Thanks for sharing. The relay has a lifespan of 100,000 cycles. Each wash uses quite a few cycles. This means the relay reaches its lifespan in just a few years for a typical family. If polishing does not revive the relay, I suggest you strip the relay to the bare 4 pins. Solder 4 wires to extend the pins for connection with a new relay. Any good relay (12V DC/120V AC, normally open) will do. Insulate and encase with silicone glue well because of 120V.

When this happens, do you still hear the relay clicking? Because when I put the washer into the drain test mode, I hear it click, but the pump itself doesn’t turn on.

How did you get the lid off? Of that little relay?

I am about 40% down the brain damage rabbit hole. My AST 3 Kenmore Elite (Samsung) front load washer started with no drain. Checked all water lines, water level sensor, pulled old pump and tested that (it spun but didn't smell great when pulled"snapped" impeller off. So ordered new one from AMZ and re-tested. back now water full and won't drain, and what I suspected all along. It's not sending 120V to the motor. So, I saw your site and my PCB isn't behind the front panel, it's in the back top right, so removed the 2 screws to get the white box moving, and used fingers to snap it open. I have 9 relays on my board and the resistors are under the clear protective layer. I don't see anything burnt or brown. the technician guide says to test for 120V on pin3 o CN2 and pin3 of CN3. I am starting to feel like Mark Watney (the Matt Damon character) in the martian when told what to do to get back to earth. I have learned so much about washing machines and was hoping the exact knife trick on the relay would be it, but now I am not sure. I'll likey buy a new washer and take this thing to a shooting range if I don't get it soon.

You got a new machine now

Thank you so much for this!! I changed my pump as well and it still did not work. This vid popped up on my reccomend and I'm glad it did. You saved a lot of people a lot of money! We appreciate it!!

Thanks a bunch! This was my issue. Remains to be seen how well I cleaned the contacts

I hear humming, clicking, and repeats several times and still nothing happens until it finally throws a Drain Error code. I’ve confirmed the pump is fine. Already replaced the pressure sensor. Do you think this fits the criteria for a relay issue?

Worked like a charm. Thank you so much for sharing!

I replaced the washer and still the same issue how you got to the bearing from ND error.

You fucking rock and roll , just fixed mine by uncapping the 5th relay sandpapered it and contact cleaner. She is alive

Nice job on this, you got me pretty far along, but I completed my repair another way. Drain pump was replaced, same with rubber check leaving the pump. Still not draining and I paid for 2 appliance repair guys- I was looking for someone that actually knew how to use the diagnostics and quick test. Both suggested new board. Only, the new board was no longer available. I seemed to have an odd board with 9 relays, wiring diagram very hard to find. So back to the board. My board was not labeled correctly, but I was able to narrow the relays to no 1 and 5 , I tracked the wires to these relays from 10 pin 2 middle pins to the relays. The relays are 3 dollars. Tried to fix no 5 your way but it did not work. so the plan was to replace no 1 and 5 relay. Circuit board companies are all around but none wanted to work with the silicone and plastic. I am not very good at detailed board work, but i knew I could cut the plastic with a dremel to access the relays. So I cut the back out and exposed the relay section, pretty easy to do, gave it a local board guy and repaired it for 122.00 . He carefully cut through the silicone and replaced no 1 and 5. I put the board back in (taped in the cut plastic pieces), 20 washes later it's all good. Like Mathieson, I could not fail in this repair the machine were otherwise great. 15 years old but like new. My suggestion is this: repair the pump, and look over the rubber check valve, if its still not draining then go the relay board, simply cut out the back and give it to local board guy to fix. Also I finally found out how to access the Quick Test: what a task, they seem to change this over the models , Mine was a WF448 series: Press: Soil, Signal, Power same time with power OFF. I think I turned the Jog dial counter clockwise . Press Spin to test door lock, Press Temp to go through the water cycles, press soil level to test Circulation/Drain Pump. In my case the repair guys said each pump will be tested by pressing the Soil Level button. The first worked this was the circulation pump, but the second was silent - nothing. After the board repair, I tried Quick Test again and sure enough the second time I pressed the Soil Level- the drain pumped worked , so I figured the washer was fixed, which it was. The last test press Signal to test water/Steam Heater FYI.

Thank you so much sir - this fixed my problem. God bless

This was an AWESOME find, and truly proved to be a blessing to me in my washer drain issues. Fixed the problem without having to replace the relay - don’t like soldering at all. I cleaned the contacts (Took two attempts - may have put the relay cap back on too tight the first time). Many thanks.

Thanks for the video, I was going to replace the relay. This is alot easier. I'm just wondering if this fix will last awhile like a year or more. It's been more than a year now, is the relay still working?

May I ask how you got the cover of the relay off to get to the contacts?

