Washing Machine Will Not Spin

Washing Machine Not Spinning

We get asked all the time in my repair business about washers not spinning so we decided to write about it as very often it's got nothing to do with the machine itself.

There are a number of reasons why your washing machine will not spin, many of them sadly are user generated errors that will often incur a charge to repair, even under warranty so please take the time to read the main reasons below for a washing machine not spinning or not spinning properly before calling a washing machien repairman.

The Washing Machine Spin Myths

Let's dispense with the old myths about washing machines.

Belts don't stretch. They don't and haven't done so for many, many years and in fact most belts will outlive many modern machines.

Carbon brushes do wear down and this can cause a spinning problem with your washing machine but, the machine has to be a few years old for this to be the problem and it is easily checked, you can read more about how to check and replace washing machine carbon brushes here.

PCB, electronic modules or however you choose to refer to them do cause issues with spinning, or not spinning, but more on that in a bit.

Timers rarely, if ever, cause a machine not to spin or do something else wacky. My advice is, never, ever buy a timer because you "think" it might be faulty. You have to be sure as almost universally these parts are non-returnable and not cheap.

If you're thinking it may be a control part that's faulty, or you just think it is then I'd strongly urge you to read this article before you do anything at all

Blocked Washing Machine Filter

If your washing machine or washer dryer doesn't spin the first thing to check is the filter if the machine has one. Blocked filters are the most common cause of not spinning, often accompanied by its bedfellow fault, not draining.

Pull the filter out and clear out anything that you find in the washing machine drain pump, for more on how to do this please see this artice about washing machine drain pumps. You really should do this on at least a semi-regular basis anyway, most manufacturers say after every wash but that's a bit over the top, every few washes is usually fine unless you have an issue.

If the machine has drained you will most likely get a couple of cupfuls of water on the floor, that's perfectly normal.

If however the washing machine has failed to drain then be prepared for a flood!

If you don't want the hassle then feel free to call an engineer to rectify this.

Washing Machine Spin Out Of Balance Detection

This is the most common reason for a complaint of not spinning on a washer or washer dryer that we get. In fact it's almost a daily occurrence, especially when the appliance is still under warranty.

What happens is that the electronics in the washer detect an abnormal load and it will then abort the spin cycle, or at least it will not reach its top spin speed.

This happens for a few reasons, the first and main one is that it stops the machine from bouncing about due to a load that will make the drum move in an ellipse. That would, were it allowed to go ahead, result in the machine "walking" forward and even with this protection in place this can still occur in the flooring is not sound enough.

You can read more about installation of a washing machine here

The next is that it stops the outer tank of the washer (the bit that holds the water in it) from hitting the sides of the actual outer cabinet and causing damage.

Now, logically, the above being correct the larger that you make the load capacity of the machine to fit into the same space then the larger the outer tank has to be. Therefore there's less room between the outer tank and the actual cabinet, so you have to make the out of balance control stronger to stop any damage from happening.

This causes issues on modern machines as most cannot actually spin single items of clothing, the out of balance control is too harsh (for good reason) and the machine will not spin at full speed under these conditions.

This can also happen if you overload the machine.

Please remember that some of these electronic controls are very sensitive and any indication that an out of balance condition would occur will cause the machine to abort. So if you have this the best advice I can offer is to re-distribute the load and try again.

Of course all this is a result of consumer demand for washing machines that use higher spin speeds and have larger capacities. Sadly this is one of the side-effects of those features.

Faulty Washing Machine

There are faults that can cause a washing machine not to spin asides from the points above which you may be able to resolve on your own but my advice would have to be to call an engineer if you are unsure after checking the points made above.

This one fault can be caused by electronic control modules, motors, motor tachos, capacitors, pumps as well as a few other things besides and, almost every machine is different so it's not always easy to diagnose the fault remotely.