New (to me) Miele W1213 washer & T1415 dryer

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service manual for w1213

Kevin, do you have the service manual?  Just in case you don't, here it is


programming mode starts on page 50

page 58 is where it begins talking about service mode.
 
 

 

Laundress & Greg, you are both awesome, THANK YOU!   I just printed the Tech manual and will go through it once I get home.

 

In selecting the "Normal" cycle, the hottest temp option allowed is "hot".  My water heater is set to 140 degrees, so I will assume water entering the washer is somewhere close to that (after purging the line).  I have to refer to the owners manual again to see what temp that is supposed to be.

 

In my previous post I forgot to add normal the cycle consisted of a main wash (20 mins) followed by drain & spin, plus 2 rinses.

 

I will mess with it more, as well as run more "cleaning cycles".  It still smells rather musty / mildew-y..... the seller said it had only been sitting unused about 2 weeks. Yeah I don't believe that for a second.
 
Mold and musty smell issues

If you haven't already drain the sump area, then remove the lint "filter" and give things a good cleaning/scrubbing.

Main thing that can really get infested with mold far as tub would be the porthole boot. Everything from using too much liquid or bad detergent, and or not doing frequent hot or high water washes (especially using oxygen bleach detergent or added separately), and or using excessive amounts of fabric softener can leave all sorts of gunk on inside of boot. That in turn creates a biofilm which breeds mold and God only knows what. If the washer was kept closed up between uses it just adds to the misery.

When my Miele arrived wisely had ordered a new door boot to replace original. Am glad one did as when old was removed the internal parts were heavily coated in the worst and most foul mold have ever seen. That and it had a nice rip/hole.
 
 

 

The door boot on my other (older) Miele is in really nice condition.  The door boot on this one doesn't look as nice (darker/discolored) and the lower portion was actually <span style="text-decoration: underline;">stuck</span> to the door glass when I first opened the door.  So much so I had to get my fingers in there to pry it loose.  I've already thought about replacing the boot and surprisingly, it's only $80 (79.95) from Miele.  I guess I was expecting it to be a lot more. 

 

Also, I think there may be more going on here than just door boot mildew.    When I ran the cycle last night with the affresh puck, every time it drained (into a utility sink), especially the for rinses, the water draining out had a milder like odor to it.
 
Moldy dirty front load washers

I would be very cautious of ever buying a used front load washer that it’s either moldy or smells.

It’s one thing if you get it for nothing but it takes a very long time to ever affect a cleanup, and the door boot is only the tip of the iceberg less than 10 to 20% of all the mold and grime is on the door boot the rest of it’s in the outer tub and all the spider rear of the drum and around the critical water seal for the bearings.

A machine that was once moldy, will never really be clean unless you take it apart mechanically clean it, you will always have to use more bleach in the machine for the remainder of its life to keep it from transferring onto your clothing.

John
 
Update with good news!

 

 

Thomas came over last night with his not-sold-in-the-USA portable steam cleaner and thoroughly cleaned this washer inside (w/o disassembly) and out.  It looks much better to begin with and the door boot almost looks like new again too.  It <span style="text-decoration: underline;">did not</span> have any mold stains, or anything really gross, it was just discolored, like it was really old.

 

Part 2: The heater DOES work!  This afternoon to clean the washer again, I started it with an Affresh tablet, the Whitest White cycle, "Extended" option and "Sanitize" temp.  I did not purge the hot water line before I started it, so by time it reached the proper water level, the water inside was maybe slightly warmer than warm, if that.   Again about 3 minutes into the cycle (attention Launderess), 10 minutes dropped off the time remaining (I wonder if it has some way to sense of it's running empty or not?).  Thinking I may have wasted an Affresh tablet by running it with "warm" water, I went in the house.  About 20 mins later on my way out to buy groceries, I walked by the Miele and put my hand on the door glass and WOW it was extremely HOT!!!  HOORAY!

 

What I now think happened the other day when I assumed the heater didn't work is: I started the Normal cycle, Hot temp, Extended, Heavy Soil & Soak.  When I walked by after 2 hours, it must have drained and filled with cold water for the soak.  Duh!  LOL

 

Part 3: After the steam cleaning and this latest "cleaning cycle" with the sanitize heated temp, there is not even a hint of any moldy / mildew smell from this washing machine!  Woo Hoo! 
smiley-laughing.gif


 

Kevin
 
Good For You!

Congrats!

Am now wondering why the washer drops off those ten minutes, and what they are for otherwise. Unless as you say the washer did fill with water warmer than "cold" and thus washer needed less than full allotted time to reach proper temp, and it knows.

Getting a new washer it always takes awhile to sort things out, even sometimes with the manual.

As for the moldy whiff, all can say to some comments is "whatever".

Both my Miele W1070 and AEG toplader arrived with a bit of a pong thanks to mould from being shut up. Several deep cleanings with hot/boiling water cycles, first with vinegar, then oxygen bleach laundry cycles, and whiff was/is gone. With the AEG top loader had to scrub down the boot with vinegar between very hot washes, but again the deed was done.

Keep using this washer with hot to very wash cycles and with a detergent that contains oxygen bleach. This or add it separately. That alone will clear out much of what is left, and keep it from coming back. Of course standard advise about leaving door open after use applies. You might also want to keep the detergent dispense drawer open as well to enhance air flow.
 
Soak

Oh yeah no the Soak option should be 2h of no more then warm soaking (if even) with the heater going off after a good few minutes probably all together.

So the water will cool down to room temperature during the soak and then be pulled back up during heating.

Edit:
Sanitize actually should be 95C/190somethingF and verry hot 75C𖠊F or so...
 
