How to Drain a Samsung Washer & Run Spin Only (Drain + Spin Cycles)

Sometimes you don't want a wash — you want the water out and the load spun: a cycle gone wrong, an item that needs re-spinning, a tub to empty before service. Samsung washers offer this as the Drain+Spin (or Rinse+Spin) cycle; this page shows how to select it on the common control layouts, what to do when the machine won't cooperate, and the manual-drain fallback.

Selecting Drain+Spin on common layouts

Samsung documents three distinct routes, and they are not interchangeable. (1) Spin Only — the spin-with-drain route: Samsung's own door-opening guide gives it as pressing the Spin Only button for 3 seconds, then, when the cycle time and spinning speed appear, pressing Spin repeatedly until the desired spinning speed is selected, then pressing and holding Start/Pause to start; the machine drains as part of bringing the drum up to speed. Samsung's cleaning guides use the same Spin-only cycle by name to remove remaining water from an empty tub. (2) Drain only, with no spin at all: Samsung washer manuals give this as turning the Cycle Selector to the Spin position and pressing the Spin button repeatedly until the 'No spin' indication lights, then Start/Pause — the pump drains the tub and the drum does not spin, the route for delicates that cannot tolerate spinning. (3) Rinse+Spin: a cycle-selector position that rinses and then spins — the route when the load needs fresh water through it, not just its water removed. (Corrected 2026-10-28: an earlier version of this section claimed that setting the rinse count to zero on Rinse+Spin leaves a spin-only cycle — no Samsung source documents that method, and it has been removed; use the Spin Only hold or the No-spin drain route above, exactly as Samsung prints them.) Top-loaders offer Spin Only / Rinse+Spin as cycle or option selections per the panel legends of the model. When in doubt, the panel's own labels are the map: manufacturers print the path on the console.

If it won't spin: the preconditions

The machine won't spin a tub it can't drain (check the filter if it stops with water in), won't spin against an unbalanced load (redistribute; a single heavy item needs towel ballast), and won't spin with the door lock unconvinced (firm close, clear seal). Each refusal is one of those three until proven otherwise.

Manual draining (no power / pump failed)

Front-loaders: the lower-front flap hides an emergency drain hose (drain into a shallow tray, a litre at a time) and the filter — Samsung's emergency-drain procedure is set out step by step in this page's later sections. Top-loaders have no emergency drain hose and no removable pump filter (Samsung states the filter point explicitly in its no-drain guidance), so the manual routes are the honest ones: bail the tub from the top, or — if the pump still runs at all — use the Spin Only / drain route above and let the pump do the work. (Corrected 2026-10-28: an earlier version claimed a top-loader will gravity-drain through a lowered drain hose once a check valve is passed by squeezing the hose — no Samsung source documents that procedure, top-load drain systems are pump-driven, and the claim has been removed.) Slow is normal — plan towels.

Samsung washer how to drain: use the powered routes first, in Samsung's order

Draining a Samsung washer divides into what the machine will do for you under power and what you must do by hand when it cannot, and Samsung documents the powered routes precisely — try them in this order before reaching for containers. The most direct powered drain is built into the spin controls: on platforms whose manuals carry a Drain only function, press Power, turn the Cycle Selector to the Spin position, press the Spin button repeatedly until the 'No spin' indication lights, and press Start/Pause — the pump drains the tub and the drum deliberately does not spin. The manuals describe the same No Spin setting from the load's point of view: it drains your washer without spinning, intended for extremely delicate items that cannot tolerate any spin. If a gentler powered route suits the load, Rinse+Spin adds fresh water before the drain-and-spin finish — Samsung defines that cycle for loads that need rinsing only, or to add rinse-added fabric softener to a load. Each of these routes depends on the preconditions Samsung's no-drain guidance assumes: the machine is level, the drain hose is correctly installed, and the pump can move water — a machine that hums and drains nothing under any of them has told you the problem is in the drain path itself, and its checks are level, hose and (on a front-loader) pump filter, taken in Samsung's order on the drain pages of this site. Only a machine that cannot drain under power — a dead pump, a hard blockage, no electricity, or a door that must be opened over a full tub — needs the manual procedure in the next section, and arriving at it after the powered routes have been tried is what makes its result trustworthy.

