Samsung Washer and Dryer Error Codes: How to Read Yours

If your Samsung code is not on the list you are reading, you are probably reading the characters wrong. Samsung publishes roughly 200 washer and dryer codes, but they are not 200 faults. They are about twenty faults multiplied by four things: a C-for-E naming convention, a seven-segment display that renders several letters as digits, a prefix identifying which drum on a two-drum machine, and model-by-model divergence. Decode those four and the list collapses to something you can actually hold in your head.

Start here, before you look anything up:

If you read	Also try	Why
`5E` `5C` `5UD` `5DC` `5F` `5r` `d5`	`SE` `SC` `SUd` `SDC` `SF` `Sr` `dS`	A 5 and an S are the same seven-segment shape
`0E` `0C` `L0`	`OE` `OC` `LO`	A 0 and an O are the same shape
`6E` `6E2` `U6` `C6`	`bE` `bE2` `Ub` `Cb`	A 6 and a b are the same shape
`8E` `8E2` `8C`	`BE` `BE2` `BC`	An 8 and a B are the same shape
`1E` `1C`	`LE` `LC`	A 1 and an L are two bars each and easily swapped
`tE` `tC`	an upside-down `F`	Samsung’s own note: “If you see something that looks like an upside down ‘F,’ it’s meant to be a ‘t.'”
anything ending `C`	the same code ending `E`	Samsung lists `4C`/`4E`, `5C`/`5E`, `3C`/`3E`, `HC`/`HE`, `tC`/`tE`, `PC`/`PE`, `AC`/`AE`, `FC`/`FE`, `9C1`/`9E1` as the same faults

Every code, definition and quotation on this page was read directly from Samsung’s washing machine information and error codes page and Samsung’s dryer error code page, August 2026 — with one exception, named where it appears: the recall section quotes Samsung’s own recall page, CPSC’s notice, Consumer Reports’ reporting and Health Canada’s Canadian notice. Both Samsung pages were fetched and read again on September 12, 2026. Part prices are current catalog listings, verified August 2026.

Where the four multipliers come from

This is worth two minutes because it is the difference between “my code isn’t documented” and “my code is documented under a spelling I didn’t try.”

Multiplier one: C or E. Samsung’s own groupings pair them. Its “not filling” entry reads 4C, 1 4C, nF, 4E. Its drain entry reads nd, 5E, SE, 5C, SC, 1 5C. The same pairing runs through voltage (9C1/9E1), motor (3C/3E), heater (HC/HE), temperature (tC/tE), clutch (PC/PE), communication (AC/AE) and frequency (FC/FE). Worth stating plainly: Samsung’s US page does not say which convention is older, and the claim circulates online in both directions, so this page does not assert one. What matters practically is that Samsung treats them as the same fault.

Multiplier two: the display. The substitutions in the opening table are not something Samsung spells out as a rule — they are visible in its own variant lists, where 5E and SE sit in one row and 8E2 and BE2 sit in another. Samsung does spell out one of them, for the character its dryer page evidently gets asked about most: the upside-down F is a t.

It is worth understanding why these collisions exist, because it tells you they are permanent. A seven-segment display has exactly seven bars to work with. An S and a 5 are not similar shapes on it — they are the identical set of lit segments, and so are O and 0, and so are 6 and b in the common rendering. The display is not being sloppy; it physically cannot draw those characters apart. That is why Samsung documents the variants instead of correcting them, and why no firmware update will ever make your 5E render as an unambiguous SE.

Multiplier three: which drum. A leading 1 marks one unit of a two-drum machine — 1 4C, 1 5C, 1 dC, 19C1, 1 Ub. Samsung’s own worked example ties the prefix to the upper unit: “FlexWash washers will display a 1dC4 error if the rubber button next to the upper washer’s latch is missing. In this case, service is not required, and replacing the button will fix the error.” If you own a single-drum machine, ignore every prefixed code on Samsung’s list.

Multiplier four: your model. This one does not collapse, and it is the subject of the next section.

Set against LG’s washer code list, which publishes thirty fault codes and — apart from the three that change meaning between front- and top-loaders — one definition apiece, Samsung’s list is not more complex machinery. It is the same machinery described four ways.

The three codes Samsung marks with an asterisk — and what the asterisk is worth

Buried in Samsung’s washer page are three footnotes that most code pages copy the codes from and drop. They say, in Samsung’s words, that the same code means two different things depending on which model you own, and that Samsung’s own support page cannot tell you which one you have.

