If the fire was bad enough to melt the bucket of water there is not a cats chance in hell the volume of water would be anywhere near enough to extinguish the fire Ken.

As Steve has said, water and electricity are not great bed fellows either :eek:

Not getting into any argument jeff, I am aware of water and leccy.
maybe I`l modify the bucket and place large freezer zippy bags instead.
Don`t make this into something it`s not.
Ken.

Hi.
Actually I think Ken's suggestion isn't so silly. OK I know about water and electrics but in this scenario it could be to advantage. If the machine goes on fire we would hope the power could be removed, burning cables will hopefully short out blowing the 13a plug fuse or tripping the RCD.
There is no guarantee though this will happen. If the machine does get hot enough to melt a thin plastic container filled with water then it could get into the electrics of the machine to trip the RCD, it also could buy some time before the fire becomes disastrous.
I think Ken its a perfectly valid idea.

The top of a tumble dryer has a lid on it , the flames would have to be coming through the lid and unless you had gallons of water I don't see any chance of extinguishing the fire !

Sorry guys but I don't see this as a workable solution, not to mention the fact that most people's domestic appliances are under kitchen or utility work surfaces it's even less likely to work.

If a fire has taken hold of an appliance that badly unless you have proper extinguishers to deal with the fire my advice would be to get everyone out of the property immediately and dial 999

I agree Jeff that location and the cover material will be the problem.
We don't have one and never will. When I worked in Mastercare/Currys I was shocked by the inherent lack of safety in them, then added to the fact that most folk these days think everything is fit and forget, no wonder they are so much of a problem. Too many highly combustible plastics, items built in and other factors don't help.

In the case of a fire that is out of control, yes get out and dial 999, don't think of heroics!

EDIT: Kens idea would only be possible with a free standing machine of an older design anyway.
The advice I used to give was never use them when unattended and at night, something that now seems to be advised, like anything else common sense prevails, sadly its dying out these days!

Exactly Trevor, I understand fully where Ken was coming from and in no way trying to be argumentative but as you say, only use them when not unattended and alert .
If a fire has ignited to that extent don't try tackling the fire, get everyone out, close doors behind you on leaving and dial 999.

I think this is the golden rule to never leave them unattended.

Some people have no choice other than to use them due to circumstances and i think education about safety and regular cleaning of the filter is the way ahead.

For a bit of a hobby I play with "dead" tumble dryers and an older neighbour of mine told me that when she used hers, which was seldom, it tripped the electric and wouldn't work.

I told her not to use it at all until I'd looked and I found the capacitor had obviously overheated, burnt the adjacent wiring and it wasn't "going anywhere".

As it was Beko, I looked online and found a product recall for this serial number range so phoned them. Explained the situation, and the call recipient said "it's a vented dryer, we only had a problem with condensers, so you can still use it!" Doh!

Cleaning casings of lint is really important though the design should not allow any to build up internally - don't trust that view and open them up, especially keeping elements and pcb's clear.

Agreed George,

I would suggest that any heating appliance in your house should be used with respect and caution and if a serviceable item, make sure these are kept up to date with qualified persons doing the job!

You've only got one life, best to preserve it as best you can :}

He's not, just putting an opinion across;)