How to drain water from a Samsung front loader by hand: Samsung's emergency drain, step by step

Samsung publishes this procedure across its regional support sites with unusual consistency, and it is worth following in its own steps rather than from memory. Begin with power: Samsung's emergency-drain pages start by turning the washing machine off and unplugging it from the electrical outlet. Set out your defences before any water moves: place a towel and containers near the filter cover at the bottom of the machine — Samsung Australia specifies an empty, spacious container, and Samsung New Zealand warns there will be a lot of water and advises keeping a second container handy to rotate in when the first fills. Open the filter cover: depending on type, gently press the top area of the cover, or push down its latch — and if it still will not open, Samsung says to use a coin or a thin metal object. Pull the emergency drain tube out toward the container while holding its cap, open the cap, and let the water in the tube flow into the container, recapping and swapping containers as needed; Samsung New Zealand adds the safety note that water drained during high-temperature cleaning or conditioning is hot, so take care against burns. When the water has drained completely, close the tube cap, reinsert the tube, and close the filter cover. Samsung groups the debris filter with this procedure for a reason — while the machine is drained is exactly when the filter should be cleaned: unscrew the filter knob by turning it counterclockwise, clean the pump filter with soft brushes, and make sure the drain pump propeller inside the filter housing is unclogged, then reinsert the filter and turn the knob clockwise. Samsung New Zealand attaches the two warnings that close the job: make sure the filter knob is closed properly after cleaning, otherwise it may cause a leak, and make sure the filter is inserted properly, otherwise it may cause an operational failure or a leak. The same page gives the procedure its context and its cadence: you will need the emergency drain when the door of the washing machine is locked or the machine is showing an Unbalanced Load (Ub) error, and cleaning the debris filter this way is good to do every 2 months — which is why a machine drained by hand once should not need draining by hand often.

Samsung washer how to spin only: the Spin Only function, exactly as Samsung prints it

Spin-only is the request owners phrase half a dozen ways — how to spin only, just spin, just a spin cycle — and Samsung documents a named function for it. Its Philippines support guide, written for owners who need to open the door during operation, gives the Spin Only function in three steps: press the Spin Only button for 3 seconds; when the cycle time and spinning speed appear, press Spin repeatedly until the desired spinning speed is selected; then press and hold Start/Pause to start the cycle. Samsung adds the note that the spinning time depends on the selected cycle, which is why a spin-only run can show a longer time than the spin itself — the machine drains first, balances the load, and only then commits to full speed. Other Samsung platforms fold the same capability into the spin controls rather than a dedicated button: manuals for those models describe pressing and holding the Spin button to reach the spin-only cycle it provides to remove more water from the load, sitting alongside the No Spin setting that does the opposite. Samsung's own housekeeping guides use the function by name and expect owners to find it: its Canadian cleaning guide's first step is to make sure the drum is empty and run a Spin-only cycle to drain any remaining water. Whichever form your panel takes, two behaviours are by design and not faults: the machine will not tumble or spin unless the door is closed, in Samsung's safety wording, so a spin-only that refuses over an unlatched door is obeying its interlock; and a spin-only that drains, tumbles the load back and forth, and only then spins is balancing — the redistribution a full cycle would also perform, compressed into the part of the programme you asked for.

Just drain, just spin, or drain and spin: choosing between No Spin, Spin Only and Rinse+Spin

The three requests in this page's keyword family sound interchangeable and are not, and picking the right one is most of using this page well. Just drain — water out, no spin, nothing else: that is the No Spin route, Cycle Selector to Spin with the Spin button pressed repeatedly until the No spin indication lights, then Start/Pause. Choose it for delicates that cannot tolerate spinning, for a tub you need emptied before moving or servicing the machine, and as a diagnostic — a machine that drains cleanly on No Spin has a proven pump and hose, whatever its spin problem turns out to be. Just spin — the load is washed but wet, and you want water extracted: that is Spin Only, the 3-second press (or the panel's spin-only equivalent), a speed chosen with repeated Spin presses, and Start/Pause held to begin; the machine drains as part of the run, balances, and spins, which is why 'just spin' always includes a drain whether you asked for one or not. Drain and spin with fresh water through the load — the item needs rinsing, softener was forgotten, or residue must come out: that is Rinse+Spin, the cycle Samsung defines for loads that need rinsing only or rinse-added fabric softener, and the same cycle its cleaning guides run after a Self Clean to remove what the cleaning loosened. The failure mode of choosing wrong is mild but real: No Spin leaves a load dripping, Spin Only on an unrinsed load extracts soapy water into clothes that needed it diluted first, and Rinse+Spin wastes a rinse on a load that only needed its water out. Match the request to the route and each of the three does exactly its one job.