There's nothing like a Karcher professional steam cleaner LOL Mine is old, falling apart, the boiler is full of mineral deposits so much i used it and that broken cap that I can't open do soak it with citric acid and the unit is operating with less than 40% of the pressure. (The real stream is like a CO2 fire extinguisher and you need to wear earplugs because it is super loud.)

I remember the first day when I used it to clean the grout in my bathroom, with the wrong attachment... it cleaned the wall, the only problem is that I didn't really want to remove the grout and the tiles, just clean them.... I also broke a window because i forgot you have to pull the trigger BEFORE you touch the surface because the first stream "punches" very violently, just like a pressure washer.

BTW, Kevin... I discovered they're sold in the USA, but the price is beyond outrageous.... FOUR THOUSAND, NINE HUNDRED AND NINETY NINE US DOLLARS! It's a version a little bit different but with the same technical specs and same attachments.

In Brazil, the TOL version available there costs around $300, considering the exchange rate.

Now I wonder how much they cost in Germany, where they're made...

I also wonder why steam cleaners are not popular here in the USA. I once used a Mccullock that was supposed to be "professional" (sic) it was a huge canister that looked more like a small suitcase and was ridiculously weak, the pressure was miserable, just like the infamous Vaporetto made by Polti in Italy. Bissell also has one model that looks like a small jug that darn thing is miserable. It farts some steam almost like a clothes iron. (Maybe you can loosen letter stamps with it or steam fabrics, nothing more than that.)

The secret in the Karcher steam cleaner is not exactly the heat, but the absurd pressure that blasts the dirt just like a pressure washer, without the water spilling everywhere.

I know in Europe Karcher has some models that are even more powerful than mine.... You have 220 at your home, so maybe you could, eventually, be lucky enough to know somebody that flies frequently from Europe to Southern California, maybe an airline pilot, who knows? That could eventually smuggle one unit for you.

Now back to your Miele... I'm very glad I was able to help. I know how much you love Mieles and I'll always do my best to help you as I can. Sooner or later I'll break into your Disneyland and toss 1 gal of LCB in the Miele and run the longest cycle. This shock treatment won't hurt your little baby and will get rid of much of that dirt.

Other thing that would help a lot is a large scoop of HTH swimming pool chlorine. Same as LCB, run one cycle and then immediately after run a second cycle with just water and a full load of towels. If you want to see how it's done and the result, I'll do that on Sunday in my SQ.
 
Kärcher steam cleaner

Depends on the model, I think my grandma payed 220€ for the model one down from the TOL.

There are 2 main series: The well known yellow black home models and the more premium black and white models.

They have 5 models, SC1-SC5 with different attachment trim levels.

Anything from the SC3 up is continous fill.
The SC3 uses a descaling filter, the SC4 has a detachable tank.
Both 2kW and 3.5bar steam pressure.

The SC4 has 2 steam settings selected via the handle.

The SC4s with an iron included have a removable steam hose.

So does the S5, that ups the pressure to 4.2bar, has 4 steam settings selected via a dial as well as the VapoHydro function which adds hot water to the steam to flush away soils on surfaces that can handle that.

The TOL S5 with iron has a msrp of 509€ and retails for about 400€.

We were abled to use the tools of our old SC1502 cause the new floor tool wasn't all that great, the EasyFix system works ok with Kärchers rags, but only with them.
On the old clamp design you could hurt yourself much more easily, but you could use any old cheap towel.

I should also mention that our SC4 already had a service case.
It uses a high pressure pump (not unlike the pump in a fancy coffee maker, sounds simmilar at least) to pump water from the plastic holding tank into the boiler.
That just stopped working one day.
Shipped it of, came back repaired within a week.

They also have a steam vacuum combo.
Priced at beyond 500€...
 
I had the steam vac.... i left in Brazil... it's made by Polti. It's good but those round brushes are a pain. It's also much weaker than the SC2500C. It was ok for floors but mediocre for detailing. It would have done nothing at Kevin's washer yesterday.

Mine is the SC2500C. It's somewhat similar to the SC4 in terms of design, but with the same professional boiler and heating element that can be found in the SC 4/4 (it's more powerful and it doesn't allow the iron because the hose doesn't disconnect). It heats up in under 2 minutes and have the pressure dial on the back of the canister and the second pressure selector on the handle.
There's also a SC2500C 220V that is grey, it has no selector on the back but a dial on the handle. In Brazil they also have the SC4 (refill tank) and SC3 (just boiler) for household use. The SC 4/4 was discontinued in Brazil and the SC2500C now comes with that metal cart as standard (mine was optional, it came with it but I left in Brazil)

My previous model was a "Vaporapid", bought in late 90's... it was excellent but it doesn't come close to the SC2500C in terms of pressure.
 
Ha ha Thomas you're funny!  
smiley-tongue-out.gif


As I said when I last saw you, we are more than happy to bring one over for you.  If you can find one that you want from a European store, then you can go ahead and order it to be delivered here to Barcelona or to the UK and I will happily bring it with me when I next go to LA (likely within the next 6 weeks or so).  

 

Glad you got the washer working ok, Kevin!  Looking forward to checking it out 
smiley-laughing.gif
 
Hi Thomas

 

The evening that we had dinner with you and Daryl at the Del Amo Mall, when we were standing outside before heading home, I thought that we'd spoken about buying a steam cleaner in Europe and bringing it over for you.

 

If you go to www.kaercher.com you can select the UK or Spain and browse what's available and buy it direct from their own website and have it sent to me in Spain or I can give you an address in the UK.

 

Take care

Mark
 
^^

What Jerrod said. Cycle time - esp. when running the washer empty - is adjusted very quickly. Also it has long been established that the Normal cycle on certain Miele generations does not engage the heater since it's the Energy Star rating cycle.
 

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