Goodness, there couldn’t be a worse time! You’ve run your Miele tumble dryer twice now, but your clothes are still too damp to wear and you’ve got half an hour until you need to leave for a dinner date.
Or maybe you’ve returned to pull your clothes out of the dryer and almost burned yourself on your shirt. You’re surprised the fire alarm isn’t blaring with how hot your appliance has gotten.
Fret not—there may be a simple solution.
On Miele tumble dryer models, the thermostat has an easily accessible reset button. All you’ll need to do to reach it is unplug the dryer’s power cord, pull off a panel, and press the darned thing!
This post will explain in more detail how to get to this reset button, what to use it for, and what to do instead if it doesn’t work.
Miele Tumble Dryer Reset Button Location
Tumble dryers like Miele often come with resettable thermostats. Whether it be a button on top of the thermostat or a switch inside it, resetting the component can save you lots of time and money when your dryer malfunctions.
Miele tumble dryers come with a reset button on the thermostat, which you can find on the top side of the heating assembly box. It’s an ideal first line of defense against dryer heating problems and overheated or wet clothes.
Accessing this button is super easy, too—all you’ll need to do is remove a panel on the back.
How to Access the Miele Dryer Reset Button
Snatch a screwdriver from your toolbox for this one! To access the reset button in a Miele tumble dryer:
Unplug the dryer from the power outlet.
Unscrew the long, five-sided panel in the back center of the dryer.
Locate the heating assembly box just underneath this panel at the center of the dryer.
There should be a black, cylindrical component with wires on the top side of the box. This is the thermostat.
Press the black reset button on top of the thermostat.
That’s it! After you press this button, reassemble your dryer, plug it back in, and run a standard dryer cycle. The reset worked if your clothes come out perfectly warm and dried.
What Should I Do If the Reset Button Doesn’t Work?
You’ve pulled off the back panel and pressed this button, but after running a normal cycle your clothes still emerge either lukewarm and damp or piping hot and dry as sand. Did you do something wrong?
Unfortunately, thermostat resets don’t always work for a couple of reasons. First, the thermostat itself may be fried—and much like a computer or phone, you can’t reset fried components. Second, there may be other components like the heating element at fault.
Luckily, you don’t need to turn to an expensive repair technician just yet. There are a few other fixes you can try yourself that should save you time and cash.
Check the Moisture Sensor
This component checks the amount of moisture left in your laundry, informing the dryer of when to stop.
When it malfunctions, it may tell your appliance there’s still moisture, causing your dryer to overheat. It might also tell your dryer that there’s no moisture left even when your clothes are still wet.
You should be able to find this sensor on the inside of the drum around the removable lint filter. The sensor will have two thin, curved bars running through it. Once you find it, test it with a multimeter and replace it if there’s insufficient continuity.
Vented dryers depend upon air coming into and out of the appliance in order to manage how hot the drum gets. Obstructions in ingoing and outgoing ducts can block this air flow and affect how hot the drum gets—or doesn’t get.
All you’ll really need to do is unplug the dryer and take a look at all the dryer vents with a flashlight. If you see any lint or debris inside, pull it out and throw it away. Your dryer should work properly after cleaning the vents if these obstructions were the issue.
Inspect and Test the Heating Element
The heating element heats the dryer drum using coils. If it gets misshapen, these coils may get too far away from the drum to heat it or may press up too close and overheat it.
Additionally, the component itself can short out or otherwise malfunction.
Visually inspect the heater element box for any deformations and use a multimeter to verify that it’s actually able to generate heat. If there isn’t continuity or the box isn’t correctly shaped, replace the part.
Conclusion
Your Miele tumble dryer should have a convenient reset button on the thermostat, which you can get to from the back of the dryer.
If this button doesn’t work, clear out any vents and inspect other components like your heating element or moisture sensor. But don’t hesitate to call in a professional if you just can’t seem to get your dryer to work again despite these troubleshooting steps.
