Zanussi ZDC37200W Condenser Tumble Dryer – Keeps stopping

[theredfox]

I have recently purchased a (fairly new – Firmware lable indicates March 2013) second hand Zanussi ZDC37200W Condenser T/Dryer for my son and it seemed to be a good buy until my son rang me to say the dryer had stopped whilst drying a load and it was making an electical buzzing sound!!

He then rang me later to say that he managed to rotate the drum by hand and it had gone on to completely dry the load successfully…

As I don’t live locally to him I made a trip over to his just before Christmas and we had the covers off the unit and watched it dry a complete load without issue. We did think that due to the rear air intake being flush up against the rear wall under his work surface may have been a possible cause. Again we set another load drying and this time it did stop but again by rotating the drum we managed to get the dryer going again.

One thing we did notice/hear when the dryer stopped it appeared to be trying to change rotation i.e. Clockwise first, then Anti-Clockwise second.. and it was when it was trying to get the drum rotating anti-clockwise that it stopped. We couldn’t see any adjustments available for these wheels.

On all of these occasion he has not had any ‘error lights’ flash up and has ensured all the filters and water resevoir emptied.

We did notice there appear to be what I would call a ‘Jockey Wheel’ either side of the drum at the front of the unit and we weren’t sure if these assist in the turning of the drum in each direction or are just guide wheels. By turning the right hand (from the front) wheel we could very slowly turn the drum, however we struggled to turn the drum using the wheel on the left had side (from the front)

If anyone has any ideas I would be grateful as he’s just rung me again and he says the dryers stopped again and rotating the drum hasn’t cured the issue this time.
Oh and whilst I think about it…

I hope everyone has had a fabulous Christmas!!

[theredfox]

Re: Zanussi ZDC37200W Condenser Tumble Dryer – Keeps stoppin

:boops: Just noticed I pasted the comment “We couldn’t see any adjustments available for these wheels” onto the wrong paragraph. It should be on the bottom of the next but one paragraph so should read:

“By turning the right hand (from the front) wheel we could very slowly turn the drum, however we struggled to turn the drum using the wheel on the left had side (from the front). We couldn’t see any adjustments available for these wheels

[captaincaveman1]

Re: Zanussi ZDC37200W Condenser Tumble Dryer – Keeps stoppin

Could be the motor capacitor fault as this “kick start’s” the motor into action.

[theredfox]

Re: Zanussi ZDC37200W Condenser Tumble Dryer – Keeps stoppin

Thanks for the response…
Wouldn’t this prevent it from starting in either direction?
How’s the easiest way of proving its faulty?
Do you know where it’s located on this particular model?

[Seamy]

Re: Zanussi ZDC37200W Condenser Tumble Dryer – Keeps stoppin

It starts the motor in both directions, capacitor is located near the motor.

this is what you will be looking for…

http://shop.electrolux.co.uk/search?ssv=1256539006

[theredfox]

Re: Zanussi ZDC37200W Condenser Tumble Dryer – Keeps stoppin

Seamy,

Thanks…..
Dryer has stopped again and my son can’t seem to free the drum this time. It would be great if the capacitor is the root cause as I can replace this fairly easily. I’m just worried that the drum seems to ‘freeze’ and then stops, could this still be related to the capacitor?? When I’ve seen it running it was OK rotating Clock-wise but seem to fail/stop when trying to go Counter-Clockwise. Do these jockey wheels have anything to do with assisting the rotation, that is apart from supporting the front section on the drum?

[mjjuk]

Re: Zanussi ZDC37200W Condenser Tumble Dryer – Keeps stoppin

Jockey wheels only tension the belt to the drum
I would agree to first test the capacitor has a decent reading +/-5{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} of rated uF
Fingers crossed the motor isn’t seized

[theredfox]

Re: Zanussi ZDC37200W Condenser Tumble Dryer – Keeps stoppin

Mjjuk,

Thanks for clarifying that for me.

I’ll see if I can get the capacitor tested.
Hopefully the motor isn’t seized as it’s managed to dry several loads (after having freed up the drum.

Will let you all know as it’s great to have this experience to call upon….

[Seamy]

Re: Zanussi ZDC37200W Condenser Tumble Dryer – Keeps stoppin

If its sticking intermittantly, there could be something stuck in the fan as its directly connected to motor.

[theredfox]

Re: Zanussi ZDC37200W Condenser Tumble Dryer – Keeps stoppin

New Capacitor (as recommended by Seamy) arrived yesterday and promptly fitted. Worked quite happily here at my house. Dried several loads without any issues.

Returned it to my sons house this afternoon and by this evening he was on the phone to say he was still having the same problem….

Dryer stopped, no error lights but what he describes as a “buzzing” (motor?) type sound coming from the dryer.

I even asked him to move the dryer into the middle of the room in case it was anything to do with being under a worksurface (lack of clearance type issue)- Still does the same thing.

Is there anything else I can test/examine? or is it time to get a engineer in ?

Any one recommend such a person in the Bromsgrove area??

Help!

[Author]

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