What you can check yourself
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- Check the drain hose behind the washer for kinks, and that it isn't pushed too far into the standpipe (which can create a seal that blocks flow) or sitting too high above the washer.
- If your model has an accessible pump filter (often behind a small panel at the bottom front), open it carefully over a towel — it often catches coins, buttons and small items that block drainage entirely.
- Listen during the drain cycle: a humming pump with no water moving suggests a clog downstream; silence suggests the pump itself or its wiring.
- Check you haven't overloaded the washer — an overloaded drum can sometimes prevent the drain cycle from completing properly on some models.
Still not working? A technician can take it from here.
Book a visitWhen to call a technician
Call a technician if the hose and filter are both clear and the pump either makes no sound or runs constantly without draining — that points to a failed pump or a blocked internal line that needs a technician to access.
How this shows up differently by brand
Samsung washers typically show 5C/5E/SC/SE/nd for this; LG shows OE; Whirlpool and Maytag show F9 E1 (or a drain-related code depending on model age). The underlying checks above apply regardless of brand — the code just tells you the washer agrees something's blocking drainage, it doesn't tell you what.
A quick way to tell hose vs. pump
If you can access the drain hose and manually drain some water from it into a bucket by lowering it below the washer's water level, and water flows out fine, the blockage is downstream of the hose (the standpipe or household drain) rather than inside the washer. If no water comes out even with the hose lowered and disconnected from the standpipe, the problem is inside the machine.