LG WE16HW dryer teardown and cleaning

LG WE16HW dryer teardown and cleaning — taking an LG WE16HW heat-pump dryer apart down to the base to clear out the lint that the door filter does not catch. The drum comes out, the base duct and the heat-exchanger coils are exposed, and everything is vacuumed and brushed clean before reassembly.

The LG WE16HW before teardown

Why open it up

A heat-pump dryer does not vent its air outside. It recirculates it through two coils in the base: the evaporator cools the air so the moisture condenses out, then the condenser heats it again before it goes back into the drum. Any lint that gets past the door filter ends up in that loop. It settles in the base duct and mats onto the face of the evaporator, where it blocks the airflow.

Teardown

• 
  Drum and side panel out, back frame still standing with the base exposed
• 
  The base from above: compressor, drive motor with belt idler and fan, hoses and the coil housing
• 
  Drive motor, idler pulley, fan and compressor, seen from under the drum. Some lint on the floor of the base, but nothing like the evaporator coil

• Unplug it first.
• Photograph every connector before unplugging it. The wiring harness has several similar plugs.
• The copper refrigerant pipes stay connected the whole time. Do not bend them or lever against them.

How dirty it was

• 
  Lint packed into the base duct under the drum, all the way to the grille
• 
  The evaporator coil: the bottom half buried in a mat of lint, the rest covered in a lint web

The motor and compressor side stayed fairly clean, with only a thin layer of lint on the floor of the base (third teardown photo above). The lint collects where the air hits the evaporator coil.

Before / after

Before — lint mat on the evaporator	After — both coils clean, fins open

Motor area and coil inlet after cleaning

Reassembly and final test

Drum back in, ready for the top cover. The control board sits on the left

▶ Final test run after reassembly (video, 8 s)

Cleaning notes

• Coil fins are thin aluminium and bend easily. Use a soft brush and a vacuum with a brush nozzle, and always move along the fins, never across them.
• Get the thick mat off by hand first. It comes away in sheets, and the fine lint underneath is then easy to vacuum.
• Vacuum the base duct, the grille and the drum seals before putting the drum back.