Code	Meaning A	Meaning B	Samsung’s footnote
`dC`	Door error — door not detected as closed and locked	Unbalanced load — laundry needs rearranging	“On some models, dC is a Door Error. On some models it is an Unbalanced Load Error. See your user manual to determine which it is for your model.”
`3E`	Voltage error — irregular current supplied to the washer	Motor error	“On some models, 3E is a Voltage Error. On other models it is a Motor Error… See your user manual to determine which it is for your model.”
`BE2` / `8E2`	Jammed button — a panel button reads as stuck	Mems sensor error	“On some models, BE2 (8E2) is a Jammed Button Error. On some models it is a Mems Sensor Error… See your user manual to determine which it is for your model.”

Now price two of them, because the gap is the point:

dC is either “open the door and redistribute the load,” which costs nothing, or a door lock switch assembly — Samsung DC64-00519B lists at $46.95.
3E is either “check that the washer is on its own circuit and not on an extension cord,” which costs nothing, or the motor. A Samsung drive motor stator (DC31-00111A) lists at $248.95 and a main control board (DC92-01625B) at $333.95.

So on 3E, three characters on a display separate a free fix from a part that costs more than the national average washing machine repair job — which Thumbtack’s 2026 figures put at $224, against a labor average of $75/hour. Samsung’s advice is to consult your model’s manual, and on this code that is not boilerplate. It is the only thing standing between the two answers.

The practical move on all three: try the free interpretation first. Rearranging a load, touching every button back and forth to unstick it, and confirming the outlet costs nothing and takes five minutes. Only when the free reading fails have you learned anything.

The asterisks are not a complete list, which undercuts this section and the decoder above it

Having built a page around “here are the three ambiguous codes,” honesty requires pointing at the thing that spoils it. Further down the same Samsung page, in the catch-all section, two lines sit four rows apart:

8E, 8E1, 8E2, BE, BE1, BE2, 8C, BC, 8C1, 8C2, BC1, BC2… — Mems Sensor Error 8E, BE — Vibration Sensor Error (Some Models)

So 8E and BE also mean two different things depending on the model — and Samsung does not asterisk them. The real count of ambiguous Samsung codes is at least four, and the footnotes flag three.

That is the honest limit of everything above. The decoder at the top of this page collapses three of Samsung’s four multipliers reliably, because character shape and naming convention follow rules. The fourth — what your specific model does with a given code — follows no rule that can be published, and Samsung’s own attempt to flag the worst cases is incomplete. Samsung’s codes name the symptom the control board saw, and on this brand that is one step further from the failed part than it sounds: the same two characters can be reported by two different sensors on two different machines.

Two codes that swap meaning between the washer and the dryer

Samsung documents its washers and its dryers on separate pages, so this collision is invisible unless you set both lists side by side. On a stacked pair or a laundry closet, it is easy to look up the wrong one.

Code	On a Samsung washer	On a Samsung dryer
`bE` / `6E`	Motor speed sensor error	Jammed button — a stuck panel button
`E3`	Motor error (Samsung lists `3E, 3C, E3, 1 3C` together)	Communication error — internal components cannot talk to each other

Both directions are wrong in the expensive way. Read the dryer definition of bE on a washer and you will spend an evening pressing buttons on a machine reporting a motor sensor. Read the washer definition on a dryer and you will price a motor for a stuck button.

Two more worth knowing because the letters mislead:

HC / hE on a dryer does not mean the heating element failed. Samsung’s definition is “the dryer is getting too hot,” and its first fix is to clean the lint screen and vent. A dead element produces no heat; this code is the opposite problem. On a washer, the same letters are a heater error.
CL is not the same on both. On a dryer it is Child Lock disabling the panel. On a washer Samsung defines it more narrowly: it “will display when Child Lock mode has drained water from the tub” — which happens when Child Lock is on, the water level is unsafe, and the door has been opened.

The cross-brand version of this problem — where LG says d90, Samsung says C90 and Whirlpool says AF for the same blocked vent — is worked through in dryer error codes, all brands.

What each fault group costs

Grouped by Samsung’s own fault families, with the free checks separated from the ones that need a part. Part prices are single catalog listings for one representative OEM number, read from AppliancePartsPros in August 2026 — your model may take a different number at a different price. They are the order of magnitude, not a quote.

