Washing machine not draining. What to do?

engineer_amy

For whatever reason, my washing machine has not drained the water. Drum is about half full of water. Question is what do I do?
How do I open the machine without flooding the kitchen?

molerat

Read the instruction book ? It will tell you how to do it - usually by putting the drain hose low down and the water will just run out, that is why the drain hose must be at least a certain height in normal use or all the water comes out on its own.

Hedgehog99

^^^ what molerat said, but...

if you discover the machine did not drain because of a blockage in the drain hose, or if you cannot physically reach the drain hose or pull out the machine yourself to see, look down at the front of your machine near the floor - if there is a little panel, you might be able to drain it from there - check the instructions before you undo anything!!!

On my machine, said panel is very low down (logical!) and I can only fit a very shallow dish underneath, so the way I do it is to have lots of absorbent cloths handy, plus a large bucket and the shallow tray (e.g. a food tray from supermarket). I undo the threaded cap a little, fill the tray and re-tighten the cover. Drain tray into bucket. Placce tray under cap, undo cap, fill tray, tighten cap, empty tray etc etc etc - takes lots of repeats, but it works. Then you can eventually safely open the door, put your washing in a binliner and take it up to the bath to finish washing it! Comiserations! HTH.

EssexExile

There are so many answers to this question depending on what machine & why it's done it. I'm guessing as the drum is quite full that it's quite an old machine.
Molerats idea is the first to try if the hose is accessible, unfortunately they often aren't. Trying to get the machine out to get to the back is not easy when it's full of water.
Does it have a timer that rotates during the cycle? If so, is it at the end of the cycle? If not move it on by hand (with the machine switched on) & you'll eventually get to a drain function.
Then Hedehog's idea, you'll be there a while.
Finally, get the door open while surrounded by loads of towels. How that is done again depends on the machine I'm afraid. Look in the book, some have a way to bypass any interlocks but some don't.
If all that fails it's call an engineer. I'd come & do it but Belfast is a long way & I've hurt my back moving too many full washing machines.

Hedgehog99

EssexExile wrote: »

...I'm guessing as the drum is quite full that it's quite an old machine....

Another reason the drum can end up full of water is if the filling process goes wrong. As it fills, there's meant to be a component that recognises when enough water has been taken in to the machine & then stop it filling any more that time. BUT mine failed on my previous machine and it kept filling & filling & filling. My sixth sense told me something was wrong and, just as I walked into the kitchen, water started spurting out of the powder drawer! In that scenario, I turned it off pronto and had to keep using the "pump out" option until the drum was emptied.

muckybutt

Hedgehog99 wrote: »

As it fills, there's meant to be a component that recognises when enough water has been taken in to the machine & then stop it filling any more that time.

A pressure switch is what it's called, quite a common fault with them getting gunked up, liquid soaps are the worst for it more so than powders.

Pressure switch also controls the heater and spin cycle as well when the programmer tells it to.

engineer_amy

Thanks for the suggestions.
Quick update: I noticed while washing the dishes that the sink wasn't draining properly either. The sink and washing machine are connected through the same drain pipes. A few kettles of boiling water and a good hard go with the plunger got the sink draining, then I put the machine onto a 15 min cycle and it drained!

It's an integrated machine and only 2 years old. I was never happy with the way it was installed as you can hear the sink gurgling when the machine is on, so might get a professional to look at the set up for me.

I'm going to see if I can download a manual from somewhere for future ref. No idea where the original one is.

But thanks everyone

Hedgehog99

Glad you got it sorted for now

I know what a worry this kind of thing can be!!

poppellerant

If hot water and a plunger cured the problem, it sounds like you might have a build up of grease in your pipes. What do you primarily use to wash your clothes with - powder, liquid/gel? Liquid forms of detergent won't help your situation if you do have a build up of grease.

If I were you, use half the recommended does of biological washing powder and a healthy dose of soda crystal and run the machine on the hottest wash - normally 95c or 90c.

engineer_amy

always wash with surf or bold powder, and the vast majority of the washing is done at 30 or 40 degrees. So I will get a hot wash done as you say and see if it improves the situation. Cheers