Okay now that I have your attention, I need your help please! I searched the Forum and it seems in the history of all the posts, I'm the only one with this problem...

The clothes tumber/dryer in our building is the condenser style. Supposedly it is really smart so it shuts off when your clothes are dry as opposed to running for a specified amount of time. The problem is, it will shut off when clothes are still wet. I'm not talking just damp but actually wet with condensation inside the machine. The problem is worse with big loads, towels, and especially blankets. I have tried setting the washer to a higher spin rpm, but that doesn't seem to make a difference in whether the clothes get dry or not.

Anyone else have this problem? Is there a way to override this setting? All the controls are in German and I've tried most of the settings but it always seems to shut off too early (often within 5 minutes). I can attach photos of the controls if it helps.

Any ideas and suggestions are appreciated! Thanks!

My old one at my last apartment was a condenser thingy and did exactly the same thing if it felt it was overloaded and essentially didn't run for more than ten mins before giving up. I reduced the amount I put in and that worked for me. Although it did seem to accept an exceptionally low load

This is probably going to be no help. We have bought a dryer that does the same. The only way I have found to remedy the problem is to put in a very small amount of clothes (small meaning-maybe 2-3 t-shirts, couple socks, and underwear)..which is probably the capacity of the dryer anyways. I never do this and just restart it 3-4 more times till dry..and always have to iron.

Hmm. Well then I wonder what I should do with my blanket? It isn't overly large or heavy. I guess I will have to run downstairs and keep doing 5-10 minute cycles all day?

Quick PS - I'm outta here for the night to get some sanity away from EF. Will look forward to everyone's insightful replies tomorrow!

I don't know - I load up mine pretty good. Is there any chance that a sensor is broken-can you ask neighbors if they have a problem? I have had both a bosch and a miele condensor style and I like them! Is there an extratrocken setting you can pick?

Condensers work either by dumping the water into a plastic container or out a rubber drain pipe.

The condenser boxes get full of water if no-one empties them. The machine will beep or flash a warning light and stop.

In our case here, some idiot moved the machine and then trapped the rubber outlet pipe with a kink in it. Once I unkinked it, the water drained and the dryer continued to work as normal (i.e. automatically stop only once the clothes are dry, or in our case when the 50rp coins in the meter run out).

OMG you just solved the mystery of our dryer who stops and displays "kondenswasser voll" after 5 mins. I never understood what that means. I reported it but nobody seems to care so I gave up and stopped using it.

Stop revealing all the secrets! I meticulously re-squish the outlet to make sure nobody else tries to use it.

@ 3-wishes, you could note the make and model and search the Internet for an English manual or handbook.

First you need to clean the plastic filter in the door.

Then on some models, at the bottom of the machine behind a cover, there is a big metal box, with about 5 metal plates which cool the air and condense the water. These become stuffed with the fine dust that gets through the filter in the door.

You need to open the front, pull out the box thingy, pull off the worst of the wet fluff, and pass water through it to remove the rest of the fluff.

Re-assemble, and the problem might be fixed.

All dryers I've seen so far have several humidity settings. This thread on toytowngermany might give you some useful hints.

Or go ahead, post a picture of the controls and someone might be able to help.

If you use a setting like "Extra trocken" and it's still wet then have a look at Sbrinz' post.

We have a combined washer dryer.

BUT, while it's 8kg wash, dry is only 5kg, which means that if it's a full wash, it won't fully dry, in which case I usually just set it for another 120' drying time, and all is well.

Tom

Maybe your clothes are still wet because someone ERASED YOUR NAME from your laundry time slot sign-up sheet and took your damn clothes out so they could start their load of laundry during your slot, even though the sign-up sheet gets tacked on the wall pre-loaded with their name blocking all day Saturday and half of Sunday, every single f*ing week...

...or maybe I'm just projecting.

Didn't think of asking the neighbors if they were having a problem. Will have to do a Google translate to figure out what to say, and hopefully not offend.

Checked that after reading this. Plastic container was bone-dry, which was kinda odd. Checked outlet pipe and it was not kinked. In fact it has this plastic guide-ring-thing around it that keeps it from getting bent.

Good ideas. I have searched the internet for an English manual before, but to no avail. It's some fancy Bosch model with a little map of Switzerland on the front. Filter in the door is clean, but my mom said maybe it has buildup from fabric softener, so I should clean it with warm water and soap. I'm not sure how that helps or works, but it is worth a try for the next time.

I learned about the box/grate thingy last year after observing another tenant cleaning it out. It does hold a LOT of fluff and water. Makes a total mess when you go to clean it. Since then I clean it regularly, so I think that's not it.

I toyed with settings after reading this, and it might have done the trick. There is a sunshine symbol in one of the menus, which I decided must be important. It was on the lowest setting, so I bumped it to the highest. Half an hour later the blanket was DRY! Now I will have to watch and see if this is something I set every time or just once.

Awesome reply. Literally made me LOL. People do some weird stuff. Since two days ago, someone has been setting the lock on the laundry room door to the "locked" position so that the door does not close fully. I think they have armloads of laundry and don't want to turn the handle. But geez it makes a loud bang when the door hits the frame.

Thanks for all the great replies. I'll update after the next round of laundry.

that happened to someone i know, he pissed in the detergent drawer as horrible as it sounds his name was never removed again.

We have a Zug Adora TL washer/dryer stacked unit in our apartment, and it often will do the same thing -- especially if I have the dryer on low or medium setting. But for some reason, the clothes dry all the way when I have it on high setting.

Anyways, there is a metal thing inside the dryer that collects lint build-up that I have to take out once every few weeks and rinse out in my shower. It's basically a big blocky metal thing. The dryer always works much better after that.

Also, I read in the manual for our dryer that dryer sheets and fabric softener can make the dryer sensor dirty, so it's good to clean that sensor every now and then, which is located just under the dryer door, inside the machine.

Hope you can get your machine to work better! I know how frustrating that is...

Thanks! Will have to go on the hunt for this sensor as well. I think it's probably a combination of things that contribute to the problem. Funny enough, I just realized maybe that's why lots more neighbors are hanging their laundry in the drying room this week instead of using the tumbler...

Not come across the problem myself...... touch wood..... but would suggest a call to the landlord! Not really too much help. Sorry!