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When operating household washing machines, sometimes a situation occurs when the washing was successful, and it is not possible to remove the laundry. Attempts to open the hatch by pressing the corresponding lever of the handle lead to nothing. It is clear that additional physical efforts will not give a positive result, but will only aggravate the problem. What if your washing machine won't open? You will get the answer to this question by reading this article.

What is the door lock function for?

The designers and manufacturers of washing machines have taken care of the safety of users by equipping their products with a number of useful functions. One of them is door lock blocking. It works at the moment the machine starts to work and turns off when all the operations provided by the program are completed.

Without blocking, you could forgetfully open the hatch at full speed with a high probability of getting burned with hot water and flood the floor of your apartment. The bollard consists of a mechanical and an electrical part. Like any other technical device, it can fail over time.

Advice! Do not panic if the door does not open immediately after stopping the machine. Perhaps you need to wait a couple more minutes for the control unit to give the command to open the lock.

Why the hatch door does not open: reasons for blocking

Blocking the hatch lock can be caused by various reasons. They are not necessarily related to the breakdown of your washing machine. It is recommended that you check all possible options one at a time before taking decisive action.

Hatch door lock

Non-malfunction reasons for blocking

This category includes cases of "false alarms" that disappear by themselves or are associated with external causes. They do not require a call to the repairman, but are eliminated by the correct actions of the user. But they must be named:

1. Normal operation of the blocking during the operation of the washing machine. Sometimes impatient housewives do not pay attention to the fact that not all the operations provided for by the program have been completed. You just have to wait until they finish. There are times when you urgently need to get something out of the drum or add forgotten laundry. In such a situation, it is necessary to drain the water from the drum below the installation site of the minimum level sensor, stop the machine by turning off all tasks, and only then open the hatch.
2. The peculiarity of some automatic machines to turn off the blocking, a few minutes after the machine stops. Usually, an audible signal sounds. They quickly get used to it after buying new household appliances.
3. Child lock is accidentally activated. Unplug it and safely remove the laundry.
4. Unexpected power outage. For some models, this is a signal to hold the interlock, since a shutdown can occur when the tank is full of water. In this case, after restoring the power supply, you must continue the selected program or forcibly pump out the detergent solution. After that, there should be no problems with opening the hatch.

Household appliance malfunctions

Much more problems arise when there is an electrical or mechanical breakdown of equipment. Some problems can be easily fixed by yourself. Sometimes only an experienced master will figure out how to open the washing machine if it is blocked. Typical breakdowns associated with blocking the lock:

1. Software failure. This happens due to sudden power surges. In this case, the program freezes and refuses to execute commands. Sometimes it helps to disconnect the machine from the network for a while with the obligatory removal of the plug from the socket. After the power is restored, the control unit will reboot and will be ready for operation. If this does not happen, call the wizard.
2. Lock problems. In general, you will have to open the car body and manually open the door from the inside. There are several additional ways to quickly unlock a washing machine with a faulty locking device. Some manufacturers provide a standard cable for such situations, the end of which usually goes into the area of ​​the filter hatch. You can clarify this by carefully studying the instructions supplied with your model. Sometimes it is possible to set the latch mechanism in motion by passing a thin cord through the gap between the door and the body of the machine and pulling the ends towards the center of the hatch. After opening the door, you need to take care of replacing the lock itself.
3. Broken hatch handle. In this case, it is either completely separated, or moves in an unnatural way. Open the door with the methods listed earlier, to which the option of using pliers is added. They can try to grab the remaining piece of the handle and turn it in the desired direction.
4. The blocking is triggered due to the presence of water in the tank. In this case, the electronics behave correctly and the reason for the lack of pumping must be eliminated. It may become a pump malfunction, a clogged sewer or filter. If the water is not pumped out by standard methods, you will have to drain it through the filter hatch, which is usually located at the bottom of the front wall of the machine. To prevent the liquid from spreading on the floor, place a thin pan under the drain in advance. After that, the door should open in the usual way.
5. Level sensor defective. The situation is similar to that described earlier, with the only difference that the tank is filled “virtually”. The machine will not operate normally without replacing the appliance.
6. The intelligent module is out of order. You need to contact the service department, because you will need to rewrite the control board, reset the programmer or completely replace the control unit.

How to open a locked door after an emergency stop of the machine

The design of washing machines is different, so the question of how to open the washing machine, if it is blocked, should be linked to the type of equipment. In each specific case, you will have to take into account the brand of the automatic machine.

Opening the horizontal loading washing machine

In general, the sequence of actions will be as follows:

1. Remove the plug from the socket.
2. If there is water in the tank, substitute the drain pan and loosen the drain plug. Sometimes part of the liquid can be drained through the pumping hose, lowering it as low as possible.
3. Find the end of the emergency opening of the loading door next to the drain filter. It is usually colored yellow or orange. Pulling on it will release the latch mechanism.
4. If an emergency cable is not provided, you will have to manually open the lock. To do this, remove the top cover of the automatic machine and tilt the body back. In this case, the tank will move slightly away from the hatch. You can stick your hand into the gap formed to open the latch from the inside.

Opening the top-loading washing machine

A jammed upper door means that a poorly closed drum turned and caused a malfunction of the entire mechanism. Most often, the open drum rests against the heating element. The standard way to solve the problem is as follows:

1. Disconnect power supply.
2. Move the machine away from the wall.
3. Remove the rear cover.
4. Dismantle the belt drive and disconnect the wires that prevent access to the heating element.
5. Remove the heating device and try to close the drum doors through its mounting hole.
6. Moving it to a vertical position unlocks the loading door.
7. Do not forget to replace the heating element, wires, belt and back cover.

Solving the problem depending on the brand

Washing machines from different manufacturers have their own specific features associated with blocking the loading door.

The LG automatic washing machine often does not allow the door to open due to the presence of water residues in the tank. Typical reasons for such a problem are a clogged filter or a failed pump. Sometimes the child lock is activated as a signal for locking. Use the instruction manual to properly disable it.

Samsung washing machines are sensitive to power surges during washing. You can try to fix the problem by restarting the program. Mechanical breakage of the lock is also not uncommon for this brand.

The Ariston washing machine sometimes locks the door due to an incomplete program. Some treatments do not require water pumping. Its presence in the drum will not allow opening the hatch. Try setting a different job or follow the manufacturer's recommendations in the instructions.

In what cases it is necessary to call the master

Knowing how to open an automatic machine that has stopped, if it is locked, you will be able to extract the loaded things from it, but you will not always be able to restore its working capacity. For all problems with the control unit and in cases of breakdown of critical parts, contact a repair shop. To do this, you had to follow the simplest preventive measures as rarely as possible:

• open and close the hatch carefully, effortlessly;
• do not exceed the drum loading rate;
• at the first sign of a malfunction, take action to prevent serious damage from occurring.

Watch a video on what to do if the washing machine door is blocked