Lakeland Drysoon heated airer driving me mad!

[AlbertCampion]

We bought one of these about four years ago. It was a big outlay for the airer and cover but we figured it would be worth it cos Lakeland is a trustworthy make.

For the past year or so it's been doing this thing where it sometimes beeps continuously when turned on and refuses to heat up. Googling seems to indicate that this is a well-known fault with them. On Twitter threads, Lakeland say they will help if you bought the airer less than three years ago and have the receipt still. Otherwise, they recommend you get an electrician to fix it.

Does anyone else have the same airer and the same problem? If so, have you managed to fix it? We paid well over £100 for this and it seems mad to just accept that it's broken after only four years. We also don't want to pay lots for an electrician to tell us it's not fixable.

And if anyone has a different heated airer, would you recommend it? We definitely won't be buying Lakeland again if we do have to replace it.

Thank you, James - the repair is underway and the capacitor on order. Funnily enough, this item is 'trending' for the ebay seller that you got yours from! A sudden rush to fix these airers??
Will let you know if/when we succeed!

Brilliant - good luck with it and let me know if you need any help

We had the repair cafe today, and to my surprise another identical Dry:Soon rack came in! I was able to do the repair in 10 minutes and it again worked perfectly so I'm now very optimistic that it will help others too

I've been having some issues when removing the blade connectors from the circuit board (if anyone's interested I've posted my query on gw0udm's blog https://universaldiscoverymethodology.com/2024/01/11/repairing-a-lakeland-drysoon-clothes-airer/) would really appreciate if anyone has some advise

As seen on the image I've attached, I've cut the plastic covering on the blade connector with scissors (1cm) to look for the metal retaining tab to pull off the connector but I can't seem to find it.

The key to the issue is the small round hole you can see in the middle of the connector. The locking tab is on the other side and has a little dimple that presses in to it.

Now that you can get to it, you can use something with a sharp point like a nail and push it into that hole. That should release the connector and you'll be able to pull it off.

Let us know how you get on!

James

Hi James,
I'm over the moon! Thanks to your clear instructions, my husband has fixed our airer. It took a little while as we had to wait for the capacitors to be delivered, then his 40 year old soldering iron wasn't working properly so he needed a new one and the de-soldering takes a little patience. But it's as good as new now and I'm so pleased not to have wasted money buying a new one or added to the landfill.
I'll add this to the comments on your blog to let people know that your repair is simple to do.

Thanks for letting me know - I'm so pleased you got it sorted! I've heard from quite a few people now who have had success and I'm surprised at quite how often this happens - it seems almost inevitable. So hopefully this thread and the blog will help more people too, and I'm very happy to advise anyone who needs it. Also to repeat my offer if anyone has this issue but isn't confident in the repair then please get in touch and I'll do my best to assist.

Hi
Thanks for your blog. Ours is now fixed and working well.

Hi, thank you for this information. How much do you charge? Where are you based?

Hi, I'm in Birmingham - I'll send you a PM

Thanks James, sil gave us her lakeland airer because it was constantly beeping so she replaced it with another. Dh managed to fix it with your instructions 😀 dont think she is going to be too happy after finding out it was such a cheap fix 😂

Thanks James, I forgot to update you but managed to fix it shortly after your advise, it was a lot simpler than I thought.

I’ve just found you can get a repair for the circuit board. I’m not sure if it’s a new board or they want me to send the faulty one but I’ve ordered one so will find out soon! It’s through eBay

Yes I think that is a repair service, when you send in your board and they will replace the capacitor and return it to you. I also offer this service, send me a message if you are interested

As a side comment - is it actually possible to get a heated airer with a lifetime guarantee? I'd have thought that any electrical appliance is going to get dodgy after say ten years or so, especially if it's one that has to be folded up and extended numerous times?

Hi all, gw0udm in this post fixed the switch for me. £20 great service.

We have the not Deluxe 3 tier version, it just has an on/off switch and no display or ability to beep. It's still going strong after 11 years of heavy use.

Hope no-one minds a thread resurrection but I came across this thread while searching for info.

My 3 tier Deluxe Dry:Soon gave me an error message and some loud repeating beeps today. I switched if off and then on again, and so far it seems to be working again. My unit is within the 3 year warranty (by 2 months) so I'll try contacting Lakeland first and see what they are offering by way of advice. I would hate to have to consign the unit to landfill (I've looked after it well) and buy another one for such small fault but I would be lost without my Dry:Soon, it gets daily use and makes life much easier for us.

@gw0udm I read your blog post and fervently wished I was technically minded like yourself. You have my sincere admiration for figuring out how to repair the unit's most common fault.

@UtopiaPlanitia Thanks! It does sound exactly like the common fault with these. It's good that it is still in warranty so I hope that Lakeland do the right thing by you.

However please get in touch via the blog if you need any assistance, I'd be glad to help you with getting your current one repaired if that was needed.

Also very happy to hear from anyone else who needs help with this, as I do offer a postal repair service and can give further details to anyone interested.

James

Firstly I think its ok to respond on a 2023 post as Lakeland are still currently using electricity costs from then to sell you the product (from 7p an hour!).
Yeah right.
They also claim to have won awards.
In reality Lakeland do not produce these. They do not research and improve products. The Dry:soon patent belongs to a Chinese gentleman where the product is made. Lakeland are merely importers and then smash a massive mark up on the product claiming it is their own then sell it to you with false economy outdated info.
There IS a more efficient dryer coming soon which uses less power AND takes less time AND collects moisture.
Watch this space....