Blinking lights on your washing machine rarely means something good. And a rinse light that blinks could mean that you have some type of fault within the water system of your washing machine. This could be caused by several things.
Your whirlpool washer’s rinse light may be blinking because the drainage hose is blocked, preventing it from moving into the spin cycle. Alternatively, it may not be getting enough water to start a rinse cycle.
These issues may sound complex, but most of them can be fixed and prevented from happening again in the future with some easy solutions and routine maintenance. In the rest of this article, I’ll explain in step-by-step detail how to fix each issue and a little bit about what’s causing it so that you understand the problem better. Keep reading to learn all you need to know about this problem.
Drainage Problems Causing Light To Blink
If the washing machine cannot drain the water used for the rinse cycle, it will stop the cycle completely, and the rinse light will start blinking. The cycle stops automatically because the washing machine cannot move on to the next part of the cycle while still full of water.
If the washer started the spin cycle while still full of water, you’d probably have a massive mess on your hands and possibly a disabled washing machine. The fact that the cycle stops completely when a drainage fault is detected is an extremely useful feature as it helps prevent damage and wet floors.
How To Fix
Here’s how to fix Whirlpool Washer drainage problems:
With the washing machine empty of all water and clothes, pull the drainage hose out of the drain hole in the wall behind or near your washing machine.
Drain the hose of any excess water that may be stuck in it.
Detach the hose where it connects to the washing machine.
Check the hose for any blockages and clean out the inside with hot water and some mild cleaning products.
Check the outlet hole where the drain hose attaches to the washing machine. Clean it with an old rag and make sure it is not clogged or impeded.
Once you’re sure the hose and outlet hole are both clean and water can travel through both freely, reattach the hose and put it back into the drainage hole.
If, after following these simple steps the issue persists, the problem could be a blockage in your home’s plumbing system. Performing this simple cleaning will let you know that the washer is not the problem.
If this solves your issue, repeat the process every month or every few months as preventative maintenance to clean out any debris before it begins to accumulate and cause problems.
A washer that retains water can be very scary. Potential flooding is just one of the negative consequences of a washing machine that cannot drain water. Fortunately, this issue can be solved and prevented with just simple cleaning.
If your washing machine stops and the rinse light blinks before it even starts a rinse cycle, the washer does not allow enough water in for the rinse part of the wash cycle to start.
The blinking light and cycle stops can be caused by blocked intake hoses, clogged inlet valve screens, or if the water inlet valve fails altogether. All 3 issues will prevent the rinse cycle from starting by severely limiting the amount of water allowed into the washing machine.
Fortunately, the three issues are easy to diagnose, and you can fix two of them with some simple cleaning. The third may need to be handled by a professional technician, but it entails a simple replacement of a single part.
How To Fix
Here’s how to fix this problem:
The first thing you should do is make sure the water knobs are turned to the on position. Someone in the house could have turned it down or off so check that the water is turned on.
If the water is on all the way, but the washer is still not getting water, you should turn the water off and detach the water intake hoses.
With the hoses taken off, check the hoses themselves for blockages and clean them using only hot water. You should never use cleaning products or any chemicals on intake hoses.
Once the hoses are clean and free of blockages, check the inlet valve screen. These small filters can get clogged up with debris and cause blockages. They are right inside the water intake hole where the hoses attach.
After cleaning the inlet valve screens, test the intake valve for electrical current if you have a multimeter. If the valve has no current, it will fail and not open enough to allow water in.
Intake valves are cheap, and you can buy one online that fits your whirlpool washing machine and have it installed by a professional.
You can solve problems with the washing machine not getting enough water to begin the rinse cycle relatively easily with mere cleaning.
Even if the intake valve is failing and needs to be replaced, you can buy the part and have it installed by a professional. The technician should be able to do it reasonably quickly.
Having your wash cycles constantly stop before the rinse can be highly frustrating. Luckily the solutions to this issue are simple and easy enough for anyone to do. Thus, you won’t be frustrated for very long.
Conclusion
If your Whirlpool washing machine’s rinse light is blinking and stopping cycles at the beginning or the end of the rinse cycle, then it’s having trouble bringing in water or draining off excess water. Luckily, there’s a quick and easy fix for this.
To fix this issue, you typically need to clean either the intake hoses and the intake valve or the drainage hose and drainage valve. You can use some gentle household cleaning products on the drainage hose, but you should use only hot water on intake hoses and valves.