Fault group	Samsung’s codes	Free first move	If that fails	Representative part
Not filling	`4C` `4E` `nF`	Open both supply valves fully; check for kinks; clean the inlet screens	Water inlet valve	DC97-15459G — $125.95
Hot/cold swapped	`4C2` `4E2` `CE` `nF1`	Swap the hoses — blue to cold, red to hot	Nothing. Samsung: “does not indicate that service is needed”	—
Not draining	`5E` `SE` `5C` `nd`	Unplug first, then clean the drain pump filter; check the drain hose	Drain pump	DC31-00054D — $54.95
Water level / leak	`1E` `LE` `1C` `LC`	Look for a leak; run an empty cycle to check for suds	Service — Samsung flags a missing drain-hose holder screw as requiring it	—
Door	`dC` `dE` `dL` `dS` `FL` `LO`	Check for laundry caught in the latch	Door lock switch assembly	DC64-00519B — $46.95
Unbalanced load	`Ub` `U6` `UE` `Ur` `dC`	Untangle and redistribute the laundry	Usually nothing; persistent cases point at shock absorbers — on a top-loader, check the recall first, below	DC66-00470A — $70.31
Voltage	`9C1` `9E1` `2E` `PF` `UC`	Confirm a dedicated circuit, no extension cord	Electrician, not an appliance technician	—
Motor	`3C` `3E` `E3`	—	Drive motor stator	DC31-00111A — $248.95
Excessive suds	`SUd` `5UD` `Sd`	Use less detergent, and HE detergent only	Nothing. Samsung: “does not indicate that service is needed”	—
Dryer — vent	`C80` `C90` `Clg` `Cg`	Clean the lint screen and the whole duct run	Professional duct cleaning — a venting contractor, not a repair	—
Dryer — overheating	`HC` `hE` `HC4`	Clean the lint screen and vent	Professional duct cleaning — a venting contractor, not a repair. Not a heating element — a dead element is the opposite fault, priced by brand in dryer error codes	—

The shape of that table is worth naming. Most of the Samsung code list resolves to a free check, and the parts that do appear are mostly under $130. The expensive end is narrow: the drive motor stator at $248.95, and the main control board at $333.95 from the 3E discussion above.

That matters for what you do with a quote, though not for the reason usually given. On the cheap-part, short-job repairs that dominate this list, a second opinion has very little to move — and it is worth being exact about why, because the part is not most of the bill on any of them. Built the way the washer cost build-up is built, part price plus a shop’s published $145 minimum labor, the four parts above come out at 25% of the bill for the door lock, 27% for the drain pump, 33% for the shock absorber and 47% for the inlet valve. What a second shop cannot move is the minimum itself, which is a published figure it also charges. On the rare motor or board job, the part alone exceeds the whole Consumer Reports member median out-of-pocket washer repair, which runs $123–$214 across machine types and price tiers, so a high quote there is the part, not padding. The full logic is in is it worth repairing a washing machine, and the component-by-component build-up is in what a washing machine repair costs.

Before you buy a shock absorber: one Samsung top-loader recall is about this exact symptom

The unbalanced-load row above is the one place on this page where the free first move and the paid part are the wrong order of operations for some machines. Samsung recalled 2.8 million top-load washers on November 4, 2016. Samsung’s own recall page describes the hazard in terms that read like a description of the Ub family itself: drums in these washers “may lose balance, triggering excessive vibrations, resulting in the top separating from the washer.” Consumer Reports’ reporting records 733 reports and nine injuries, one of them a broken jaw.

The build window is March 2011 through October 2016, across the 34 model numbers listed on that page. That end date is what makes this worth a paragraph rather than a footnote: a washer built in 2016 is inside the service life this site documents elsewhere, not a museum piece.

The remedy is free and the part is not. CPSC’s recall notice sets out three routes: a free in-home repair that “includes reinforcement of the washer’s top and a free one-year extension of the manufacturer’s warranty”; a rebate toward a new washer of any brand, with free installation and removal of the old unit; and a full refund for consumers who bought the machine “within the past 30 days of the recall announcement” — that is, the 30 days before November 4, 2016, not the 30 days before you read this. Read the routes off CPSC rather than off Samsung’s page, which today describes only the repair and the refund. A DC66-00470A shock absorber at $70.31 buys none of it.

In Canada the notice is Health Canada’s RA-60872, and one route is narrower. About 256,000 units were sold in Canada, with 67 reports to Samsung of tops detaching and no injuries. The repair is the same package, a customer update kit, a free in-home repair and a one-year warranty extension, but the alternative is “a prorated rebate towards the purchase of a replacement Samsung washer,” not a rebate toward any brand. The Canadian notice carries its own model list, so check it rather than the US one.

