Miele W863 wont fill with enough water

[millman56]

Hello, Our up until now faultless 11 year Miele Novotronic W863 is playing up, it runs through all the cycles fine but does not appear to fill with enough water and as a consequence the laundry comes out dirty. It is piped for cold fill only and the water pressure is ok, pipe not kinked etc. Any ideas on what the problem may be before I delve into the thing ?
Thank-you in anticipation,
Mark.

 

[zipper]

Check if the inline filters on each end of the fill hose are blocked.

 

[millman56]

Thanks for that Zipper, the filters are clear and water flows freely into the machine, it just does not get enough, pouring extra water in through the detergent drawer allows it to wash properly. Do these machines have pressure transducers which control the water level ?

Thanks, Mark.

 

[zipper]

On early versions a mechanical level switch monitored water levels. If the expected level has not been reached after 2 min, the Water inlet check LED should be flashing. If the level has still not been reached after 4 min, water intake cycle should stop and the programme is interrupted. On later versions the old mechanical level switch has been replaced by an analog pressure sensor. I am not sure which version you have, but I suspect it may have a mechanical switch. Regardless of which system is fitted you ought to be seeing an error LED if levels are too low.
Does your water inlet Led flash? Is the drain hose too low causing the machine to syphon? Have you tried using the "water plus" function & see how that works out?

 

[millman56]

Hi Zipper, no error LED shows and it definately runs through the rinse cycle with low water levels, the wife has tried the water plus function to no avail.
One thing she says is that early in its cycle the machine will not allow the door to be opened with 20mm or so of water above the drum, prior to its fault it would allow this, is it possible that the level switch is reading higher than actual ? The drain hose loops over about 120mm below the top surface of the machine.

Thanks, Mark.

 

[zipper]

Your drain hose sounds ok. It shouldn't be possible to open the door if there is water in the drum. It is difficult to find any reliable info on this model because of its age & I have never replaced a mechanical level switch on this actual machine. If I were to hazard a guess (& it is only a guess) I would suspect a problem with the brake-tank/level switch (rear left under the lid), an inlet valve issue (3 valve cluster at the rear of the detergent tray) or maybe even a blockage in the small bore hose from the pump up to the brake-tank (if fitted on yours). In absence of an error code it isn't easy to give you spesific advice.