Calling Miele and electrical experts

[peterh770]

New problem with my 1918.

The converter box is HOT. If I wash at 120 or hotter, the fuse on the far right side gets so hot it cannot be touched. The fuses are not blowing, but the bakelite holder is getting deformed from the heat. There is a hot plastic smell in the room. The wash cycle has no problems completing as it is supposed to; no change in the wash action itself. The box cools down quickly after the wash phase completes and the heater is no longer used.

Is this a bad converter box or something going on with the machine itself?

All thoughts welcome!

 

[sudsmaster]

I am assuming that what you are calling a converter box is really a splitter to take a standard American 30 amp 220 volt dryer outlet to one or two Miele 15 amp 220 volt outlets. No voltage conversion should be happening.

If that's the case, then I suspect there is a loose connection inside the box. This can cause overheating; I've seen it happen with other equipment. I would NOT use the splitter box any more. If you can open it, (disconnect from outlet first), check for loose connections, and also burnt plastic/phenolic. If the damage is too severe and a tight connection cannot be made, you'll need a new box.

Another possibility is oxidized/corroded plug prongs, but that would more likely result in a warm plug rather than a warm box (shut up Toggle ;-).

Good luck and be safe.

 

[coldspot66]

Possibly a grounded heating element??

 

[toggleswitch]

Now where is the Poligrip?

~If the damage is too severe and a tight connection cannot be made, you'll need a new box.
--FAINTS-- *LOL* NOT so cheap or easy to replace (ducks and runs).

If the gauge of the wiring coming IN to the converter box is too thin, this may also happen. If hard-wired to circuit or if via a standard plug-and-cord, still worth checking!

Also, if your line voltage is 208v (as found in residential areas that border industrial or commercial areas with 3-phase current) or otherwise running less that 220 to 240v, this may be the result. An excessively long wiring run may also lower voltage excessively, in which case the next thicker wire (smaller gauge number) may be required.

on a 30a circuit it would normally be #10 AWG with copper wires. (American Wire Gauge). You may have to go to a number 8 gauge.

For now you can have a small fan blowing on the box to cool it. (SHUT -UP!, LOL). But this is not desireable for the long-run.

 

[sudsmaster]

Toggle,

Please pardon my bluntness, but blowing air on a sealed box is just a band-aid, and only postpones disaster. The thing should not produce any heat whatsoever. Most likely it is producing heat because of high resistance of a loose internal connection, and that must be fixed ASAP before more damage occurs, or the whole thing goes up in smoke.

The Miele only draws 15 amps, so 10 ga wire is not needed. I have observed that the wire gauge for both my 1065 and 1918 washers is 12 ga, which is more than enough for the load it will draw.

I have seen the effect that a loose connection in a high voltage high amperage phenolic wiring block can have. It turns the wires into little resistance heaters, which basically bakes the bakelite, and the telltale smell tells the story. If it goes to far, the phenolic plastic will decompose, crumble, and then it won't hold the wires in proper position, and that's bad. Drugs are bad. Don't do drugs. M'kay?

 

[the7]

Seems that sudmaster's suggestion is more logical.

 

[panthera]

well, actually,

I also run 10AWG instead of 12AWG for such circuits at my parent's house because they are way out at the end of the line.
And so did the electrician who just installed their new heat pump...it ain't much, but it does help.
Seems like we are all pretty much of a consensus here...Rich is saying exactly what I wrote you privately...do let us know, inquiring minds are wanting!

 

[toggleswitch]

I assumed Mieles in this country run off of a (US) std. 30a 220v dryer circuit. a Miele washer AND dryer probably come closer to this amperage.

Yes of course blowing air on a sealed box is just a band-aid, and only postpones disaster. Actually this tongue-in-cheek advice was intended to be a VERY interim device by which to at least have a working W&D until corrected.

And actually the size of the circuit protection (fuse amperage) would actually properly relate to the circuit's wire gauge and consider its length, not the appliance draw of of one machine of a two-machine circuit.

 

[toggleswitch]

~Please pardon my bluntness, but blowing air on a sealed box is just a band-aid, and only postpones disaster.

~But this is not desireable for the long-run.

Understood, agreed-with and already said.

 

[sudsmaster]

Toggle,

It's not even desirable for the short run.