Samsung Error Codes: Washer & Dishwasher
Samsung shows a short code on the display when one of its own checks fails, and several codes come in two spellings: UE or UB, SE or 5E, 4C or 4E, depending on the model and the age of the display. The table below lists every Samsung code we have written a full guide for, across washers and dishwashers, with one line on what each is telling you. The linked page goes further: likely causes, what you can safely try yourself, and the point where it needs a technician. If your code is not here, call and read it to us.
| Code | Appliance | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Samsung 4C / 4E | Washer | Water is not coming in as expected during fill — tap, inlet hose screens or inlet valve. |
| Samsung SE / 5E | Dishwasher | Water is not draining away — filter, drain hose or drain pump. |
| Samsung UE / UB | Washer | The drum is off-centre and will not spin up; the laundry first, the suspension second. |
| Samsung dE | Washer, dishwasher | The door is not latched or the door lock has not engaged, so the cycle will not start. |
Why the same fault has two Samsung codes
Older Samsung displays could not draw every letter, so the same fault reads 4E on one machine and 4C on a newer one, 5E or SE, UB or UE. They mean the same thing, and the guide for either applies. What decides the right reading is the model, not the code: the number on the label (inside the washer door or on the dishwasher tub edge) tells a technician which parts and which test sequence belong to your machine.
How Samsung codes are built
Most Samsung washer and dishwasher codes are a number or a letter followed by C or E. The C is the newer spelling and the E the older one; the first character names the system. Among the number codes, 1C is the water-level (pressure) sensor, 3C the drive motor, 4C the water supply, 5C the drain and 8C the vibration sensor that tells the washer how the drum is moving. Letter codes work the same way: HC is the heater, tC a temperature sensor, LC a leak or water the machine cannot account for, OC an overfill, dC the door, and UC a supply voltage outside the range the machine accepts. UB and UE are the unbalance pair. Sud is not a fault: the washer has detected too much foam and pauses to let it settle, which usually means too much detergent or one that is not marked HE. Samsung refrigerators use a separate numeric list that this page does not cover yet; read that code to us when you call.
Clearing a code yourself
A Samsung code clears when the cause is gone and the cycle restarts. For dE that is often nothing more than a garment caught in the washer door seal or a dishwasher rack stopping the door short; for UE, a load redistributed by hand; for 4C, a water tap opened fully. Power the machine off for a few minutes after fixing it and start a short cycle. The same code on the next run means a part is failing — a door lock, a drain pump, an inlet valve — and that is a repair rather than a reset.
Safe to reset, or time for a technician
Worth a reset once the cause is fixed: UB or UE after the load is rearranged, dC after clearing whatever held the door, 4C after opening both taps and rinsing the screens where the inlet hoses meet the washer, 5C after cleaning the debris filter behind the small cover at the bottom front of a front-loader and checking the drain hose for a kink, and Sud after a rinse cycle with less detergent. UC is about the power reaching the machine rather than the machine itself, so first make sure it is plugged straight into a wall outlet and not an extension cord. Codes that name a part need a technician: 1C, 3C, 8C, HC and tC are a sensor, the motor or the heater, and clearing them only hides the fault until the next cycle. OC and LC come first in the queue: turn off the water supply to the machine before anything else.
Signs it should not wait
Stop using the machine if water is escaping, if a dishwasher shows SE with standing water that will not drain, or if a washer door will not unlock with water inside. Call with the model number and the code, and say whether it appeared at the start, during the wash or at the spin.
Samsung dryers, and refrigerator codes that look like washer codes
On a Samsung dryer, HE or hE is a heating fault — check both halves of the breaker on an electric model and the gas valve on a gas one before anything else — while tS and tO point at the temperature sensor and mean the dryer should not keep running until it is tested. dC on a dryer is simply the door not fully closed. Samsung refrigerators use a separate family of numbered codes, and the overlap catches people out: 5E on a refrigerator is a defrost sensor fault, not the drain fault it is on a washer, and fan and sensor codes such as 22E often appear only after the fridge has been warm for a while. On supported models the Smart Care feature in the SmartThings app reads the code and shows Samsung's own suggested steps, which is worth a look before you call.