Two eligibility facts do the work here, and both cut the way a ten-year-old machine needs. The repair is owner-scoped, not purchaser-scoped: Samsung’s wording is “Consumers with a recalled washer are eligible,” with no receipt and no original-purchaser clause — the opposite of how the same company writes a warranty term. And the warranty extension that comes with the repair applies “regardless of the age of their washer,” which on a machine built in 2011 is the whole point.

Two things cut against reading this too widely, and both matter. The action covers top-load machines in that one window — Samsung’s front-loaders are not in it, and a Ub on a front-loader has nothing to do with this. And the overwhelming majority of unbalanced-load codes on any washer, recalled or not, are what the row says they are: a duvet that migrated to one side of the drum. The instruction here is not “stop using your washer.” It is: find your model and serial number and check them against Samsung’s list before you spend anything on the symptom. On these machines that is not a door frame — a top-loader has a lid.

The recall page puts one label “on the back of the control panel or under the lid” and a second “on the back right of the washer,” and summarizes the pair as “on the rear of the washer or, on some 2016 model, under the lid.” Read that way round, the rear is the default and the lid the exception — so the check that decides whether you owe $70.31 or nothing may well start by pulling the machine out from the wall. Where a machine is under an active recall, the manufacturer’s remedy is the answer, not a part swap — that is a standing rule about what this site publishes, not a caution added to this page.

The full recall record for both brands, dated and with unit counts, is in Samsung vs LG appliances.

Six Samsung codes that are not faults

Samsung says so itself. Two of the six come with a line past which that stops being true, and their entries say where it is.

Ur — unbalanced load retry. Samsung is explicit: the washer “is going to try to add more water, try to balance the load, and then try the spin cycle again. This will extend the length of the cycle. A Ur code does not mean that there is an issue with your washer.” So a Samsung washer that runs far longer than the display promised may simply be retrying the balance. The one exception is a top-loader built March 2011 – October 2016, where repeated imbalance is the condition the recall above is written about; on those machines the code is still not a fault, but the machine may be.

Cb / C6 — calibration mode. A normal end-of-installation step that rotates the drum for one to three minutes. The catch: “Calibration mode will not calibrate correctly unless the washing machine is empty.”

dn — downloading. A firmware update. Samsung’s washer page gives the duration and the threshold together: “Updates take about 15 minutes and the message will disappear when the update is complete” — but “if the washer has displayed this code for more than 30 minutes, while continuously powered on and with no Wi-Fi connection issues,” it becomes a service call. That second number is the useful one, and it is the half most code lists drop: dn is a non-fault for half an hour and a fault after it. On the dryer Samsung raises it to a caution instead: “Do not unplug or shut off power to the dryer while this code is displayed. Doing so may cause the dryer to become inoperable and require service.” The standard internet reflex — unplug it — is the one action that turns this non-fault into a service call.

SUd — suds. The cycle continues on its own once the suds settle.

4C2 — swapped hoses. An installation error, not a failure.

Refill detergent or softener. The auto-dispenser is empty. It clears on the next cycle.

Samsung’s own diagnostic routine, and the unguessable way into it

Separate from the code list, Samsung publishes a self-test procedure that runs the machine through a sequence of internal checks. The entry method is unguessable:

Front-load washer: empty it, power on, set Delay End to 17 hours, then press and hold Start until AS appears, and press Start again. The machine runs nine sequential checks and ends at OK.
Dryer: hold Time Up + Temp (or Option + Temp on Smart Control models) until AS appears, touch the moisture sensor bars with the door open, close it and press Start. It ends at OT, or HC/HC1 if the vent is blocked.

One limitation Samsung states, and it is a real one: do not run the diagnostic if an error code is already displaying. So the routine is most useful for the case where something is clearly wrong and the machine has not produced a code at all.

There is also Smart Check, which reads a flashing pattern off the display through a phone camera. It requires Samsung’s app, and Samsung notes the camera can fail on a reflective display, in which case you type the code in by hand — at which point it is a lookup, and you are back on a page like this one.

Two places Samsung’s own instructions disagree with themselves

The first one you hit if you are chasing a 4C and reading carefully.

Samsung’s digital-display instructions for the not-filling error say the drain hose “should not be inserted less than 6 inches or more than 8 inches into the drain pipe.”

Samsung’s blinking-light instructions for the same fault, further down the same page, say it “should not be inserted more than 6 inches into the drain pipe.”

Six to eight inches, or no more than six. One of those is wrong and there is no way to tell which from the page. If your hose sits at seven inches and you are troubleshooting a fill fault, that ambiguity is Samsung’s, not yours — and it is a reason to check your model’s manual rather than either version of the support page.

