Beko DHX93460W heat pump dryer placed on its front

[stratfordgirl]

I spent some time with this heat pump dryer trying to figure out whether it is heating up. All electrical tests on the factory test sequence seemed to worked fine, both NTCs reading correctly, damp senor functional, etc, although the compressor took about 15 minutes to reach its limit temperature of 55 deg C. No fault codes were stored (except a few inconsequential ones like cycle stopped early by user, door opened during cycle, etc).

My customer had mentioned that he had done a few checks himself “after looking on the internet”, eg to make sure the water pump was working, etc. However, he didn’t tell me until after I had done all my checks that he had placed the dryer on its front in order to remove the back panel (?!) to facilitate access. This immediately rang alarm bells, as I am aware you have to be careful about tipping compressors due to the oil they contain.

Looking at the geometry of the plumbing, I think it is quite likely that oil may have entered the pipework and heat exchanger at the front via the top of the compressor, with no obvious return path back into the compressor once the appliance was stood back up. Am I right in suspecting my customer has effectively destroyed his dryer, or would the refrigerant gasses eventually blow the oil back into the compressor once the compressor has been running for a while?

Apologies if this seems a stupid question, but I have no training or experience with compressor systems.

[electrofix]

short answer if you tilt any refrigertion and turn it straight on you run the risk of scrapping it as the oil can be compressed and if it does get through the compressor it wont get through capilliary tube

did look in owners book and it says nothing apart from if you do tilt it do it on the RHS

Dave

[stratfordgirl]

Thanks Dave, yes I noticed the manual warns to leave it for 12 hours before first use. The advice on tilting only to the right is a a little woolly, as although in a “Warning” box, it is stated as only a recommendation. I’ll ask him how soon after standing it back up he ran it again – more than likely straight away I guess.

[electrofix]

all you can do is put it in test mode

get it to where the compressor starts

then feel the evaporator which can be accessed through the front hatch. find a bit of cardboard to deflect the air flow and see if the eveporator surface starts to get cold

if it doesnt its dead ot at least beyond economical repair

Dave

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