The tumble
dryer.
Though it
still works, the noise is indicative of chronic incipient death, so I decided
little would be lost in dismantling the machine even if I couldn't put it back
together. It is pleasant to record that these fears were quite unfounded. That
is to say, (a) I could put it back together, but (b) it is indeed nearly dead.
It's a
Zanussi Z908, and mental calculation puts its acquisition around 1988. Thus
it's done at least 18 years so one can't really complain if the life of some
part of it wishes to draw peacefully - or rather should we say, noisily -, to
its close.
I must also
say, many impressive design features were found, and also excellent
workmanship. Cf. the tumble dryer before this one. It was a Hoover, and when that began to die,
I undid the 12 screws on the back, and as I got near the end, the carcass began
to change its shape. On undoing the last but one screw, there was a banging
noise, and the supposedly rectangular carcass sprang into a shape which defied
description, except that it still had 4 sides, but at widely differing angles
to each other. In short, the back was a kind of former, or corset, for the
outer case - and can only have been screwed on in the factory after the box had
been pressed by hydraulic rams into the right shape, and was never intended to
be replaced by any single ordinary human being, unless they were assisted by
two well-trained and stalwart gibbons. (One average gorilla would do for pure
strength, but gorilla’s arms aren’t long enough.) In other words: typical British
workmanship of the 1970s.
This
Italian Zanussi though, retained its box shape even after the back was taken
off. Indeed, locating lugs were provided which realigned the back almost
perfectly so that one could replace it effortlessly. The entire rotating drum
could easily be removed after releasing the belt from the motor and taking off
a circlip that retained the drum shaft in a bearing plate in the middle of the
back plate.
The motor
was in perfect condition - though that much was already apparent, following
inspection through the large removable plastic filter for incoming air, located
on the back plate.
No; the
problem lay in the fan assembly. One end of the motor shaft drives the main
drum. The belt was still in excellent condition, by the way. The other end of
the motor shaft drives a kind of turbine fan in a plastic housing. A duct from
this draws air in past the heating element, through the back of the drum, and,
after it has passed through a fluff filter, expels it via the exit hose.
It would
fairly easily be possible to remove this fan assembly and replace it. Then, I
don't doubt the machine would run as efficiently and as whisper-smooth as it
did when it was brand new; even though it has lived out its 18 years in an
environment that becomes extremely damp in winter, as you can see by the small
patch of rust at the top left of the front of it, in the photo. above. (The small extent of this patch is, in itself, a
tribute to the quality of the stove-enamelling of the
case. Having worked in the paint industry for a time circa 1962, I know just enough about stove-enamels to appreciate
the durability of the coating used by Zanussi.)
Also
impressive and delightfully simple, was the mode of locating and securing the
top plate. Two screws held it at the back. After removing these, one simply
rotates the top plate 15 or 20 degrees, and lifts it off. There are two stout
plastic bushes on the top of each side of the main casing, near the front. To
replace the top plate, one simply rests it on the top of the casing at say 20
degrees, and turns it square. The inward facing lip on the bottom of the top
plate dutifully locates itself under these plastic bushes & so is held
down. Replacing the 2 screws at the back firmly secure the plate. Excellent.
Various
other commendable features were noted; e.g. on the electrical side, it was easy
to disconnect the wiring to the back plate: the mains supply, the heating
element, and the thermostatic safety cut-out, all of which have connections on
the back plate. This can then be laid aside while work proceeds on the main
casing.
Also, the
fan is evidently driven by the motor via
a form of dog clutch, so that when you switch off the machine, the drum stops
quite quickly, but the fan continues to rotate for some time under its own
momentum. Thus, air continues to pass through the system in for a while. This
both helps cool the heating element, and also expel the still-hot air inside
the drum, if you have turned the machine off before the full cycle has been
attained. (There is a 10 minute cooling period at the end of a completed drying
cycle). Again, subtle & commendable design.
Incidentally, this design feature was inferred from the fact that now, with the
fan bearing knackered, when you switch the machine off, the rumbling noise
continues unabated for a few seconds before the bearing judders to halt. In
perfect condition, I'd imagine the fan would continue to run for quite a while
- maybe 30 or 40 seconds?
But alas,
everything has a downside.
Viz., Google all I might, I cannot find an on-line source of
a new fan assembly for a Zanussi Z-908. I guess it's just too old a model to
bother with any more? (A digital voice - with an
American accent of course - informs us: “We no longer support this model.”)
There is an
added irony here, in that I am moving house in the relatively near future, and
have undertaken to leave certain domestic appliances - including the tumble
dryer - in place here. I have already had to renew the electric shower in the
bathroom, which also died a few months ago. It is now highly likely that I
shall have to purchase a new tumble drier, and leave it here as a kind of
unexpected bonus to the incoming owner of my property.
Still and
all, I would, and indeed shall buy another Zanussi tumble dryer,
even though they are not quite the cheapest on the market. But I certainly
shan’t buy a Zanussi for the new owner of my house. If the Z908 actually
self-destructs before I move, that is. I dare say,
that a loudly-rumbling Z908 but which does actually dry washing, would fulfil
my legal undertaking? If I do have to buy them a new one, it certainly won’t be
a Zanussi. Oh dear, no: they will have to settle for the cheapest-of-the-cheap brandless cardboard imitation tumble dryer. Whilst I, in my
new abode, shall luxuriate to the reassuring whisper of my Zanussi TD4213W,
seen here at left, although I haven’t actually got it yet, I just lifted a
picture of one from the web. Gosh, I can hardly wait!
WARNING! On no account are unqualified
people to open the backs of, or in any way meddle or tamper with, tumble dryers
or indeed any other domestic appliances, as dangerous electrical voltages,
metallic sharp edges and many other hazardous components & other things are
liable to be found therein. E.g. old socks, dead spiders, or very small alien
creatures accidentally mis-directed during
inter-galactic projection &c. It is always best to remember the old axiom:
“No user-serviceable parts inside. Refer servicing to qualified service
personnel”. Also, even very small and normally tractable alien creatures are
highly likely to be quite irritable & even fierce, after having being
trapped in a loudly-rumbling tumble dryer for many months. You see, an
imprisonment of even a few weeks (to us a trivial period, of course) may seem
to them to have lasted for ćons, as they often reckon
their time quite differently than do we, even in spite of the fact that such
alien beings are generally immortal. Actually, I have long had the feeling that
immortality, usually expected to endow a sentient species with infinite
patience, tolerance, even complaisance
& many other virtues (e.g. Ian Banks’s ‘Dwellers’), may in some cases work
in exactly the opposite way. For example, a lifetime of standing in queues at
your bank simply trying to pay in a couple of much-needed cheques,
while people in front of you mess about & delay you with their farcically
irrelevant queries and usually self-inflicted problems, is most likely to
chronically reduce your patience & tolerance quotient, at
least in the short term? On that basis, may I suggest that if you actually do
find a small furry alien creature (and above all, a large spiky one) inside
your tumble dryer, it deserves to be treated with the utmost deference?
Page re-formatted 20th December 2015.