[SOLVED] Bosch tumble drier fault: EMPTY CONTAINER indicated wrongly (2023 Update)

Hi

We have a Bosch condenser tumbler drier (Exxcel WTL6307GB), which is nearly 10 years old. When it has run for a while the EMPTY CONTAINER lamp lights up and the beeper sounds, but the water container is no where near full (actually it's almost empty).

What could cause this fault please?

Best regards

David

Reply to
davidandbella
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Faulty pump or sensor.

Reply to
A.Lee

We have a Bosch tumble drier and the EMPTY CONTAINER light has never lit up, even when the container is full. There's no sensor in the container, so I assume it is detecting a build up of water elsewhere in the system. Perhaps you have some kind of blockage?

-- Richard

Reply to
Richard Tobin

Try

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Reply to
F

Easy one, this.

I have a Bosch dryer of similar vintage, probably the same model, that deve loped this fault a while back. It's fluff and crap in the trough that colle cts the condensate and/ or in the pick-up end of the pipe that takes the wa ter to the collection container at the top.

Open the condenser unit flap and remove the condenser. On the floor of the now empty condenser bay, there are one or two (I forget) removable plastic covers. It's a bit of a fiddle to get them off, but if you persist, it can be done without breaking. I use a couple of stubby blade screwdrivers to ho ld the (quite stiff/brittle) retaining lugs in the open position while wigg ling the removable bits. You need something short because the height of the bay is only a few inches.

When the cover or covers are off, you ought to be able to see the collectio n trough, which will be full of a thick, fragrant broth of water and fluff. Use a torch if necessary. Grope around and pull out what you can (a washin g up bowl is useful to deposit the crap). When what remains is mostly liqui d, use a cloth to soak it up, with repeated wringing out.

The trough should now be clear and depending upon hand size and dexterity, you might be able to grope around and feel the end of the collection pipe t o check that it's clear. I think you might be able see it, too, but I can't recall.

At this point, the machine will probably work again. If the collection pipe is blocked, you can reverse flush or poke some high strain (i.e. thick) fi shing line down from the top. This is done by removing the machine lid (Tor x screws at the top rear, IIRC), whereupon the collection container and the top of the pipe that fills it becomes visible. You can detach the tubing t o flush or poke things down it.

If you are OCD, take the machine outside, tilt it forward with the collecti on trough cover still open, then hose the condenser bay out to get it all s queaky clean. Give a really good final tilt forward (50+ degrees) to drain the last of the water you squirted in.

Another good bit of maintenance to do every 5 years or so is to remove the back of the machine (loads more Torx, so use a drill/driver, otherwise you will get blisters), including the cover for the heating element, and remove the debris. Manually first, then vacuum cleaner with brush attachment. Tak e care not to bugger the heating element, which looks like a bit of card wi th wire wrapped round it. Doing this clean maintains good air flow through the heating element and go od heat transfer from it. It also prevents fluff build up acting as insulat ion on the temperature sensor (a little round device, about an inch diamete r, with a couple of wires leading from it).

All the best.

Terry.

Reply to
terry.shitcrumbs

Hi Terry

Thanks for your comprehensive reply. I'll give it a go.

Best regards

David

Reply to
davidandbella

replying to terry.shitcrumbs, Di wrote: We have just had this problem and thanks to your detailed description have been able to solve it! Many thanks

Reply to
Di

replying to Di, RM wrote: Many thanks for the very valuable detailed advice. Today, repaired my Bosch dryer.

Reply to
RM

replying to Richard Tobin, pheon wrote: Usually this is the concealed sump below the channel where the air cooler sits. It gets blocked with sludge. Two clips to pull forward to remove flap and get access. Clean out sludge. Put in glass of clean water and splash about to clean pump and ens or concealed on left. Replace flap and problem is solved. It is cleaning not detailed in Bosch instructions.

Reply to
pheon

replying to pheon, Bob wrote: You are answering a question that is over three years old. However, since it may be of interest to others, I can add something. On some models the sump is accessed by removing the right hand side cover, then removing the drive belt you will see. Behind that is the horizontal white cover of the sump - two or three screws depending on model. Use a wet and dry cleaner to clean the sump, flushing it with clean water and repeating. Also clean the wires on the sensor in the pump lid.

Reply to
Bob

ly 10 years old. When it has run for a while the EMPTY CONTAINER lamp light s up and the beeper sounds, but the water container is no where near full ( actually it's almost empty).

I also ran into this problem with the newer self-cleaning condenser model. On the newer model, the sump (and pump) is located at the rear of the drier with an accessible panel in the bottom right-hand corner. Two triangular c lick tabs at the top of the panel have to be pushed down to release it.

This exposes the pump. The pump can be released by a large flat click panel behind the pump being pulled forward and this allows the pump to be pulled out of the sump (taking care not to damage attached wires). Once the pump is free, the sump can be drained with a shop vac or using absorbent cloths. MY specific problem was that the drain pump couldn't run due to it being c logged and thus not draining the sump. I resolved this by rotating the blad es of the pump manually until they rotated freely.

Once this was done and all the parts replaced. The pump successfully draine d the sump into the removable container and no warning light.

Hope this helps someone...

Reply to
andy.trayler

I had the same problem, and confirm the same solution!

Reply to
Bob Eager

You would think in those intervening years the design might have been improved with some kind of simple to get out filter!

Brian

Reply to
Brian Gaff (Sofa)

replying to terry.shitcrumbs, Steven wrote: Brilliant post thank you for taking the time. Sorted me right out

Reply to
Steven

arly 10 years old. When it has run for a while the EMPTY CONTAINER lamp lig hts up and the beeper sounds, but the water container is no where near full (actually it's almost empty).

. On the newer model, the sump (and pump) is located at the rear of the dri er with an accessible panel in the bottom right-hand corner. Two triangular click tabs at the top of the panel have to be pushed down to release it.

el behind the pump being pulled forward and this allows the pump to be pull ed out of the sump (taking care not to damage attached wires). Once the pum p is free, the sump can be drained with a shop vac or using absorbent cloth s. MY specific problem was that the drain pump couldn't run due to it being clogged and thus not draining the sump. I resolved this by rotating the bl ades of the pump manually until they rotated freely.

ned the sump into the removable container and no warning light.

I'm wondering if this may be the problem with our Bosch WTYH6790GB 9kg Heat Pump Condenser Dryer too. It was working fine till yesterday then we got t he "Condensate container is full, Drying was aborted. Please empty containe r." message. There was nothing in the container. We have booked a call out £99 but not till 5th August. I may have a look myself. What model was yours? We have had ours 3 years 4 months, its interesting that this issue i s coming up now. I wonder if it could be described as a design fault and ge t compensation from Bosch?

Reply to
dmachray

Helped me, you are the boss. Thank you.

Reply to
Ivan Balaz

It helped me. Thank you so much for taking the time to post this. I really couln't afford the call out charge at the moment, but will donate a little bit to the WWF. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Reply to
Alex S

Just wanted to say that after trying everything - this worked! I have the recent self cleaning model also. Thank you so much for the effort in explaining this clearly as it was easy to follow and a lot cheaper than getting a service guy out!

Reply to
Tahlia

The thing is when you post from Home owners club all the external threading goes for a Burton and we have no idea what you in fact did and quite often no idea how many years ago the post was originally made either. Brian

Reply to
Brian Gaff (Sofa

I am boycotting Bosch after the kettle failed after 2.5 years and they told me this was okay as the warranty is only for two years.

Reply to
Scott

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