What F02 actually means
The machine has tried to pump the water out and it hasn't gone within the expected time, so it has stopped.
F02 is a drain timeout. The control board ran the drain pump and waited for the water level to drop; because it didn't, the cycle halts with the drum still holding water rather than carrying on and flooding or spinning a full tub. It's usually a blockage somewhere between the tub and your waste pipe rather than a fault in the machine itself.
What usually causes it
- Blocked pump filter — coins, buttons, hair, lint
- Kinked, trapped or crushed drain hose
- Blocked or slow household waste pipe or standpipe
- Debris jammed in the drain pump impeller
- Faulty drain pump or pressure sensor
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.
- Turn the machine off at the wall for a minute, then power it back on and try a drain or spin cycle
- Clean the pump filter at the bottom front (put a shallow tray and towels down first — there will be water, and let it cool if you've washed hot)
- Check the drain hose behind the machine isn't kinked, squashed against the wall or pushed too far down the waste pipe
- Check the sink or waste pipe the hose feeds into isn't draining slowly or blocked
- Run a hot maintenance wash with no load once it drains again, to clear sludge
When to call someone
This sometimes clears with the checks above. If it comes back, it needs looking at properly. 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 Sharp washing machine codes
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- Sharp E08 — The machine has spotted a fault in the electronics that cont…
- Sharp E10 — The machine can't get a sensible reading from the sensor tha…
- Sharp F09 — The machine can't tell where the water-diverter (the part th…