine is a Miele W800 novotronic premier. Please can someone tell me what has happened and can this be fixed. I enclose photos.

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

Hello Judith. It looks like this sleeping bag became out of balance and probably tangled up. This would cause the drum to thump around violently, and it's probably caused the front panel to be knocked out of place.

I would normally advise against washing such a large, bulky item, which are known to be problematic like this at times. However, in theory, the washing machine should never even go into spin if a load is unbalanced. Plus, clearly you washed it before without incident. It may just be a freak incident that might not happen again, but large bulky items are very difficult for a washing machine to balance out properly.

A lot of Miele washing machines have the front panel on a hinge that allows it to be swung out for repair men to get access to the parts inside. It may be possible to put this front panel back in place but it would involve trying to work out how the panel is fixed. Often there are screws underneath the control panel or the soap drawer. It would also involve un-pealing the door seal from the door rim.

The problem is that there is also a possibility that other damage has occurred inside, which would only become apparent if used again or inspected by an engineer. So unfortunately it's not a good situation. There is no way for you to tell if there is a fault that caused this issue in the first place or whether it was just a one-off incident, and there's no way to tell if any damage has been done.

[Judith]

Thank you.