One more instruction from that section that is easy to skim past and worth acting on: “Do not use Flood Safe hoses.” Samsung states it twice for this fault and gives no reason, so this page does not offer one — but it is Samsung’s own directive, and a flow-limiting hose is an unusually cheap thing to rule out.

The second one is on the dryer page, it is not a detail, and following it literally costs you a service call. Samsung’s “All other errors” section for dryers reads: “If you see one of these errors, or any other errors, power off the dryer for 2-3 minutes, power it back on, and restart the cycle.” Two sections above it, the dn entry carries a boxed Caution: “Do not unplug or shut off power to the dryer while this code is displayed. Doing so may cause the dryer to become inoperable and require service.” dn is an error code the dryer displays, so any other errors reaches it, and the catch-all’s instruction is the one action the caution forbids.

The washer page does not have this problem, and the difference is in the scope rather than the wording. Samsung’s washer catch-all opens “If the error code you received was not listed in a previous section, this means there is no specific troubleshooting for it” — dn is listed there, with its own instructions, so the washer’s catch-all excludes it by construction. The dryer’s version replaced that qualifier with “any other errors” and lost the exclusion. Same figure, same company, and only one of the two pages is safe to read literally.

Read the code again before you pay to have it read

Re-read the characters. Use the decoder at the top. Try the C/E swap and the 5/S, 0/O, 6/b, 8/B, 1/L substitutions before concluding your code is undocumented.
Check whether it is one of the four ambiguous ones. dC, 3E and BE2 carry Samsung’s asterisk — on those three, take the free interpretation first. 8E / BE is ambiguous too and carries no asterisk: Samsung lists it as a Mems Sensor Error in one place and a “Vibration Sensor Error (Some Models)” in another, and only your model’s manual separates them.
Confirm you are on the right list. bE and E3 mean different things on the washer and the dryer.
Power off for two to three minutes, then restart the cycle — “Power off the washer for 2-3 minutes. Power it back on. Restart the cycle.” That is Samsung’s catch-all, and it is the last resort, not the first: Samsung publishes two shorter, code-specific cuts that take precedence. A washer 4C / 4E fill fault gets “Unplug the washer or flip the circuit breaker for the washer for 1 minute”; the dryer’s communication family (AC, AE, Et, EEE, E3, 1 AC) gets “Shut off the dryer for 60 seconds.” And on a dryer showing dn, cut no power at all — see the section above.
Write down the model number. On the three asterisked codes, the manual for your specific model is not a formality — it is the only thing that resolves them.

Stop using the machine if a dryer smells scorched or its cabinet is too hot to touch, if a gas dryer smells of gas, if anything smells electrically burnt, or if a leak (LE, LC above) has left water standing where it can reach the wiring of a washer that is still plugged in. Those are hazards, not repair decisions, and no price on this page applies to them.

Once you know what failed, the question becomes whether it is worth fixing. The repair-or-replace calculator takes the quote and the machine’s age, and prints the number of years the repair has to buy, with its working shown.

Once you have your code

The error-code section — six pages, and the reset lengths the five brands publish, which run from 10 seconds to 30 minutes and are not interchangeable
Is it worth repairing a washing machine? — the calculator, once you know what is wrong
What a washing machine repair costs, by failed component — built bottom-up from parts, labor and fixed fees
Dryer error codes, all brands — the cross-brand translation table and the vent-length budget
LG washer error codes — the five different resets LG specifies, and which codes take which
Samsung vs LG appliances — both brands’ warranty documents set side by side, and what a parts-only motor warranty is worth in dollars
The worst appliance brands for repairs — what Samsung charges if you decline the estimate once the technician is standing in your kitchen: $155, non-refundable
Appliance repair cost by type, 2026 — what the repair costs once the code is decoded
When to replace a dryer instead of repairing it — the cost-per-remaining-year table
How long do appliances actually last? — lifespan figures and where they came from

Sources: Samsung — washing machine information and error codes · Samsung — dryer displays an error code · Samsung — run diagnostics on your washer or dryer · AppliancePartsPros Samsung washer parts · Thumbtack appliance repair cost · Consumer Reports, “Should You Repair or Replace Your Broken Washing Machine” · Samsung top-load washer recall page · Consumer Reports on the Samsung washer recall, November 4, 2016 · Health Canada RA-60872, Samsung top-load washers, 2016

Codes verified against Samsung’s published support documentation, August 2026, and both of Samsung’s code pages re-read at source on September 12, 2026. Part prices verified August 2026. Next scheduled review November 2026.