Why doesn't the washing machine spin clothes or drain water?

Why doesn't the washing machine spin clothes and drain the water? Almost every tenth call to our specialists begins with a similar question and almost always the same answer follows: you need to figure it out on the spot, since it’s impossible to say offhand what’s wrong with your favorite home assistant. If the washing machine does not drain the water, and even refuses to spin the laundry, it is not necessarily a malfunction; the problem may well be caused by trivial reasons, but, as they say, let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

Learning to use a machine

Some users believe that since they bought an automatic washing machine, which means washing and everything else should be done automatically in it. Their task seems to boil down to just throwing the laundry into the drum and adding washing powder with conditioner to the cuvette, and then it’s a matter of technology. This is a very common misconception, and the misconception, in some cases, is fatal for the washing machine.

• You need to strictly monitor the program or function you choose for a specific washing machine model. A wrong choice or simple carelessness can harm not only the item, but also the washing machine itself. Suppose you mistakenly select the intensive wash mode and put sneakers in the drum. After spinning at a speed of 1200 rpm, the shoes will probably turn into rags, and the drum itself will not be too bad.
• Strictly monitor the process of putting laundry into the drum. There is no need to overload the washing machine with laundry, but at the same time, you should not put too many clothes. An average load would be optimal, for example, if your washing machine has a maximum load of 7 kg, then put no more than 5.5-6 kg of dry dirty laundry. In this case, the spin cycle will be excellent, and the quality of washing and rinsing will certainly please you, of course, if other conditions are met.
• Watch what you put in the washing machine drum. Make sure that things sorted by color and type of fabric before putting them into the machine. Fading items should be washed separately. Carefully inspect the laundry before washing, first of all the pockets, they must be empty. If items have poorly sewn buttons or any decorative items, they must be sewn securely. You should not machine wash items that have rhinestones and other decorations glued on them, nothing good will come of it.
• Be sure to unscrew and clean the garbage filter approximately once every two weeks. If you let your washing machine, get to the point where its filter becomes clogged, you will have problems draining the water. In addition to the filter, once every three months you need to do a general cleaning of the washing machine. If you don’t know how to do this, read the article Cleaning the washing machine yourself. It describes the entire process in detail.

The above rules must not be neglected under any circumstances. Even if you have a state-of-the-art automatic washing machine with intelligent control. Any washing machine requires attention and care, and if you take care of your equipment properly, it will repay you handsomely.

Once you install it, it will work

Often, a washing machine does not spin or drain water because the user initially installed it incorrectly. In this case, connecting the drain hose to the sewer plays an important role. If the hose is connected incorrectly to the siphon and sewer pipe, a siphon effect will often occur. Waste water and wastewater will flow from the sewer back into the bowels of the washing machine. The pump in washing machines is usually low power; it is simply not able to overcome the siphon effect.

As a result, we constantly receive system errors, and the washing machine does not drain water or spin clothes. Moreover, the wastewater that flows from the sewer into the washing machine will contaminate the laundry located there. And when you open the hatch, you will feel an unpleasant smell coming from there.

There is only one way to solve these problems - correctly connect the washing machine to the sewer. In addition to connecting to the sewer, you need to make sure that the home assistant is installed level on a flat and durable surface. Otherwise, the washer will periodically stop spinning due to the resulting imbalance, which in turn is caused by the fact that the washer body is installed unevenly, on an unreliable surface.

Failure of the pump and pressure switch

Very often, a washing machine does not drain water not at all because of user errors, but for completely objective reasons - due to a malfunction. Not every breakdown gives rise to such symptoms, so we need to figure out what components of the washing machine to pay attention to if suddenly the home assistant stops draining and spinning. First of all, you need to look at the following details:

• Drain pump,
• Peres stat (water level sensor),
• Drive belt,
• Hall sensor,
• Engine,
• Electronic module.

Let's start by checking the pump. Indirectly, a malfunction of the pump is indicated by the absence of a specific sound from the drain pump when the water starts draining. If the pump does not turn on within a few minutes, the washing machine automatically stops working and generates an error with a certain code, displaying it on the display. If this is familiar to you, you can start checking the drain pump with peace of mind.

In most cases, it is better to do this from the bottom of the washing machine. If the home assistant has a tray, remove it; if there is no tray, simply take out the powder receptacle and place the washing machine on the left wall. We unscrew the pump and disassemble it. We inspect the internal parts, first of all the impeller, clean the insides from dirt and foreign objects. Next, use a multimeter to measure the resistance at the contacts. Having unscrewed the pump, you need to at the same time remove and check the drain pipe, in case a blockage has formed there.

Next in line is the pressure switch. This sensor also needs to be checked. It is located under the top cover of most washing machines. You can read about how to check the pressure switch on a washing machine in the article of the same name.

Drive belt, tachometer, or motor

Problems with spinning are often caused by the drive belt. If the belt becomes damaged or simply stretched, it loses its ability to transmit engine speed at high speeds. As a result, the machine performs washing and rinsing normally, since these stages of the program do not require high-speed rotation of the drum. As for spinning, serious problems arise here. Even if the spin cycle does start, the set of laundry spun in this way can then be safely wrung out by hand.

With a stretched drive belt, even a working commutator motor of a washing machine is not able to spin the drum at a speed of more than 600 rpm. Although, of course, you need to take into account the degree of belt wear, but if you resort to rough calculations, this is how it turns out. This problem can be solved quite simply. You need to buy a new belt and replace it. However, keep in mind that the belt must be original.

Next to the drive belt, the engine and tachometer are always checked. We have already repeatedly described how to check these two elements in earlier publications, and we don’t want to repeat ourselves at all. Read, for example, the article Why the Indesit washing machine does not drain the water and does not spin, everything is briefly and clearly explained there.

Electronics faulty

As you know, the electronic control unit is the brain of a modern washing machine, which controls all its systems. It also contains semiconductor elements that are needed to control a pump, pressure switch or motor. If, due to a voltage drop, moisture, or some other reason, one of these elements simply burns out, the home assistant will stop functioning normally.

To solve this problem, you will have to find the faulty element, carefully so as not to damage the small traces, unsolder it, and then solder a new, similar semiconductor element in its place. If you have difficulty understanding the electronic parts of a washing machine or do not understand it at all, it is better not to take on this work. It will all end with you having to buy a new module, since the old one will be hopelessly damaged. And our craftsmen very often encounter the results of homemade labour.

In conclusion, we note that a washing machine of any brand may suddenly stop draining water and spinning clothes. The reasons for this behaviour of the washer are not just many, there are a lot of them. In addition to what we discussed in this publication, there are a lot of special cases that we will probably talk about in a separate article. Happy renovation!