Zanussi [E20] fault codewhat it means and how to fix it

E20 belongs to the E2 family, which in the Electrolux scheme means draining, and the manufacturer lists three causes for it: the drain pipe blocked, the filter blocked or dirty, or the drain pump defective. The same fault appears as E21 on some machines and as C2 on others, and none of that changes the diagnosis. What is genuinely useful about this brand, and badly covered elsewhere, is what happens on a machine with no display. Rather than showing anything, it beeps and flashes a count, and the count corresponds to the code family: two beeps and two flashes means a draining fault. So an owner staring at a blinking indicator on an integrated Zanussi tucked behind a cupboard door does not need a display to know what is wrong. Count the pulses between pauses, get two, and you are on the right page.

One beep is the fill family, three is the pressure sensor, four is the door, and fifteen is the leak and foam group. There is a second thing on the manufacturer’s article that is worth more than the code mapping, and it explains a behaviour owners report constantly: a machine that stops dead on this fault and then works perfectly the next morning. The manufacturer’s eighth step is to switch the power off for one to two hours before trying again, and they give the mechanism — if the pump has been blocked, a bimetal fuse switches the pump off, and when the pump has cooled down it should work normally. That turns "turn it off and on again" from folklore into a stated protective device with a stated recovery time, and it is why the machine appearing to fix itself overnight is not a sign that the blockage has gone.

One thing to establish before you go looking for the filter: a good many Zanussi freestanding machines do not have one you can reach. The manufacturer’s own filter-access article says newer Zanussi washing machines no longer have a filter on the front, because the drain is self-cleaning and a double-lip trap in the door seal catches coins and buttons before they reach the pump. The Lindo100 user manual is the same — it has no drain filter section, and on a draining fault it says to contact the service centre because the pump filter may be clogged. Integrated Zanussi machines and washer-dryers do have the filter, behind the kickboard or at the bottom right, and for those the manufacturer publish a specific sequence that is set out below.

1. 1

   Confirm the code first if your machine has no display. Watch the indicator light, count the pulses between the pauses, and check you are getting two — one would put you on a fill fault instead and you would waste an hour.

2. 2

   Check the drain hose position, which is where the manufacturer start. It should go no more than 10cm down into the standpipe or spigot, and the drain must sit between 60cm and 100cm above the base of the machine, or as the installation instructions for your model show.

3. 3

   Check the drain hose along its length for kinks and twists, and check the standpipe or sink trap it discharges into — the manufacturer suggest a test wash with the hose in a bowl or the sink, and if the machine drains normally that way the blockage is in your waste, not the machine. If the hose has been extended, look at the joint between the two lengths in particular; the manufacturer point at it because the connector narrows the bore.

4. 4

   Find out whether your machine has a filter you can reach. Integrated machines have it behind the kickboard at the bottom right, and freestanding washer-dryers at the bottom right. Many freestanding Zanussi washing machines have none — the manufacturer’s filter-access article and the Lindo100 manual both say so — and if yours is one of those, skip to step 6; a blocked pump is a service visit on that design.

5. 5

   Where there is a filter, follow the manufacturer’s sequence. Unplug the machine, open the pump cover (push it, or use a coin), put a shallow tray under the opening and pull the small cover over the filter down. Turn the filter 180 degrees anti-clockwise without removing it and let the water run into the tray; turn it back, empty the tray, and repeat until nothing more comes out. Then turn it anti-clockwise to remove it, clear fluff and objects from the recess, rinse the filter under the tap and check the pump impeller can rotate. Refit it clockwise into its guides and tighten by hand until it is firm — the manufacturer say hand-tight only, no pliers, and a loose filter leaks.

   The manufacturer’s own instruction is to let hot water cool before handling it. If the cycle stopped at temperature, wait before opening the filter.
6. 6

   If a lot of foam is visible, the manufacturer’s seventh step applies: remove the foam from the drum by hand, clean the pump filter where you have one, and use less powder next time. After any filter clean they say to run a hot wash with no detergent to flush the drain system, and after draining through the filter to put two litres of water in the detergent drawer and run a spin or drain programme so the drain system is primed again.

7. 7

   If it still will not drain, leave it switched off at the wall for one to two hours, which is the manufacturer’s own eighth step. If the pump tripped its bimetal fuse on a blockage, it needs that time to cool before it will run again.

8. 8

   Run a rinse and spin. If it drains normally you are finished; if it repeats with a clear hose and a cooled pump — and a clear filter, where you have access to one — the pump is the remaining candidate and it is a repair.