Splendide 2000 quit drying the clothes

[Bill Sprague]

Last week it was replacing the circuit board in the Norcold due to a small fire.

This week, the Splendide 2000 quit blowing air out the vent.  The short version is that it was clogged internally with lint.  Read on for details.  

The internet provided a repair manual and parts list.

A phone call to Splendide in Portland, OR provided the suggestion that it was (1) plugged with lint, (2) the blower motor failed or (3) the blower squirrel cage fan was clogged and dirty.  The Splendide has run well for about 7 years.  

With the Splendide suggestion that the squirrel cage fan be checked, I took the unit out and slid it into the kitchen.  Two screws and the top was off.  Four more metric screws and the blower was out.  The fan was clean so I put that part back together.  

With it out on the kitchen floor I could see in the exhaust vent.  About five inches in was a clump of lint that seemed to be almost glued in place.  (What have you been washing dear wife?) The air has to go around a corner there and through a slight restriction on its way out of the machine.  The clump was past the reach of my fingers.  I needed extra long needle nose pliers.  Instead,  poked a vacuum cleaner hose in there and got most of the clump out.

I discovered that the exit is made of rubber and can be removed.  With it out of the way, I was able to reach a bigger clump of lint further inside the unit.  

With the rubber exit tube back in place and the lint removed, I set the Splendide to dry and the exhaust air blew out like it was supposed to.  

It is a lot of trouble removing the machine from the cabinet.  Next time it stops blowing I’m going try to poke through the outside vent with something long and skinny.   Hopefully, it will be in about 7 years!

[Marty and Suzie Schenck]

Bill, I think I should take you everywhere we camp. Your going to know how to fix just about every thing on a coach. So far: Hydro-Hot, Norcold, ABS, fuel filters and now Spendide. Those are just the ones I can remember. Glad it was an eazy fix.
Marty

[Bill Sprague]

Bill, I think I should take you everywhere we camp. Your going to know how to fix just about every thing on a coach. So far: Hydro-Hot, Norcold, ABS, fuel filters and now Spendide. Those are just the ones I can remember. Glad it was an eazy fix.
Marty

Thank you for the compliment.  I'll camp with you anywhere.  I'll look after the fridge and laundry.  You can be in charge of the expensive power train stuff!  

[Jay and Raylene Todd]

And I will go to the effort of supervising both of your efforts as well as doing the necessary drinking.  

[220]

I'll have to agree with Bill on his checking out the cause of the dryer not doing its job right.  We experienced the same problem this past summer in Oregon when we realized the clothes weren't dry after 4 - 5 hours in the machine.  (We're older and the idea to investigate the cause doesn't come to us as quickly as it used to, if it ever did.)  While at Redmond we had Splendide service the machine (I had to clear my closet completely out so it was in a serviceable location.)  Again, as stated above the exhaust pipe had a clod of lint blocking the tube and also the little fan on the top of the machine was frozen in place.  After using some silicone the fan broke free and cleaning out the duct the machine works just fine.  It only took 30 minutes to fix the problem.  I guess it only takes once watching the service tech do his magic.  I think in the future it should be a relatively easy job to do routine maintenance on the machine.  Using a little Clorox, in the short cycle wash, will also take care of any odd smells coming from the machine.  As someone once stated, "All you have to do is stick your toe in the water to get the confidence to tackle those fix-its which we're afraid to try".  Our machine is almost 20 years old.