Cleaning a Splendide

docj · May 11, 2019

Our Splendide combo is used nearly every day and we have long ago become accustomed to its long drying cycles. We also religiously practice the famous "flush" procedure to ward off the "evil" F13 fault code. However, we noticed that its drying ability had slowly become more anemic and the fault code would now come on before even one high temperature drying cycle could be completed.

So I had my local mobile RV repair guy come over since getting access to the machine is a bit more than I like to do on my own. Sure enough, the fan motor housing and the plastic "funnel" leading to the fan and heater assembly were caked with lint. It didn't take all that much effort to clean them and I followed the cleaning with yet another couple of "flushes" to make sure that all the lint had been washed away. The end result was a dryer that appears to have been restored to close to its original capability!! Frankly, we had forgotten how well it could dry. 😁 It's never going to match a residential dryer, but it's a lot better than we've been living with.

I just wanted to pass this "tip" along to others. Ours is the unvented model, but I think that the portion we cleaned is common to both the vented and unvented units. From now on we'll probably do this on a 1-2 year basis. In our opinion it was well worth the cost, and you might well be able to do it yourself, depending on your particular installation.

edatlanta · May 12, 2019

I am religious about the cleaning procedure you follow, but I also vacuum out the vent hose which tends to get coated and plugged up with lint. I use one of those Lint Lizards that used to be seen on TV. It actually works well for this purpose. If the air can't get out.....you know the result. Mine is a vented model.

While the long dry times are definitely there, you get used to it very quickly. I always remember "I'm retired what is my hurry?". Having a Splendide is much much better than sitting in a laundromat of questionable cleanliness for a couple of hours every week or so.

Smitty77_7 · May 12, 2019

We recently replaced the 2000 with the 2100 (And the alphabet combo's that follow the numbers too:)!). We too like the 'in the coach' ability of the Splendid units. We did have room to go with separate units for Washer & Dryer, but the DW voted to keep the cabinet space shelving we'd added where the Dryer would have gone. Thanks you both for your tips, as ours too is vented, both tips apply...

Timing is funny on this, as the DW was sharing with me last night, that she's now following a different technique for the Dry cycle. She always stops the washer, without the auto shift to Dry mode. She said she's found one washing pants, or say dress T-Shirts, that if she uses a lower Spin cycle speed, it does not seem to have pressed and the clothes wadded together as high to the drum. And before she starts the Dry cycle, she is using a few of those Dryer Balls, and a Drier Sheet (Bounce I believe.) too - and the pants/shirts come out pretty much wrinkle free. If the pants are a bit damp, she'll hang then from the leg ends, and the added weight of final dry upside down, also seems to help. And a tip the learned on probably this board, is less is best when it comes to clothes where avoiding wrinkling is important.

Appreciated the keeping it lint free tips!

Travel safe, have fun,

Smitty

docj · May 12, 2019

37 minutes ago, Smitty77_7 said:

Timing is funny on this, as the DW was sharing with me last night, that she's now following a different technique for the Dry cycle. She always stops the washer, without the auto shift to Dry mode. She said she's found one washing pants, or say dress T-Shirts, that if she uses a lower Spin cycle speed, it does not seem to have pressed and the clothes wadded together as high to the drum. And before she starts the Dry cycle, she is using a few of those Dryer Balls, and a Drier Sheet (Bounce I believe.) too - and the pants/shirts come out pretty much wrinkle free.

Agreed. I assume your wife knows that the spin speed on the Cotton cycle is intrinsically higher than the spin speed for the permanent press cycle. If we're washing clothes, such as undies, for which wrinkling isn't a concern, we often wash using the cotton cycle so the clothes end up with less water in them and dry faster. Then we use the Permanent Press dryer cycle so they are only subjected to the lower heat setting that goes with that cycle.

remoandiris · May 12, 2019

We also use flush method once a month. We always use the "Extra Rinse" button to (hopefully) flush out more lint when washing clothes, too. Despite the flushings, when our 2100XC kept getting the fault code, I pulled the vent hose off the back and put the hot water hose into the machine's vent opening. Ran water in there for about 30 seconds, then drained. Did that 3 or 4 times and it took care of the problem.

Did your RV repair guy just have to pull the top of the unit off or did it also involve accessing the back of the machine?