Common Issue with Clothes Washer

A common problem is when  the drain pump fails to remove water during a drain cycle

One of the most common issues with clothes washer is when the machine doesn't drain. A washer that doesn't drain will not advance t o the next stage in the wash cycle. More modern machines use an electric drain pump which is controlled by an electronic circuit board. The board receives information about conditions  such as water level in the machine and even the duration of the drain cycle.. 

Most modern machines will throw a code if the drain pump fails to completely drain all the water from the machine. Bear in mind there can be secondary codes relating    to other conditions but caused by the drain failure. And some machines won't even show a fault code but will exhibit functional problems due to no drain or slow drain.

Has your washer quit running in mid-cycle?

f your washer has stopped in mid-cycle and there is water still in the tub there is a great probability the filter at the drain pump has become plugged up..

Most brands and models of washers today have the drain pump behind a small door in the bottom- front of the machine. This is where  you will find the filter for the        pump. At first look you won't see anything resembling a filter. There will be a round dial and usually above that there is a rubber hose with a plug in the end. The dial is actually a screw-in cap and it is attached to the filter, which is a semi- circle object with series of holes in it.

Wait before unscrewing the filter cap to prevent flooding your home

But wait before  you unscrew that cap because it  is holding back a lot of water that's still in the machine. There can sometimes be as much as three to five gallons of water remaining in the machine. That is enough to cause a substantial flood and do damage! The rubber hose with the plug in it is where you want to start. Get a large bowl from your kitchen, place it on the floor in front of the pump area and gently pull out the hose. There will be some slack inside the machine. Once aimed over the container you can pull the plug out. This hose connects before the filter so it allows you to drain the machine first-  be it even slowly...

It will require several trips with the container of dumping the water and going back for more. Once the water has been drained then the cap can be unscrewed. "Lefty Loosey", When you unscrew the cap, then you will only have to gently tug and the whole filter assembly will come out. It can be shocking to see all that  gets caught  up the the filter. You may  even find some lost treasures as jewelry and other small but valuable items will be caught in this filter.

Cleaning the drain pump filter will usually get your washer functioning well  again

This is a moderate task on the scale of easy to hard. If you found the filter filled with debris then in most cases after cleaning it and screwing the cap back in tightly, your machine will most likely run just fine again. In rarer cases the drain pump can be damaged or the pump motor burned out due to prolonged restriction.