Last updated on February 3rd, 2017
There are two completely different symptoms that many people confusingly report using the same language so it’s important to make sure you are looking at the right article. If when you say the washer is not spinning you mean (as many do) that the drum is not revolving on any part of the cycle then you need a different article – washing machine drum not turning. If you are investigating a washer where the drum is turning normally on wash and rinses but it’s just not doing the fast spin at the end of the cycle then continue with this article.
Not spinning at the end of cycle
The first thing to check is the wash load. Modern washing machines have built in out of balance protection and will refuse to spin out of balanced loads to protect against serious damage. The worst loads for this problem are single items which are heavy when wet, or small loads, particularly if they have a single heavy item amongst them.
Therefore there is always a possibility there isn’t an actual fault. A quick check would be to see if the washer spins with no load in, or with a totally different (fuller more balanced) load. If it does, check this article carefully to understand this problem – Washing machine wont spin just one item or very small loads
Not spinning because it can’t drain the water properly
Is it pumping out the water properly?
A washing machine will also refuse to do a fast spin if it isn't draining the water, either at all, or just not fully within the set time allowed due to a partial obstruction. However, don't start suspecting a pump problem unless it's obvious that the washing machine isn't draining the water out properly and leaving quite a lot inside. Don’t mix up the amount of water that will naturally be left inside because the washer hasn’t spun with the amount caused by not having pumped it out properly.
If you suspect a pumping out fault follow this article – Washing machine won't empty water
Not spinning due to pressure system fault
Maybe it just thinks it isn’t draining water because it’s not getting the “water has now gone” signal.
The washing machine knows water has been successfully pumped away when the pressure system tells it. A faulty pressure switch or (more commonly) a blockage, can stop the signal being sent, so the washer refuses to spin. It will often do the slow turning at the beginning where it distributes the laundry, then just click and stop.
To understand how a washing machine controls water levels and knows when the water has drained away see this article – How washing machines control water levels (there are links in the article to common pressure system faults and DIY repair help).
Not spinning because motor is faulty or belt slipping
It is possible for a worn motor (or more commonly worn carbon brushes) to cause it to struggle to get up to spin speed but manage to turn the drum on wash and rinse. Normally such a fault would also cause problems on wash and rinse so it’s not too likely. However, if when it gets to the spin cycle the motor appears to attempt a spin but makes a strange grating or crackling noise and sounds half hearted (maybe fluctuates up and down in speed) there could be a fault on the motor. If the motor is sparking a lot you can suspect the brushes but if it is not sparking excessively it could be an issue on the PCB or a connection fault – get an engineer in. The most common issue with motors is worn carbon brushes (How do I know if I need to fit new carbon brushes?).
Belt
If a drive belt is worn it could be slipping. It’s not so common these days but should be easily observed with the back panel off if this is what is happening.
Summary
If the water is being pumped out OK, and it doesn't appear to be an out of balanced load, then proper fault finding is necessary, which really needs the use of a continuity test meter and proper knowledge of washing machine repairs. If it isn’t caused by any of the faults described above it only really leaves faults on the main PCB (or module), connection faults, motor faults etc. It would be unwise to start buying parts speculatively, which could easily prove an expensive mistake.
Appliance Repairs?
Find white goods appliance repairs
Choose from my list of white goods appliance repairers.
Comments Disabled
Sorry, comments on this topic have been closed. The article already contains all the advice I can think of or I’m comfortable publishing. If the article and any previous comments (below) don’t help, please consider contacting an appliance engineer
Karen: Your symptom is described in my section, “Not spinning due to pressure system fault” above.
Hi Andy
My query, though probably not unique, is not on the previous thread or FAQ’s. I have a Miele W3260, (an excellent machine), which does not carry out the final spin, resulting in wet clothing. This does not happen 100% of the time, but when it does, it is on a 60 degree wash. It will not happen on a 90 degree or other wash programme. It can be quite annoying, as my wife would use the 60 degree wash most of all.
The machine itself is only about 4 year old and still under warranty, so I could get the Miele engineer out, but I am not sure if they would levy some sort of charge, for what might be a simple solution.
Would appreciate your thoughts on this.
Many thanks
Dennis
Hello Dennis. It’s unusual for a washing machine to not spin on one cycle but spin fine on another. All of the things that prevent the fast spin should prevent it on any cycle. Make sure the wash cycle hasn’t been accidentally customised with a no spin option. Make sure when you select the 60 degree cycle that it is set to do a fast spin. Other than that, make sure the load being washed is not an out of balanced load as described in the second paragraph of my article.