Almost purchased a new washer... Tried it as a last resort and it did work... Will fix tomorrow and will try to find a cover to not let the relay open since I broke it... Thanks again...

Damn you basically rebuilt the washer

U sir are a genius. Thanks time a million! At one point we talked about getting a new washer/dryer, but I've fixed this one so many times that it's not that bad to fix. If we buy new ones, then it gets harder dYI fix. I would much rather keep these ones. Thanks again!

Best Video of the year! Thank you so much! Worked exactly like you showed. Had to get inside that relay real good! Thank you! Thank you!

My washing machine had the same problem, I changed the pump and nothing until I found your video and it helped me a lot. Thank you, you are a professional.

Thank you so much for your video that's exactly what was wrong with my sister's washing machine same year as yours. Thanks a million

Awesome thanks for sharing Great information I am 90 percent sure this will solve my issue

I'm impressed with your determination 😄

Thanks for the video I had the same problem. In my case sanding the contacts did not help, but I noticed that they were slightly too far apart to make contact. so I pushed them a little bit closer together with a screwdriver and then after a power was restored they were able to touch again. I.e. I just needed to bring the two contacts closer together so when the relay goes ON then the distance is not too far apart for them to connect. For anyone trying to fix their washer. You can test your pump by hooking it up to 120v AC if you're comfortable with electrical work. In my case, I bought a new pump on Amazon, but it wasn't the issue. The old pump was fine. Thank goodness that I found this video to fix the issue.

Best advise and video on KZbin yet!!!

I am a 18 year experienced appliance technician and I was extremely impressed with your board diagnosis , I usually replace these once pump does not get the voltage and this just opened a whole new level of affordable repairs for some people I run into that can’t afford a new board , you are a professional in my book

Thanks so much.

It was the relay! Thanks a lot buddy!

This is a great idea. This was not the source of my problem, but might have been a contributing factor. I tired this and ran 220 grit sandpaper on both contacts~75-100 times each. I put it back in and, I still had a problem. I took the cover off and watched the solenoid's movement (Unlike this one, mine is on the back, inside wall of the unit. Pretty simple to remove. 2 screws and slid the panel toward the center of the washer and it popped out). After watching it try to contact a couple of times, but failing, I decided to help it inorder to keep the wash cycle running. Then it dawned on me. I pushed the stationary contact toward the moving contact a little with a toothpick and it made contact. At this point I could here the pump running instead of pushing on the moving contact. So I folded over a small strip of paper to make 4 layers and the wash cycle completed without my intervention. I think what happens here is either the stationary contact is deflected just slightly out of reach over time (in my case it was 13 years) or the moving switch just doesn't have the force anymore. Just deflecting it back made it run good as new. I still intend to install a new relay.

❤🎉 thanks you so much. This fixed mine right up

I think this is what is going on with my unit, but after spending two whole days prior to seeing this video, I just purchased a new washer with the one I have being 13 years old

Thanks. I had the same issue with the relay. Used fine grit sandpaper (800) and also used contact cleaner spray. The cap on the relay broke into pieces as I tried to remove it though… at least it is temporary fixed.

Thanks for sharing this, I used this for troubleshooting my 13 year old samsung washer. The relay was not the culprit in my case. After extensive troubleshooting it ended up being the rubber check valve on the drain pump housing causing the problem. What was happening was that the check valve was getting stuck inside the housing, and between that and the weight of the water in the drain line (I drain vertically), the pump did not have enough power to push open the check valve (this was a new pump too). What I speculate, was that over the many years the rubber swelled up just enough to cause a very tight fit in the housing. I took a dremel with a stone grinding bit and carefully ground it down until it fit properly back in the housing. Been working perfectly since then.

I changed the drain pump, it didn’t help. Although water is pumped out, the error “No draining” still persists. My Samsung model WF448aap doesn’t have the board with the relays shown in your video therefore I replaced all two boards dc92-00130A and dc92-00125a. Drum is vacated of water but the error ND is still persisting. Any idea what else to look at? Thanks!

Great trick! I have replaced relays on my dryer and washer before for other reasons. But this is the 1st time I have seen someone go into the relay and repair it! Great job. Although you definitely need to work on your trouble shooting skills and stop just shotgun'in parts at it and actually diagnose the problem... ie test voltage or continuity to the pump and at the pump in the 1st place and you would have found the fix quicker. Anyways great job and thanks. ;)

That’s awesome!! Thanks for taking the extra time to explain All the other things you already tried too!!

This worked for me but I'm going to go ahead and replace the relay. Those contacts are coated with something like a silver plating and they will stop conducting soon if you sanded that off the contact surfaces.

That’s great news. Glad it worked!

Worked for me. Only relay cover didn’t come off cleanly (broke), so relay current left open.