Splendide Dryer burnt wires

[DougS]

I have a Splendide stackable dryer that has burnt wires after 1 1/2 years of service. The connection block by the service cord has all melted parts. I called the company and the new parts are on the way. My concern is that since we only go out in the RV 3 months out of the year, I had very little lint build up inside of the cabinet but I had some. Lint is like kindling, and the way the wires were burnt, there must have been plenty of sparks. I'll install it with better insulated blade connectors and added shrink tubing. I'll also go through the cabinet to make sure I got all of the lint build up.
Our family rule has always been to never leave our house or RV with the dryer running.

 

[danemayer]

Do you have any idea why and where resistance built up enough for this damage to occur?

 

[DougS]

Do you have any idea why and where resistance built up enough for this damage to occur?

I believe this was strictly a mechanical failure. The wires have connectors with no insulation on them and a only a very thin piece of plastic separates the power line from common (black and white wires). It is my belief that if it was a resistance build up, other connections would also have been damaged, but there are none. I believe beefing up the wire insulation will solve the problem. I just hope that no electic components are damaged.

 

[Nabo]

This is the second Slendide dryer that I have heard about having electrical problems. The other one had started a small fire in the back of the unit. Luckily the owners were inside the camper, immediately killed the power and was able to keep the camper from going up in flames. WOO - scary.

 

[DougS]

This is the second Slendide dryer that I have heard about having electrical problems. The other one had started a small fire in the back of the unit. Luckily the owners were inside the camper, immediately killed the power and was able to keep the camper from going up in flames. WOO - scary.

My unit didn't catch fire, but it melted wires and plastic, but with lint inside the cabinet, I would be concerned.

 

[hoefler]

The connections are/were loose.

 

[rxbristol]

I'm glad you posted this thread. It made me realize that I have not cleaned our Splendide dryer in almost 4 years. I took it apart and there was a lot of lint, but all the wires looked good. Since we full-time, we have used the heck out of this dryer. We have been very pleased with its durability/dependability.

For those interested in taking apart your dryer to clean the lint out of the cabinet I've attached some pictures. First remove the lid, then the easiest panel to remove is the left side to access all the areas. There are a total of ten screws.

Remove two lid screws on the back.



The lid has two tabs, after removing the two screws, push the lid back and it will come off.



Remove top screw to the left panel.



Remove four screws that hold the left side panel to the back.





There is a bottom screw on the front of the dryer that attaches to the left panel.



There is also two screws inside at the top and bottom that need to come out.

Two twist ties hold wires up out of the way to the left panel.



Here is 2/3 of the lint I pulled out of the dryer after almost four years of operation.

 

[DougS]

The connections are/were loose.

The plastic junction box was too melted and burnt to determine if the wires were loose. I believe if better insulators Disconnects were used this problem might not have happened. The original wires just had metal ends. I have insulated AMP Female Disconnects on hand and I plan to also use shrink tubing over the Disconnects. This is probably over kill.
I am hoping for delivery today of the parts from Splendide.

 

[rxbristol]

The plastic junction box was too melted and burnt to determine if the wires were loose. I believe if better insulators Disconnects were used this problem might not have happened. The original wires just had metal ends. I have insulated AMP Female Disconnects on hand and I plan to also use shrink tubing over the Disconnects. This is probably over kill.
I am hoping for delivery today of the parts from Splendide.

The main thing is to make sure the connectors fit very tight on the terminal block to prevent arching which in turn causes heat build-up and the burning you're getting.

 

[DougS]

A thank you to Spendide for sending the parts to fix my melted wires. I installed the power cord and insulated the heck out of it and made sure all of fittings were tight. When I tried the dryer, it worked fine but there was no heat, one of the coin sized thermostats was bad I guess from the wires shorting. The company sent me the thermostats and now all is fine. Thanks again Spendide.

 

[rxbristol]

Great news. I'm glad all worked out for you.

 

[mixie57]

We suffered the exact same thing with our Ariston (AKA Splendide) dryer. We had the dryer repaired 2 times previously for bad heating elements and the 3rd time it caught fire. We were able to use our extended warranty to be reimbursed for a replacement but we never got the replacement. We had the RV tech remove the heating elements and now it just air dries our clothes. It works great in the summer but takes hours in the winter. I am too afraid to put a working dryer in because it came so close to burning up our RV and all our pets. The washer works great but I will never put a Splendide dryer in. Waiting for someone to make one that fits in same spot and be safe.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[DougS]

Your picture was almost an exact picture of mine. When I put it back together I insulated the heck out of the wire connections. I also thought about installing a terminal strip instead of their assembly. The problem I had with the heating unit was the one time coin shaped fuses. I did notice on the new power cord the thin piece of plastic that separates the white and black wires is now twice as thick.

I'll never leave the RV with the dryer running.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk[/QUOTE]

 

[hoefler]

Your picture was almost an exact picture of mine. When I put it back together I insulated the heck out of the wire connections. I also thought about installing a terminal strip instead of their assembly. The problem I had with the heating unit was the one time coin shaped fuses. I did notice on the new power cord the thin piece of plastic that separates the white and black wires is now twice as thick.

I'll never leave the RV with the dryer running.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[/QUOTE]

Insulation is not the issue, actually can make it worse by keeping heat in. Bad/loose connections cause the ends to over heat and burn, exactly like you pictures indicate.

 

[porthole]

Potentially a lot of current going through push on connectors. Doesn't seem like the best concept.

 

[DougS]

Insulation is not the issue, actually can make it worse by keeping heat in. Bad/loose connections cause the ends to over heat and burn, exactly like you pictures indicate.[/QUOTE]

When I mentioned insulation I was talking about wire insulation like shrink tubing and better wire connections so the white and black wires coming into the dryer do not touch, shorting them out. My connections were only bare connectors separated by a very thin piece of plastic, when the plastic failed, the wires shorted. I do not believe changing wire connections and adding shrink tubing over the bare wire connectors will cause them to overheat.