Miele G 646 SC PLUS Drying Fan filled with crud

[ennio]

My 3-4 year-old G 646 SC PLUS has developed a problem: when the door is opened half a cupful of water pours out of the drying fan vent onto the floor!

This morning I ran the cycle and waited around for the drying phase: the fan was struggling, and not blowing out much warm air.

I have taken off the door fascia but there was nothing much to see, so have replaced this. From the inside of the door I have removed the white circular plastic cover to the fan and this was filthy. I have given it a good rinse, and have wiped the crud from the the ?fan? revealed by removing this cover: the cover is now replaced. Resuming the drying cycle things sound much better and now there is no water when the door is opened.

I am not convinced that the job is complete and would like to know how to properly clean the fan. I checked my Operating Instructions and there is no mention of cleaning the fan, nor anything in the troubleshooting section about water pouring from the vent when the door is opened.

I presume that the crud is from water which gets sprayed into it during the wash-cycle. I think that I am using the correct amount of detergent: the crud is similar to that which collects in the other user-cleanable bits like the spray arms. The wash cabinet itself is very clean as are the pots and cutlery.

I phoned Miele Cust. Svcs. to ask why this wasn’t a listed cleaning operation, and how to do the job. They put me on to Technical Support: whilst the person I spoke with understood the problem and sympathised with my assertion that this is a design fault, he cannot advise me how to properly clean the fan because it requires “tools” (fair enough, I might electrocute myself).

Back to Cust. Svcs. who insist I need a service call-out. Within the last year I needed a call-out for something else, and because paying £90+ was painful, I was disappointed that the service engineer did the job and was gone after 10-15 minutes: I wrote to Miele at the time that as £90 covered the first hour that he should have spent the remaining time doing any preventative servicing / cleaning. I now feel that this was vindicated: I am waiting for Miele to call me back later today.

Please can anyone advise
– whether I should bother to remove the drying fan for a more thorough cleaning
– whether it is possible for me (armed with a selection of screwdrivers) to remove the drying fan for cleaning, and how to do it
– whether it is reasonable of me to expect that as I have paid for the first hour, I should expect “preventative” servicing

If anyone can tell me how typical this problem is it might help me in my negotiations with Miele.

Thanks
Andrew

[qas]

Re: Miele G 646 SC PLUS Drying Fan filled with crud

While I am reading this from another part of the world, so I know little of local prices, the following should provide you with some useful information.

The problem you are having is not one I would recommend “having a go at”.

It isn’t necessary to use the manufacturer for service. There is likely a qualified independant engineer locally who would probably charge less.

If a service call includes up to an hour, then the important part is “up to”. If the problem was fixed in 15 minutes then the call was completed properly.

Clicking on the link below will help you find someone to carry out this repair.

Steve

[Kentish]

Re: Miele G 646 SC PLUS Drying Fan filled with crud

The fan drain tube blocks up, and causes the water to back-up then leak as it fills the fan housing.
Clearing the drain off tube of the debris within usually sorts it, and no I wouldn’t strip anything else down.

[ennio]

Re: Miele G 646 SC PLUS Drying Fan filled with crud

Thanks to both for your advice. In fact last Friday Miele UK generously sent a service engineer to do the job described by Kentish with me having to pay just for his time (no call-out fee because I recently had an unrelated call-out). Also he showed me how to do the job so if the problem repeats, I can now fix it myself.

Result – happy customer!

[aqua]

Re: Miele G 646 SC PLUS Drying Fan filled with crud

Hi There.
I am experiencing the same problem.
How do I gain access and clean the drain tube for the vent fan ?

[ennio]

Re: Miele G 646 SC PLUS Drying Fan filled with crud

To clean the tube the Miele man had a sort of giant syringe with a “needle” fat enough to connect to the drain tube. This is filled with water and used to flush the crud from the tube. I don’t have one of these and cannot suggest where you might buy one.

From what I remember you need to open the door casing – the Miele engineer made a point of NOT removing all of the screws, simply enough screws to get inside the door – having just checked mine I think that will be the four screws across the top and then the top two on each side. The tube drains condensation from the fan into the detergent dispenser – this is where the crud will be. I think he disconnected the topmost i.e. fan end of the drain tube, filled the syringe with clean water and connected the syringe to the tube and flushed the crud, maybe repeating this several times. Then he disconnected the the bottom end of the drain tube and connected this to the syringe, and connected what was the top end of the tube to the detergent dispenser. The flushing was repeated.

Finally when cleaned, the tube was disconnected and reconnected the original way around, and the door reassembled.

Apologies if I haven’t remembered this clearly; I did watch what he did but already realise I should have taken t a couple of photos!

[aqua]

Re: Miele G 646 SC PLUS Drying Fan filled with crud

Thanks for the info.
I may take the cover off tomorrow to investigate.
Cheers
😀

[Penguin45]

Re: Miele G 646 SC PLUS Drying Fan filled with crud

Be very careful of the edges of the door inner panel – you can shave with them.

Power off as well.

Regards,
Penguin45.

[nick11]

Re: Miele G 646 SC PLUS Drying Fan filled with crud

i had the same problem and resolved it as follows.open the rinse aid cover next to the detergent cover . open the dishwasher door to 45 degrees and slowly pour dishwasher cleaner into the fan intake (from the inside).the hose (which you cant see comes from the bottom of the fan and comes out through the two little holes between the rinse aid and detergent compartments . you should see gunk coming out these two holes if the blockage is not too bad . keep pouring until it runs out freely.if it doesnt come out at all you may have to undo the ten screws holding the front cover and control panel off (dont forget to remove the black knob first) then pull off and clean out the hose manually . good luck

[knigma]

Re: Miele G 646 SC PLUS Drying Fan filled with crud

I’ve just unblocked my machine. It’s an integrated unit. The following seems to work:

0) Disconnect the machine from the mains supply.
1) Remove the outer wooden “cupboard” door using the four screws (2 either side of the door). Then pull the top of the cupboard door out and lift to remove. This must be removed so that the spacers don’t get in the way. There may be small plastic covers over the four screws that you’ll need to lift off with your finger nail. Don’t loosen the spacers themselves from the control panel, it’s not necessary.
2) Remove the programme selector knob, it just pulls straight off.
3) Undo the 6 topmost screws on the inside top door edge, taking care that the control panel doesn’t fall off and then remove the control panel and put aside.
4) Pull the outer fan vent off from the outside.
5) Close the door and poor hot water in from the outside into the fan vent. If this doesn’t drain quickly and completely this is evidence of a blockage. You might be able to clear the blockage just by pouring hot water in
6) Step #5 alone probably wasn’t enough to unblock. You probably now have to remove the “inner” outer door, the white metal cover that’s behind the cupboard door. That’s another four screws on the inside edge below those that retained the control panel. Be careful it doesn’t fall off when you undue the last screws.
7) Finally you can access the rubber tube that goes between the fan and the detergent compartment. Remove the tube from both ends and clean thoroughly. Reassemble and flush through as much as possible with air/water etc. Time spent here pays, it’s easy to dislodge food that then blocks the machine again within minutes/hours/days.
8) Re-assemble and test.
9) If desired for further cleaning remove the inner fan vent by rotating anti-clockwise ~1/8th turn.

[Iminei]

I have had this same problem and my neighbour, assisted by Dr Google, fixed it … However … the hose from the drying vent which seemed unconnected to anything below the DV when dismantled and was left as such after the fix is now the major suspect for the leak that I came home to this afternoon …. Can anyone tell me where should the hose be connected up to?

[Author]

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