What E18 actually means
The wash finished but the machine couldn't spin the load because it was unevenly spread in the drum, so your washing is still very wet.
E18 is a warning rather than a fault. The machine tries to balance the load before spinning, and if the clothes stay bunched to one side it abandons the spin to avoid hammering the drum bearings and shaking the machine about. Everything else in the cycle has run normally.
What usually causes it
- A single heavy item such as a duvet, towel or pair of jeans balled up on one side
- Very small load, so there's nothing to balance it out
- Overloaded drum leaving no room for clothes to redistribute
- Machine not sitting level, or feet not firm on the floor
- Occasionally a worn drum bearing or suspension leg that stops the drum settling
What you can safely check yourself
Work through these in order. Anything beyond this — panels off, testing parts, anything to do with the wiring — is an engineer's job, and not one to attempt with the machine plugged in.
- Open the door, shake the washing out and spread it evenly around the drum, then run a rinse and spin
- Add a couple of towels if you were washing one bulky item on its own
- Don't fill the drum more than about three quarters full
- Check the machine isn't rocking on an uneven floor and that nothing is wedged under it
- Turn it off at the socket for a minute to clear the warning
When to call someone
This often clears with the checks above, and rarely needs an engineer. We cover Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Leicestershire, and it's £66 including VAT for an engineer to come out and diagnose it — £84 in total if it's repaired on the visit with no parts needed. Any parts needed are quoted on site before we fit them — you decide. Every repair carries a 90-day workmanship guarantee.
Outside our area? The explanation above still stands — take it to a local engineer and tell them the code. Knowing it saves them time and you money.
Other Montpellier washing machine codes
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- Montpellier E04 — The machine thinks it's taking in too much water and has shu…
- Montpellier E05 — The machine can't tell how hot the water is, so it has stopp…
- Montpellier E06 — The machine has lost the signal that tells it how fast the d…
- Montpellier E07 — The washing machine's control board has lost or mismatched i…
- Montpellier E08 — The machine has detected that the electricity reaching it is…