Miele W5740 time stops and cycle carries on and unusual noise on spin

It stops on main wash with water inside the drum. The display shows stuck timer and says Main wash. It stops after pressing stop button twice.

It says that it’s a W5740

Have you checked the pump filter?

Yes, clean apart from a bit of water that remained there even after draining.

The drum seal has some black mould stains though. I’ve tried scrubbing them but they just simply don’t come off.

I sounds like it isn’t pumping the water out fast enough. If it pumps into the u-bend disconnect the drain hose and check inside the end of the drain hose, the plastic spout it pushes on to and the spigot on the u-bend where it connects for small blockages.

There’s Surely something not right. I’ve put it on a clean cycle 95 degrees with Detol.

It was showing 2.15h.

It’s not even been 15mins and the timer dropped to 1:30h

Times change all the time during a cycle. Ours does the same, can make big jumps. Times are estimated, and water temperature, load, how long it takes to balance laundry can all change the time.

If it’s not pumping fast enough there will be some obstruction somewhere or the pump is faulty (which is not as likely)

is it a kind of washing machine with a weighing sensor in it that weighs the clothes at the first part of the wash and then adjusts the cycle time?

Maybe its even got a Turbidity sensor in the drum that measures how dirty the water is and if its not too dirty then adjusts the time to end?

Thats sounds like what a "Rinse Hold" will do on a washing machine - so you have not selected that have you?

You’re joking? Where’s the point in setting the temperature then if it changes anyway? Where’s the point of timer if it also changes 😵

Can I use white vinegar to clean it or is it gonna damage the drum or the seal?

It doesn’t change the water temperature, but it takes differing times to heat water to a specific temperature depending on how cold the water is to start.

In summer the water going into the washing machine could be 20 degrees and in winter it could be 5 degrees. So it’s not possible to know how long a washing machine will take to heat water to say 40 degrees. It’s also not possible to know how long a load will take to settle down prior to spin. Plus, as Andy mentioned, some washing machines have wash cycles that add extra rinses or miss out rinses depending on how dirty the water is. So times are always an estimated time that could change.

Vinegar can have adverse effects on rubber door seals. But cleaning the washing machine won’t fix partial blockages in the pump, drain hose or u-bend. The type of blockages we are talking about are buttons, coins, hair grips, curtain hooks etc.

I mentioned vinegar as I thought it would be good for cleaning black mould stains on drum rubber seal.

I’m gonna investigate the drain hose when my partner gets home.

Anyway, we've checked the drain hose and there aren't any blockages there.

We've put the washing machine in its place. A bit tight but the washer isn't touching anything. The only thing that worries me is that there's a ventilation vent and sometimes can get a bit cold. Not freezing cold though. Is it alright for the washing machine to live in a cold area or should we block this vent?

I know that some people keep washing machines in garages.

I think I must've selected rinse hold then cause I've done several loads since then without any problems. Stupid me for creating a problem where there wasn't any problem.

Thanks for the update. Unfortunately when you said it stops with water inside I assumed it was just “some” water. If I’d realised it stopped with full amount of water I’d have thought about the rinse hold.

Don’t worry about the vent. Ours in in a garage that gets down to freezing at times.

I have noticed that washer behaves a bit weirdly. Basically when it goes to spin instead of spinning it spins for a minute, stops, moves laundry in the drum then spins for a minute or so, moves the laundry in the drum and then goes into spin again

Does it mean that the washer isn’t level and it’s trying to balance the laundry? Or is it a normal thing?

Can I safely use soda crystals for cleaning and discaling?

Sometimes washing machines will do a short spin at first, then redistribute the laundry. If it's doing it more than once, it may well be that it is struggling to balance the load properly. A washing machine will often keep trying to balance the load multiple times until it times out. However, the fact that it does go into the spin tends to imply that the load is balanced.

Normally, a washing machine won't even go into spin if the load is unbalanced. But there could be a halfway house where it feels confident enough to go into spin but then decides to try for a better balance.

If it is related to balancing, you should be able to observe that whilst the washing machine drum is revolving at the slower speed, the drum sways from side to side, or you can hear the motor running unevenly. Likewise, when it goes into spin the whole washing machine is likely to move from side to side, or at least with the Miele you should observe the drum moving from side to side.

A badly balanced load is much more likely to happen when there are just a few heavy cotton items mixed in with more normal laundry. It's also more likely to happen when you only have a small load.

Here are three articles that should help

Soda crystals in washing machines

Best way to load a washing machine

Washing machine won't spin small loads