When drain-and-spin refuses: the guards Samsung builds in, and their order

A Samsung washer that will not drain or will not spin on command is usually a guard declining, and Samsung's guides name the guards in a consistent order. The drain guard comes first, because no spin is permitted over standing water: Samsung's South African no-spinning guide works it as filter, hose, installation, detergent — check the debris (pump) filter and clean it (front-load models only), inspect the drain hose for clogging, bends and kinks, ensure proper drain hose installation, and check for excessive detergent, running an extra rinse cycle to remove foam if too much was used; a machine full of suds drains slowly and spins reluctantly. The code guard is next: that guide directs owners to look for draining error codes (5C/5E), which indicate a drainage problem that must be resolved before spinning can start — a refusal with a code is not a refusal to diagnose, it is the diagnosis, and the code's own page takes over. The balance guard is the third: Samsung's Australian code page, in its unbalanced-load entry, gives a front-load instruction tailored to exactly this page's situation — press the SPIN button until the machine starts to drain, so it will finish the cycle and unlock the door — and the balance family's whole logic applies: a load clumped to one side, or a single heavy item, will be redistributed by the machine and, failing that, must be redistributed by you, with towels added to single-item loads. The door guard is the last and simplest: the washer will not tumble or spin unless the door is closed, and until the machine drains the water completely the door cannot be opened — a lock that seems stubborn over a full tub is the water's verdict, not the lock's fault. Work the guards in that order and a refused drain-and-spin almost always resolves into one of them; a machine that drains by hand through the emergency tube, has a clear filter and hose, a balanced load and a closed door, and still will not spin under power has left this page's territory for the motor and drive branches, with the guards' evidence in hand.

Top-loaders: draining and spinning a machine with no emergency hose and no pump filter

Everything in the manual-drain section above is front-load equipment, and Samsung is explicit about the top-load difference wherever it gives drain guidance: the pump filter step is front loaders only, and top loaders do not have a removable pump filter — there is no flap, no emergency drain tube and no filter knob under a Samsung top-loader, and hunting for them wastes the afternoon. The top-load drain story is therefore a powered story for as long as the pump lives: the model's Spin Only and Rinse+Spin selections (Samsung's top-load specification sheets list Spin Only among the platform's washing options, beside Rinse + Spin and Deep Fill) are the routes, worked exactly as the earlier sections describe, and a top-loader that drains under power needs nothing else. Samsung's no-drain sequence still governs when it will not: check the machine is level, inspect the drain hose against its installation specification, and restart — the washer should drain at the beginning of the test cycle, and if it does not, Samsung's instruction is to request service, because on a top-loader the steps between hose and service are not owner steps. What remains genuinely manual on a top-loader is unglamorous: bail the tub from the top with a jug and bucket when the pump will not run at all and the laundry must come out, work slowly, and keep water away from the control panel at the rear of the lid deck. Do not tip a top-loader to reach a drain point it does not have, and do not expect its drain hose to empty the tub by gravity — the system is pump-driven, and Samsung documents no siphon or gravity procedure for it. A top-loader drained by bailing, with level and hose proven and a pump that will not run on a test cycle, is a service case with its evidence already gathered — which is, in the end, the same destination the front-load route reaches, minus the filter.

Key takeaways

• A spin-only cycle is also the diagnostic: a clean high-speed spin on an empty drum tells you the motor, bearings (listen) and balance system are healthy.
• After any manual drain, run a short rinse before the next real load — the sump holds the dregs.

Resetting the Samsung washer

On Samsung washers most fault codes clear with a power reset: switch the machine off, unplug it (or trip the breaker) for at least 5 minutes so the control board fully discharges, then restore power and run a short Rinse+Spin or a small test load. If the code was caused by a one-off condition — a kinked hose, an unbalanced load, a suds spike — it will not come back. If it returns on the next cycle, the control has detected the same fault again and the reset has only cleared the message, not the cause. Samsung does not use a button-combination 'master reset' on most models; the power cycle is the reset.

Related guides

Facts on this page were checked against manufacturer documentation: www.samsung.com · www.samsung.com · www.samsung.com · www.samsung.com