Samsung washing machine fault codes
Samsung washing machines show a check code in the main display when a cycle cannot continue, and Samsung publish a fuller table for them than almost any other manufacturer: 89 display strings with the meaning and the remedy for each. Two things shape how you read it. First, the rename — Samsung moved from codes ending in E to the same codes ending in C, so 5E and 5C are one fault on two generations of machine, and every page here carries both. Second, the balance of that table: roughly nine out of ten published strings carry something the owner can do, and only six rows send you straight to an engineer. Samsung are also explicit about which displays are not faults at all, which is why UE, HOT, Cb and DDC have pages here alongside the genuine failures. This hub lists every Samsung washing machine code the site covers, grouped by the part of the machine involved.
Where the code shows on a Samsung
The code replaces the time remaining in the main display. Samsung warn in their own documentation that a seven-segment display makes 5 and S look alike, and 3 and E look alike, so a code you cannot find is often a code you have misread — 1E in particular is frequently read as IE, because a capital I and the digit one are drawn as the same vertical bar. Alongside the codes there is a second vocabulary that Samsung are careful to distinguish: "symbols and icons displayed on your washing machine are not the same as codes", they say, because icons report what the machine is doing rather than what is wrong. The unguessable ones are the child lock, which is a smiley face rather than a padlock, and the drum icon for Pure Cycle or Self Clean, which is the same reminder that appears as the digit 0 on a code display. A plain padlock or a key is the ordinary door lock during a cycle. Smart Check, Samsung's app-readable diagnostic mode, is entered by holding Options and Delay End together; the crossed-out speaker for Signal Off is toggled by holding Spin and Options for three seconds. On a top-of-range Bespoke machine some faults appear as words rather than codes, but the meanings are the same as the rest of the range.
How to reset a Samsung
Switch off at the wall, wait a full minute, then switch back on and start a new programme. Samsung give that as the first step for most of their codes. It clears a transient reading; it does not clear a real fault, and a code that returns on the next cycle is telling you something. Two exceptions are worth knowing. On the communication codes — 13E, AC, AC6 and AE — Samsung tell you to wait a few minutes first, because the machine may recover by itself, which is the only place in their table where doing nothing is the published remedy. And on 1C, 4C and LC the manuals record that the machine drains for three minutes with the power button inoperative before it will respond to anything at all, so a machine that appears dead in the middle of one of those codes is following its own safety routine rather than failing. Separately, if the display reads Cb or CE, be aware that Samsung have printed the remedies for those two rows transposed on their own website: run the calibration cycle for Cb, check the cold fill for CE.
Most common Samsung faults
The Samsung codes people look up most.
- 5EGet it checkedThe 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.
- 4EGet it checkedThe 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.
- UEUsually simple to fixThe 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.
- dEGet it checkedThe 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.
Every Samsung fault code
19 published codes. Filtering happens in the page — every one is in the HTML.
Showing 19 of 19 codes
Samsung models
Codes can differ between generations. Check yours.
Guides that help with Samsung faults
How to reset a washing machine, and what it will not fix
What each manufacturer says about resetting, how long to wait, the codes where a reset is the wrong move, and the displays that only look like faults.Read the guideWashing machine repairs you can do yourself — where to stop
No law stops you repairing your own washing machine, so the line is drawn by what is inside the cabinet. Where it falls, and the recall to check first.Read the guideHow to find your washing machine’s model and serial number
The rating plate is in one of three places, and the brand decides which. Where each manufacturer says to look, and which of the numbers on it you need.Read the guide
Looking for Samsung’s own support? www.samsung.com. We are not affiliated with Samsung.