Washer Shaking, Banging, or Refusing to Spin — What to Check

Violent shaking or a cancelled spin is nearly always an unbalanced load or an unlevel machine — both free to fix — rather than a broken part.

A drum spinning at over 1,000 RPM with weight bunched on one side generates enormous force, so washers monitor balance constantly and abort the spin rather than shake themselves apart. That's why the classic symptom is clothes coming out soaking wet: the machine quietly skipped its high-speed spin.

One heavy item — a bath mat, a hoodie wrapped around itself, a single pillow — is the usual trigger. Worn suspension only enters the picture when the problem happens on every ordinary load.

Error codes that match this symptom

• Samsung Washer UE The load inside the drum is unbalanced, so the washer stopped before spinning at full speed — usually fixed by rearranging the laundry, not by repairs.
• LG Washer UE The drum's load is too unbalanced to spin safely — small uE means the washer is fixing it by itself, capital UE means it gave up and needs your help.
• Maytag Washer uL Your Maytag washer has found an uneven load during spin — the uL code means the laundry is bunched to one side, and redistributing it lets the machine balance and spin up safely.
• Midea Washer E4 Your Midea washer found the load lopsided during spin — E4 is the out-of-balance fault, cleared by spreading the laundry evenly and levelling the machine.
• Comfee Washer E4 Your Comfee washer can't balance the load for spin — E4 is the out-of-balance fault, fixed by spreading the laundry evenly and levelling the machine.
• Magic Chef Washer E3 Your Magic Chef washer can't balance the load to spin — E3 is the imbalance alarm, cleared by redistributing the wet laundry and levelling the machine.
• Haier Washer dd Your Haier washer flagged dd during the spin — it's the out-of-balance code, cleared by spreading the load evenly and levelling the machine.
• Haier Washer Err7 Your Haier washer detected a motor-speed fault — Err7 is a motor/control error, and beyond a single power reset it's a technician repair.
• Whirlpool Washer uL uL is Whirlpool's unbalanced-load warning during the spin: the laundry has shifted to one side, so the washer slows or stops and adds water to even it out before it can spin up.
• Whirlpool Washer F7 E5 On Whirlpool top-load washers F7 E5 means the control cannot sense the basket turning correctly — most often the shifter actuator that engages the drive and reports rotation has failed.
• Bosch Washer E32 Bosch's E32 — F32 on some models — means the drum couldn't balance the load for the spin, so the machine slows or skips the high-speed spin to protect itself, usually because of a single bulky item or a tangled clump on one side.
• GE Washer 22 GE front-load washer code 22 means the washer couldn't settle the load into balance at the start of the cycle, most often because the laundry is bunched or the machine isn't level.
• GE Washer 26 GE front-load washer code 26, shown as 31 on some models, means the drum couldn't reach a stable high-speed spin because the load shifted out of balance.

Different brand? The checks below apply broadly — but confirm any code against your model's manual before acting on it.

What to check first

1. Open the door and untangle the load — unroll twisted sheets and spread heavy items around the drum.
2. Washing one bulky item? Add two or three towels as counterweight.
3. Push down on opposite corners of the machine: if it rocks, adjust the threaded feet until it sits solid, then tighten the lock nuts.
4. If the machine sits on a pedestal, check the pedestal bolts too.
5. Run a Spin-only cycle to confirm before the next full wash.

When to call a technician