--- title: "Washer will not drain" description: "Samsung washer will not drain — samsung reports it as 5C or nd, or as a single blinking cycle light." url: "https://samsungmiami.support/symptoms/washer-will-not-drain/" date_modified: "2026-09-04" Appliance type: "Washers" --- # Samsung washer will not drain ### Bring a towel The debris filter behind the lower panel is the first thing to open and it will release more water than you are expecting — a shallow tray and a towel, not a cup. What comes out of it is usually the answer, and it is free. ### What it usually means, by the kind of Samsung appliance Samsung sells one appliance in several forms, and the same behavior points at different things on each of them. A built-in side-by-side and an integrated column are not the same service situation, and a dual-fuel range and an induction range fail in different halves. - **Front load** — The debris filter is behind a small panel at the bottom front, and it is where coins and underwires end up. - **Top load** — Often no accessible filter, so the hose and the pump carry more of the diagnosis. - **FlexWash and combos** — Two units or two functions, so establish which half is reporting before opening anything. ### The filter nobody opens Front-load Samsung washers have a debris filter behind a small door at the bottom front of the cabinet. It is designed to be opened by the owner, it has a small drain hose beside it for exactly that purpose, and in our experience most households have never opened it. It is the first thing we go to and it is very often the whole visit. ### Why the standpipe depth matters Too far in and the drain siphons continuously, so the machine keeps refilling and never gets where it expects to be. Not far enough and the hose can jump out under pressure. Samsung publishes a depth for this and it is one of the few installation numbers worth knowing. The debris filter Coins, hair clips, underwires and lint. The commonest cause and it costs nothing. The drain hose Kinked, pushed too far into the standpipe so it siphons, or not far enough so it comes out under pressure. Excessive suds Samsung's SUd. A drum full of foam can report as a drain problem and clears itself once the foam does. The drain pump Tested, not assumed. Running with nothing moving is a different part from not running at all. Open and clean the debris filter Lower front panel on a front loader. Tray and towel first. Check the hose No kinks, and inserted between about six and eight inches into the standpipe. Consider the detergent Too much, or a non-HE detergent, produces foam that reads as a drain problem. Run a rinse and spin and listen A pump that hums and moves nothing, versus one that is silent, are different repairs. A drum full of water and a cycle that has stopped What it usually means The debris filter holds more water than anyone expects — bring a tray How far the hose goes into the standpipe matters, in both directions 5C and the blinking Small or Low light are the same condition Bring a towel The debris filter behind the lower panel is the first thing to open and it will release more water than you are expecting — a shallow tray and a towel, not a cup. What comes out of it is usually the answer, and it is free. What it usually means, by the kind of Samsung appliance Samsung sells one appliance in several forms, and the same behavior points at different things on each of them. A built-in side-by-side and an integrated column are not the same service situation, and a dual-fuel range and an induction range fail in different halves. Front load — The debris filter is behind a small panel at the bottom front, and it is where coins and underwires end up. Top load — Often no accessible filter, so the hose and the pump carry more of the diagnosis. FlexWash and combos — Two units or two functions, so establish which half is reporting before opening anything. The filter nobody opens Front-load Samsung washers have a debris filter behind a small door at the bottom front of the cabinet. It is designed to be opened by the owner, it has a small drain hose beside it for exactly that purpose, and in our experience most households have never opened it. It is the first thing we go to and it is very often the whole visit. Why the standpipe depth matters Too far in and the drain siphons continuously, so the machine keeps refilling and never gets where it expects to be. Not far enough and the hose can jump out under pressure. Samsung publishes a depth for this and it is one of the few installation numbers worth knowing. ### It drains if I run a rinse and spin on its own. That points at a restriction rather than a dead pump — the machine can do it when it has the whole cycle to itself. A filter or a hose is the likely answer. ### There is a smell as well as the water. Standing water and a filter full of lint produce exactly that. Cleaning the filter usually deals with both at once. --- **[Read full article: Washer will not drain](https://samsungmiami.support/symptoms/washer-will-not-drain/)**