Washing machines fault codes by brand
Find your manufacturer below, then your code. Unlike a boiler, most washing machine faults are genuinely yours to fix — a blocked filter and a kinked hose between them account for an enormous share of call-outs. We will tell you plainly which codes are that, and which are the ones worth paying somebody for.
Brands
Pick your manufacturer to see every code we cover.
Most looked-up washing machine codes
Across every brand in this category.
- 5ESamsungThe machine could not empty within the time it allows. On a Samsung this is the single most common code, and the filter behind the front flap is the usual answer.Get it checked
- F05HotpointThe machine cannot pump out, so the door stays locked with water inside. Hotpoint treat this as an owner job and point you at the pump filter first.Get it checked
- E18BoschThe machine could not pump out in the time allowed. Bosch point at the filter and the drain hose, and warn that the water you are about to release may be scalding.Get it checked
- F06HotpointA door lock fault — and the one code on this machine with an open safety recall behind it. If yours was built between October 2014 and February 2018, check the recall before anything else.Get it checked
- OELGThe machine could not drain the water it used. LG point at the drain filter and the drain hose, and both are owner-accessible.Get it checked
- 4ESamsungThe machine asked for water and did not get enough in the time allowed. Nine times out of ten the answer is at the tap rather than inside the machine.Get it checked
- UESamsungThe load is on one side of the drum and the machine has refused to spin. Samsung are explicit that this is not a fault — it is the machine protecting itself.Usually simple to fix
- E20ZanussiA draining fault, and on a machine with no display it is the one that beeps twice. Blocked filter, blocked hose, or a failed pump, in that order.Get it checked
- IELGThe drum did not fill to the level it wanted in the time allowed. LG treat IE and 1E as the same code, so you do not need to tell them apart.Get it checked
- E17BoschWater supply time exceeded. Bosch name the AquaStop hose filter as a cause, which is a Bosch-specific part most owners do not know they have.Get it checked
- UELGThe load is heaped on one side of the drum. LG describe it as laundry piled to one side, and it is normal behaviour rather than a breakdown.Usually simple to fix
- dESamsungThe machine cannot confirm the door is locked, so it will not start. On an AddWash there is a second hatch with its own interlock to check.Get it checked
- E10ZanussiA water supply fault, one beep on a machine with no display. The manufacturer gives a pressure range you can actually test against.Get it checked
- E23BoschWater has been detected in the base of the machine and the AquaStop system has cut in. Bosch say to turn the tap off immediately and stop using it until it is repaired.Stop — call an engineer
- LELGThe drum failed to turn. LG name overloading and a foreign object first — and if it is the motor, the ten-year warranty may cover the part but not the labour.Get it checked
- F08HotpointA heater fault that stops the programme part way through. Hotpoint offer nothing to try at home and send this one straight to an engineer.Get it checked
- E32BoschAn unbalanced load. Bosch state explicitly that this is not a fault, and it is the code most often mistaken for a broken machine.Usually simple to fix
- F01HotpointA control board fault where some or all functions stop responding. Hotpoint give a specific two-minute power cycle, and it is worth doing once properly.Get it checked
- SudSamsungThe machine has detected far more foam than it can spin safely. It is usually too much detergent, and it usually clears itself if you let it.Usually simple to fix
- F02HotpointThe drum is not turning as it should during a wash. Hotpoint route this straight to an engineer, but a jammed drum produces the same code and costs nothing to rule out.Get it checked
How washing machines fault codes work
The single most useful thing to know about washing machine codes is that your machine was probably not made by the company on the front of it. Bosch, Siemens and Neff are one manufacturer running one control platform, so all three show the same codes with the same meanings. Zanussi, AEG and Electrolux are a second. Candy and Hoover are a third. Hotpoint and Indesit are a fourth. If you cannot find your exact brand, the sibling brand's list is not an approximation — it is the same list.
Nearly every code belongs to one of six families. Fill faults mean the machine asked for water and did not get enough in the time allowed. Drain faults mean it could not get the water out, and these are the most common codes on any machine by a wide margin. Heating faults mean the water did not reach temperature. Motor and tacho faults mean the drum is not turning as commanded. Door lock faults mean the interlock will not confirm the door is shut, and the drum cannot turn until it does. Imbalance faults mean the load is on one side of the drum and the machine has refused to spin rather than walk across the kitchen.
That last one is worth dwelling on, because it is the family people most often mistake for a breakdown. A machine that stops mid-spin with a wet load and a code has usually just failed to distribute a single heavy item. It is the machine working correctly.
Where washing machines differ most from boilers is who should be holding the screwdriver. Gas work is legally restricted in the UK; appliance repair is not, and a great deal of what these codes point at is genuinely a householder job — cleaning the pump filter, straightening a hose, checking a tap. But the exceptions are real. Inside the cabinet, mains voltage sits alongside standing water, and some components hold a charge after the plug is out. Anything that involves removing the lid or the back panel is a different proposition from opening the filter flap at the front, and a burning smell is never a code to reset and try again.
Draining
The machine could not empty. The most common family by a wide margin, and usually the filter.
Filling
It asked for water and did not get enough in time. Normally the tap, the hose or the mesh filter.
Door and interlock
The interlock will not confirm the door is shut, and the drum cannot turn until it does.
Balance and spin
The load is on one side of the drum. Usually the machine working correctly rather than a fault.
Heating
The water is not reaching temperature. The machine often still washes, just cold.
Motor and drive
The drum is not turning as commanded — which can be the motor, or just something jammed.