How To Clean Plinth Filter Miele Dryer

Our Miele dryer works very well and yes they are expensive (see other threads). The one problem which comes up frequently is "Clean the airways". It can only be reset by powering off the machine.
Cleaning the filters makes no difference, neither does vaccing or washing the internal filter. There seems to be a dust build up behind the right hand door at the bottom of the machine, But this apparent door seems to be fixed into place unlike the left hand door. No matter how you try, the vac hose can't reach the internal surface- yes that's a Miele as well. any help understanding this problem would be greatly appreciated.

Hi, this appears to be a common issue with these and after a bit of searching found an item that seems to address the problem. Look at the bottom of the article below and see if this makes sense.
http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/2272923

Yes it does make kind of sense. When I look up through the louvered cover at the bottom right of the dryer, I can see what appears to be matrix similar to the one behind the filter on the left hand side. I proved possible to vacuum this matrix using a vac extention tube used for cleaning printed circuit boards, it just fits thru the louvers. the dryer was used yesterday without the troublesome message coming up. Is this a fix perhaps.
my next question is - does this louvered panel come off, and if so how?

Hi, glad that may have fixed it for you, not sure if the panel comes off, would need the model number to know that. I have found a Youtube video which covers several different models of driers and I think that one of them may be like yours, if not give me the model number so that I can check.

Thanks for all the responses, incidentally the above Utube has been pulled, the complete model number is T 8966 WP heat pump dryer. Many thanks

Hi, the Youtube clip will work if you click on your last mail where at the top of the video clip it says 'Condenser Dryer Maintenance'. Do you have the user manual that goes with the dryer, if not I put the link in for you for to download this manual. The manual itself is quite good and goes into a lot of detail on how to clean all of the filters and how to access these filters, you will find this information on pages 32-34, hopes that this may help you.

Miele | Customer Support | Product Manuals

Thank you for the info. You are correct in pointing me to the online manual, it does mention the cool air intake and how to remove the panel, although it opens from the bottom not the top and requires some effort. Altho I had cleaned the grill as described previously, there was still fluff on the grill. It does seem in retrospect that I should have tried harder to find the solution, and I am sorry for that. I am however most appreciative for the assistance. Many thanks

Not a problem, live and learn, as long as it is okay now.

I had this problem for some time with my 4 year old Miele TKG850WP (T1) condenser dryer. The issue got steadily worse until the dryer not longer worked due to this error. I cleaned and vacuumed the filters and the air intake (right hand bottom side grill, which I eventually managed to remove). I also disabled the "Clean Airways" warning (on my machine one can enter the settings menu by pressing the up and down arrows simultaneously, then navigating to Clean Airways and one can set the warning level or turn it off - this is not documented in my user manual), and I eventually bit the bullet and summoned the Miele service guy for 200 Euro. He knew the answer straight away, and again this is not documented (hence my post).

The sponge filter behind the second door, the one that the manual says must be washed with water and dried. It turns out this can become completely blocked. Indeed I had washed and dried it, but the technician demonstrated that a high power light did not penetrate the filter. His fix was to throw it away and get a new one. Issue fixed. But again, Miele do not document this. Hopefully this post will save a few call out charges for others.

Meanwhile, the technician suggests that the sponge filter can be washed in a washing machine.

Solution for Miele T1 TKR650WP.
Having checked multiple posts and come to the conclusion I had already arrived at - there must be something else as I clean this after every single load.
The solution for me was in finally removing the bottom right panel which seemed locked. I inserted a bread knife (other flat hard objects will work) in the left hand side of the 'door' and pushed it to the right (don't try and lever the door open) this pushed a clip back and hey presto a grille totally covered in dust and fluff. Be careful of the foam lining when hovering as it isn't fixed in.

Great find. I got my hopes up that this might be useful for my Eco TWE620WP which seems to throw the fluff light much more often than you'd expect (inspite of looking clean enough to eat your dinner off) . Alas, though I have the same cover, behind mine there is just a very meaty looking fan, no coil. Not much evidence of fluff either...

I might buy a new filter as it is 3 years old (but clean enough looking). See how that goes.

For what it is worth for anyone looking here; mine was seemingly remedied by replacing my plinth filter with a new one. It immediately went from saying it needed cleaning every dry to not having asked yet (with about 4 loads done so far). Cost about £32 direct from Miele.

Looks like my filter was unable to be effectively washed clean anymore.