Hello Andy,
I have a Bosch WAK28261GB, and it has suddenly stopped spinning properly. I thought it was a problem with draining first (as clothes were wet), or the wet load preventing the spinning cycle from getting up to the higher RPMs., but I can see the pump working when I take the filter out, and the spinning still fails when there are no clothes in the drum (and there’s no sign of any water).
When the spinning starts to speed up and it sounds like it is about to high the high RPMs, it cuts out and continues with the low RPMs. The high RPMs never start in a spin/drain cycle.
When the drum spins, there is a quite-high-pitched whining noise, which seems unusual. When I slowly manually spin move the drum, it sounds like it is rubbing against something, and it is this noise which devlops into the whining noise when the machine spins up in the cycle. What can this be, and where should I start looking?
Hello Richard, I’m afraid everything I can advise upon is in my article. You can discount the first possibility mentioned, (Not spinning because it can’t drain the water properly) because the water seems to be pumping out ok but the other possibilities left are discussed in the article including the possibility that it needs an experienced engineer to sort out. The causes that can be investigated by a competent diy person are all listed in the article. Check the section, “Not spinning due to pressure system fault”, if it doesn’t help there’s not much else you can do except get an engineer.
Hello Andy,
Thank you for your reply. It turns out that I did have to call an engineer. The motor had gone bad, and was replaced. This machine was about 3 weeks old. It is working fine now with the new motor.
Hi, I have a Samsung Big wash it’s been slugish on the wash and rinse lately and the drum was not
engaging on the final spin, and then it gave a big jolt an started spinning.I tried it again today and it done
the same thing but it tripped the swich and blew the plug fuse. I’ve just took the top off to have a look
inside and the belt is frayed and loose, also the wiring that comes in from the mains supply inside the
washer looks dammaged, that wiring consists of 2blue 2white 1black and 1red.
Any advice will be much appreciated.
It initially sounded like a poor connection somewhere, so if you’ve found damaged wiring then that could explain it – but I don’t know if those particular wires would cause those symptoms, or if they were damaged enough to cause either the fusing or the intermittent supply to the motor.
The only thing to do really is if you think the damaged wires are causing the fault to reconnect them safely with proper electrical 13 amp connectors and ensure they don’t come under any stress that could compromise the repair.
If the wires have shorted either against each other or touched something metal in the machine they would account for the blowing of the fuses, but if you can see that this is not the case then something else must have caused it and you need an insulation test meter to trace a fusing fault (Fusing or tripping the electrics)
I have a Bosch washing machine. It sometimes functions normally, but sometimes it doesn’t spin at the end of the cycle. If I hit it quite hard on the bottom of the right hand side at the front, near where the pump is, it usually starts up and does the spin (after I reset to a spin program). What might cause the pump to malfunction intermittently like this?
It could be a faulty connection somewhere.
Hi Andy
I have a six year old Miele W 3260 washing machine, that has behaved brilliantly up to now. Of late, however, this excellent machine has started to give a little trouble in that it is leaving the clothes wet at the end of the spin cycle. For example, they are no longer in a dry enough state that makes them ready for immediate transfer into the tumble dryer. I have cleaned the filter but the fault continues, even though no fault code is displayed. My wife washed about 5 large towels 4 times and every time they came out soaking wet. Would this be the machine being out of balance? Although it does happen with items of clothing, albeit not all the time,It is happening more frequently.
We have a 10 year warranty with this machine, but I am not sure if Miele would make some sort of charge for sending their engineer out. Are you aware of anything that I could do to remedy this before I call out an engineer?
Thanks for your help
Hello Dennis. check out my article washing machine won’t spin some loads to get a full understanding of how the out of balance system works. Also check the handbook to see if the washing machine should indicate in some way if it hasn’t spun because it couldn’t balance the load well enough. I would hope a Miele would be sophisticated enough to have some indication for users if it hasn’t spun properly due to uneven load.
Sometimes an uneven load may result in a spin but at reduced spin speed. If it should indicate a problem with balanciing the load but it isn’t doing so then maybe the issue isn’t related to uneven loads.
Hello Dennis. check out my article washing machine won’t spin some loads to get a full understanding of how the out of balance system works. Also check the handbook to see if the washing machine should indicate in some way if it hasn’t spun because it couldn’t balance the load well enough. I would hope a Miele would be sophisticated enough to have some indication for users if it hasn’t spun properly due to uneven load.
Sometimes an uneven load may result in a spin but at reduced spin speed. If it should indicate a problem with balancing the load but it isn’t doing so then maybe the issue isn’t related to uneven loads.