It may be for grounding the drum.

Or more likely, for the moisture sensor circuit.

Moisture sensor.

I assume that the contacts the ride the track have worn down to the point of needing replacement. Shouldn't be a big deal to DIY it, if you could locate the parts.

MRB

That is your dryer's moisture sensor.

Thanks all. After I posted this I wondered about it being the moister sensor. Not because I am smart, but because when I called Miele about the noise they said that could be one of the causes. Can I bother you all with another question? How they heck do a couple of pieces of metal on the outside of the drum detect moisture? I'm genuinely interested.

Like so:

Here is a link that might be useful: Miele Perfect Dry

whirlpool_trainee thanks! That was perfect. Pretty darn cool I might say.

Yeah...pretty cool that you have to pay to replace a part that is ONLY 6 years old.

Yet my over 12 year Whirlpool dryer hasn't had any replaced parts and is still running flawlessly.

That's a pretty dumb way to measure moisture and to pay a pretty penny for it to.

For the price you pay for a Miele, you shouldn't have to replace anything for at least 10 years.

Thank goodness I came to my senses because I was seriously thinking of going the Miele route with my next washer dryer set.

Good luck with your Miele.

@georgect,

Was that really necessary?

Sorry but Miele really pisses me off with what you get for the price you pay...

It was not aimed at the OP (deke) but more so at myself for falling for Miele's brain washing.

On another note...
Why on earth would Miele purposely design metal on metal to rub against each other knowing that it would cause a fault or failure from wear?
They could have designed the same exact principle but with small rolling wheels rolling on the drum or done something totally different using a "solid state" controller.

This post was edited by georgect on Mon, Feb 18, 13 at 14:23

@georgect,

I agree that given that connection contains an expendable (the pair of carbon contacts) I see no reason why Miele could not have designed a longer lasting solution. The price of a service visit for such a part is cost prohibitive and a negative on Miele ownership.

@deke,

I have the exact "trolley/drum" contact system you have in your photograph on our T 9822. Other than voiding any extended warranty you might have I see no reason why you cannot do yourself by following prudent safety precautions to avoid bodily harm and damage to any onboard electronics.

The bigger question is whether Miele will sell you the part? The contacts are a held by a snap-in assembly, but Miele might only sell the entire trolley system versus just the contacts. You will have to follow the wiring back to their respective connections as the lead wires are long and pass through a maze of other wiring to make their final connections.

Using the drum lifters was a common moisture sensing system for Euro dryers. Our Electrolux even uses the entire drum as a sensor and can dry a single shirt on its sensor cycles - that's how accurate it is. Contrary to the Miele, though, it uses a brush instead of a solid device. The brush hasn't worn off even after ten years.

I always wondered why US dryers with these huge drums only use those small sensor strips. OTOH, many Euro manufacturers are now using them as well. Must be cheaper to make.

Alex

I swear I can't go anywhere online without someone whining off topic about the price I pay for things.

I ordered the parts direct for $60 today. Perhaps some will find that absurd, but so what. I'm loaded and have bucks up the wazoo, so to me it's nothing. Not even a drop in the bucket. I could light cigars all week with the money most people need to simply survive. I am the 1% and Miele products are made for rich successful people like me.

Maytag used a similar design for their electronic moisture sensor on Halo of Heat models for some period of years.

@deke,
Perhaps some will find that absurd, but so what. I'm loaded and have bucks up the wazoo, so to me it's nothing.

If this is the case, why DIY? And a Miele service call--even better. New Miele Professional series washer and dryer replacement--the best of all solutions (and the one preferred by the 1%ers).

georgect,

Keep your editorializing to yourself. If you have an issue with Miele, take it up with Miele. It sounds like you had a bad experience, or are simply speaking from an emotional place of insecurity. Do you know how your Whirlpool dryer measures moisture, and have you verified that it is, in fact, superior to how Miele does it?

I suggest you deal with your core issue, which is anger management. This is not a place to deal with your psychological problems.

@sshrivastava...

That conversation was done on Feb 18'th and if you read that post, I apologized.

Done.

By on topic,

Glad you were able to locate the parts needed to repair your own appliance. I hope that you can report back whether you were successful and how difficult the job.

Thanks for posting.

MRB

Apparently it wasn't obvious I was being sarcastic and attempting some humor. I am not a 1 percenter, I just thought that was the common perception of Miele owners. Actually, my first post here years ago was interesting. I asked about Miele and someone responded (paraphrased), "I love Miele and have them in all my homes." He or she was serious and I knew things would get interesting.

We bought the Miele for one reason. We are short on space and a 24" Euro machine was the only option. Even the smallest (quality) US models are 27" and that would not work. Since Bosch and Asko are constantly being repaired (seems to be the case) we went with Miele and have had two issues (one washer, one dryer) in six years. The washer had a mother board fried in an electrical storm and blackout (warranty paid for it) and the dryer is this problem. I agree this is a very dumb design. I'm expecting that, like most things German, it is over engineered and there is some obscure minutia based advantage to this particular materials conductivity. I for one am glad of German obsession with over engineering since it helped them lose WWII!

Any way, I have the part now and it is the entire assembly, not just the carbon/metal pieces. It actually came with instructions, but in German! How ridiculous. I get a little intimidated by electrical connections, but this shouldn't be too bad (famous last words?). I am just sick of the appliance repair game. Nobody stocks any parts and so you have to go through the initial visit with the, "Gee sir, you were right, you need this part, I'll be back in 3 weeks, so go wash your clothes in the river until then."