LG tumble dryer fault codes

LG dryers are unusually hard to look up, for reasons that are entirely about their paperwork. Three different display systems are in the current UK range and they share almost no codes; the code most people search for is rendered ambiguously in LG’s own files; and one LG manual prints the same code for two different faults, one of which is a compressor failure and the other a drum overheat. We publish what LG publish, including where they contradict themselves, and flag the places where nobody can be certain.

Where the code shows on a LG

Look at your display before you look up anything, because LG run three incompatible systems. If it writes whole English phrases at you — "Temperature sensor error", "No drainage", "Reinstall the filter" — you have the premium heat pump range, and those machines show no codes at all. Anyone with one of these searching for an LG dryer error code will find nothing, because there is nothing to find. If it shows short alphanumeric codes like dE, tE1, OE or CC, that is the mid-range system. If it shows E-numbers like E32, E33 and E82, that is the condenser system. The alphanumeric and E-code sets have no codes in common whatsoever — a temperature sensor fault is tE1 on one and E33 on the other, and neither machine can display the other’s code. Two warnings about reading the characters. LG’s own documents render the numeral 2 in a way that extracts as the letter z, so tEz means tE2, LEz means LE2, E3z means E32 and E8z means E82. And be very careful with F1 and 1F: they are different codes for unrelated faults, one an overheat and one a missing filter, and they are one transposition apart. Two things that are not codes: the filter symbol that lights every time you press Power is LG’s cleaning reminder, and the symbol that shows during a cycle on some models means the machine is washing its own condenser.

How to reset a LG

LG’s instruction on most of their fault codes is unusually consistent and unusually blunt: "Unplug the power plug and call for service." They apply it to every sensor fault, every compressor fault and every drain pump fault, with no intermediate step and no suggestion of trying again. That is worth respecting rather than working around, because it means LG are not expecting these codes to clear on a retry. The exceptions are the handful of genuinely owner-fixable ones — a door not properly closed, a lint filter that is not in the machine, a condenser cover that has not been reassembled — where the fix is the reset. Before any of it, take the washing out and spread it. LG do not mention this alongside their unplug instruction, and a load left heaped in a stopped drum keeps its heat rather than losing it.

Most common LG faults

The LG codes people look up most.

Every LG fault code

5 published codes. Filtering happens in the page — every one is in the HTML.

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Showing 5 of 5 codes

Every published LG fault code with its meaning and severity
Code	What it means	Severity
F1	The drum temperature has risen suddenly, and LG say unplug it and call. One LG manual also assigns this same code to a compressor failure, which is a documentation error worth knowing about.	Stop — call an engineer
OE	The drain pump. But LG publish a second cause that no third-party site carries, and it explains why a dryer in a cold garage throws this code in January.	Get it checked
1F	The lint filter is not in the machine. Note this is not a dirty filter — LG have no code for that — and note it is one transposition away from a completely different fault.	Get it checked
LE1	The motor stopped suddenly. LG give one owner check before their usual instruction, and it is worth doing because it is free.	Get it checked
CC	The inner condenser cover is not fitted. This is a code that only appears after you have cleaned something, which makes it good news dressed as a fault.	Usually simple to fix

LG models

Codes can differ between generations. Check yours.

Guides that help with LG faults

Looking for LG’s own support? www.lg.com. We are not affiliated with LG.