White Knight CL 847 not drying properly.

[gurrg]

Hi. We have a White Knight CL 847 ‘A’ class tumble dryer, which has never seemed to work very well, even when new. The problem is that the dryer does not heat up properly, and the clothes will often still be wet after nearly two hours. Warm air does eventually appear at the out vent after a few minutes, but it isn’t very warm, and seems to turn cold at random for long periods. I’m guessing it’s a thermostat or heating element problem, but which is more likely?

Thanks, Greg

[neilsukwg]

Re: White Knight CL 847 not drying properly.

First check you have selected full heat on the front selector switch…

Also check on the back of the machine, you will find (if one is fitted to this model) a red button.

When you press it you will either get an audible click (meaning that you have reset the thermostat) or no click meaning that the fault lies else where and you need a qualified engineer which you will find on this site.

[gurrg]

Re: White Knight CL 847 not drying properly.

Hi. We’ve had it for a few years, and have tried all combinations of the heat settings. The reset button didn’t click. I’ve now checked continuity of both heating elements with a multimeter, and they are ok. I’ve also checked that power is reaching both elements, and it is. The high/low heat switch is also working correctly. I’m beginning to think that this dryer is simply not up to the job. We keep it in an outhouse, and this is obviously very cold at this time of year. I have also read today that this dryer can take up to seven hours to dry a full load!! Any comments or help appreciated, thanks.

[Martin]

Re: White Knight CL 847 not drying properly.

The t/stat that is located inside the heat shield has failed. You need to take the heater/back panel off to access.

[gurrg]

Re: White Knight CL 847 not drying properly.

Thanks Martin. I’ll check that out.

Cheers, Greg

[gurrg]

Re: White Knight CL 847 not drying properly.

Hi all. Before I stripped this machine down further, I checked the heater voltages through a complete timed cycle. On this machine, this takes around half an hour. The compete timed cycle consists of four separate spins of around five minutes each, separated by short anti crease reverse spins. The heaters are not powered for the anti crease spins. The power is applied to the heaters during the four main spins as follows:

1 Heat on for around 4 mins
Heat off for around 1.45 mins.

Stop/Reverse

2 Same as above.

Stop/Reverse

3 Heat on for about 2.50 mins.
Heat off for around 2.44 mins

Stop/Reverse

4 No heat at all for around five minutes.

(This last one is presumably the cooling cycle.)

Does this seem reasonably normal for this machine? Grateful for opinions or suggestions.

Thanks, Greg.

[Martin]

Re: White Knight CL 847 not drying properly.

Yep…sounds about right!

[gurrg]

Re: White Knight CL 847 not drying properly.

Ahh…That’s what I was afraid of! Thanks for confirming that Martin. So it’s not actually faulty, it just doesn’t work too well kept in the outhouse this time of year. Mind you, neither would I, to be honest!

Thanks again, Greg.

[Martin]

Re: White Knight CL 847 not drying properly.

I’d still take the element out and check that thermostat clamped to the back panel. Better still replace it as they fail often….!

[gurrg]

Re: White Knight CL 847 not drying properly.

Ok, I’ll try that then. Cheers.

[Author]

Posts