Twisted metal strap in drum

I have had exactly the same thing happen this evening.

Found a twisted metal strap, very similar to the one pictured. There was no screw at one end and it was sheared at the other. It was twisted up a lot more than yours.

I found it in the drying pulled out of my relatively new Hotpoint dryer.

I use a Bosch washing machine, rather than Indesit.

Would be interested to know what on earth it is.

Both found inside Hotpoint tumble dryers?

Yes appears to be a Hotpoint issue. I haven't taken mine apart yet. Thinking of running it and seeing what happens

I did a basic strip down this morning

There was also a tear in one of the mesh panels in the filter. Understandable if a piece of metal was whizzing around inside.

I took out the condenser unit underneath and it looked to be ok. There are screws on the side walls, near the front. One looks to be slightly out of place and a little sign of rust on it already. I wonder if anyone has an image of a new condenser unit? Does it have any metal strap screwed onto it?

I ran a damp old tea towel through it also and it sounded fine. There was no damage to the fabric either

I can’t imagine how anything from inside a dryer could get into the drum. The only entrance into it is where the hot air is blown into the drum.

If the filter is damaged btw. Get it replaced ASAP as fluff can build up on the element and the whole thing can catch fire.

Hi there. Yes very strange how it got in. The machine runs but doesn't dry anything so will have to get it fixed. Thanks for the advice.

Just an update

I had Hotpoint visit to inspect my machine as it was still under guarantee. I had noticed that any program other than the 30 or 60 minute cycles would stop after about 15-20 minutes.

Their engineer identified that a sensor was missing that told the machine if the clothes were dry or not. He said it was a strip of metal and asked if I had found one in the dryer recently.

Problem solved. Parts ordered and now awaiting them to come back and fit them.

Hi Kal402, thanks so much for the info. We've booked a dryer repairman to come in a week or so. He didn't know what the metal strip was. I think we're experiencing similar problems as you with the different cycles so we'll double check and also send him this post. Thanks again and I'll update this post once we know for definite. Best wishes.

Thanks for the updates. Well that doesn't remotely look like a sensor. It just looks like a long metal strip. Surely a sensor needs electrical connections. I also cannot

imagine how a sensor that should be fitted to the outside of the drum could get inside the drum. Even if it was fitted on top of the drum on a washer-dryer close to the heating element, if it somehow fell into the machine it would fall into the gap between the inner drum and outer drum and I cannot imagine I could possibly get inside the drum.

Very weird. Any further details or photos would be very useful and interesting thanks.

I woke up to find the exact same thing in my tumble dryer with all the clothes all twisted around it . Managed to free the clothes.its exactly like that but sticking out of the back of the front wall of the dryer. I can't seem to add pics. It works but the drum won't soon unless you push by hand.

I have just had to ring an engineer for the same problem it's a hotpoint aquarius dryer the twisted metal strip is still attached to the front inner wall of my dryer and had all the clothes wrapped around it. Did anyone find a answer as to what this strip is?

Good question. Hopefully if not then you can supply an answer after your engineer has been? It still looks like a part of the main drum to me.

Same thing here- this is the second time it’s happened in a year to us, each time with a relatively new machine

Very weird. It still looks like part of the stainless inner drum to me.

It's a sensor strip which is screwed to the inside of the front air duct, the electrical terminal at the end of the strip fits through the duct and attaches to a spade connector

So if found it needs an engineer to fix.

Seems to be an issue with hotppint dryers..mine is just under 2 years old..had to have a new belt on recently and now this exact same thing..the sensor strip..it's still screwed in but the other end has just come off..it twisted around the washing ripping some of the clothes attached to it..it was a mangled mess..and pushed on the door that much it popped open from the force of the mangled clothes pushing against it..

I wish I'd kept my old hotpoint dryer and had the fix on it when they were being recalled for fire hazard..my old 1 was 6 years old and not a problem with it..I just feel these new ones aren't built to last!!

does indeed look like the moisture sensor bar , at the bottom of the drum , inside the drum itself - imaging that tearing off like that. Pretty bad. All i can think is that a bit of clothing catches on the metal strip sensor and then must 'pull' it out of the sensor bar housing cover . pretty poor design in that respect . I have just bought a new BEKO vented tumble dryer with sensor drying and I have noticed on these new ones they have removed the moisture bars totally from inside the drum altogether and have now put a sensor for detecting the moisture right underneath the lint/fluff filter now. Harder to get to, to clean, but no change of it getting ripped off and caught up in your washing though!

Many thanks Andy.

I’ve had this happen yesterday with hotpoint year old not great especially for a year old dryer