Samsung Washer NF Error Code: Meaning, Causes & Fix

No Fill — the washer is not filling with water (one spelling of Samsung's not-filling family).

NF is one display spelling of Samsung's not-filling fault — the same water-supply problem other models report as 4C/4E. Samsung's US/Caribbean washer information page groups the fault as 'nF, 4C, 4E, 1 4C: Not filling error — water is not entering the washer correctly', its Australian page groups 'nF, 4C, 4E, 7E, E1' as Not Filling Errors, and Samsung Pakistan's dedicated guide states that, depending on the model, the 4E/4C errors may also appear as NF or 1 4C. NF is therefore NOT a top-load-only code: it appears on front-load and top-load models alike, whichever spelling a given display generation uses (owners of front-load and VRT machines search for it by name). The machine called for water and the level did not rise in time. Taps, hoses, inlet screens and the inlet valve are the checks, in that order. Do not confuse NF with NF1: nF1 belongs to Samsung's separate hot/cold family (nF1, 4C2, 4E2, CE) — supply hoses swapped so the cold supply is extremely hot — a different fault with a different fix. (Corrected 2026-10-28: an earlier version of this entry called NF a top-load display convention with front-loaders showing 4C — Samsung's own groupings cover both loader types under nF.) Samsung's own pages settle what NF is by how they group it, and the grouping is worth reading literally. On Samsung's US washer page the row reads 'nF, 4C, 4E, 1 4C — Not filling error: water is not entering the washer correctly'; Samsung Australia files the same report as 'nF, 4C, 4E, 7E, E1 — Not Filling Errors'; Samsung Pakistan titles its dedicated guide with the whole family at once — resolve 4C, 4E, NF or NF1 error codes — and then explains that depending on the model the errors may also appear as NF. There is one fault here, the timed fill that never arrives, wearing the spellings its different display generations give it. NF is simply the letter-style spelling, and the habit of calling it a top-load code (an earlier version of this page did) survives only because so many top-load displays use letters — Samsung's grouping applies it across the washer range, front-load VRT machines included, which is exactly the machines its keyword searches come from.

What causes the NF code on a Samsung washer?

Taps off or hoses kinked/frozen

The commonest cause after moving the machine or plumbing work.

Clogged inlet screens

Sediment throttles the flow until the fill times out.

Inlet valve failure

A dead solenoid leaves the valve shut.

Low supply pressure

Weak well or shared-line pressure stretches fill time past the limit.

A Flood Safe / flood-safety hose throttling or cutting the fill

Samsung names this cause in two places owners rarely look. Its US washer code page carries the flat instruction, in the not-filling row itself: do not use Flood Safe hoses. A Samsung top-load manual makes the same point from the other direction for the 4E spelling of this fault: if you use a Flood Safety Device, remove the device and connect the water hoses directly to the unit. Flood-safe hoses contain a shut-off mechanism that can trip or restrict flow under the surge a washer valve produces when it opens — the house side then looks healthy at a tap while the machine is starved at exactly the moment it calls for water. An NF that began when new 'burst-proof' hoses were fitted, on a machine that filled happily before, is this cause until proven otherwise, and the proof is Samsung's own: connect standard hoses directly and test the fill.

A hot water line that was never connected — the fault that hides inside Cold cycles

Samsung's US page explains a trap that defeats owners who reason 'I only wash cold, so the hot side cannot matter': if you do not connect the hot water line, you will get an error when the washer attempts to use hot water, which may happen even on cycles labelled Cold. A Samsung manual gives the mechanism: the hot supply hose must be connected because hot water is supplied by the machine's Auto Temperature Control function, which blends supplies to hit its target temperatures. So a washer installed with only the cold line connected — a common garage and utility-room shortcut — can fill perfectly for weeks and then throw NF the first time a cycle's temperature logic calls for a blend. The signature is an NF that is cycle-dependent rather than constant, on an installation where one inlet at the back is visibly capped or bare.

A drain hose fitted so the fill leaves as fast as it arrives

Samsung includes the drain hose inside its not-filling guidance, on both its US page and its Pakistani 4C/4E/NF guide: the drain hose should be inserted properly and not kinked, inserted not more than 6 inches into the drain pipe, and not forming an airtight connection. The mechanism is the level sensor's-eye view: the control judges a fill by the water level rising, and a hose pushed too deep, sealed airtight, or dropped too low can siphon water straight back out, so a mechanically healthy fill never registers as one. As with the sister code 4E, an NF on a newly installed or newly replumbed machine is an installation check before it is a parts check — the machine may be filling exactly as designed and reporting, accurately, that the tub is not.

Checks to run before you replace anything

1. Confirm both taps fully open; check hoses along their run.
2. Unscrew hoses at the machine and clean the inlet filter screens.
3. Test tap flow into a bucket to separate house supply from machine faults.
4. Expect the machine's own response first, and do not fight it: Samsung manuals state that when this fill fault displays, the washer drains for 3 minutes and the Power button is invalid during that time, and Samsung Australia adds that, depending on the model, the drain system may start draining automatically with the POWER and START/PAUSE buttons disabled during the process. A panel that ignores you for those minutes is executing Samsung's documented behaviour, not freezing — wait the drain out, then begin the supply checks with a machine that is listening again.
5. Work Samsung's US sequence in its printed order, because the order separates house from machine: both supply hoses on their correct inlets, hot to hot and cold to cold; hoses not bent or kinked; water valves opened completely — and left open while the washer runs, in Samsung's wording. Then the power step Samsung prints for this family: unplug the washer or flip its circuit breaker for 1 minute, restore power, and try to run a cycle. Only if the code continues after that sequence does Samsung route you to the filters, and then to service.
6. Clean the supply filters the way Samsung's Pakistani guide describes, gently: turn off the water supply, disconnect the supply hoses, and clean the mesh filter screens with something like a toothbrush — Samsung's concern is debris arriving from the water supply, which its US page says will be filtered before entering the washer, and if enough builds up it will block water from entering at all. While the hoses are off, complete Samsung's remaining checks in the same visit: hoses kinked or clogged, the dispenser drawer cleaned if it is dirty, and — after reconnecting — both the hot and cold lines opened all the way, because a filter clean followed by a half-open tap re-creates the fault faithfully.

How to fix the NF error code

1. Restore flow (taps, hoses, screens).
2. Meter the inlet valve solenoids; replace the assembly if one is open.
3. Check the level-sensor hose if water enters but NF still sets.
4. Remove any Flood Safe hose or flood-safety device from the installation and connect standard supply hoses directly to the machine — this is Samsung's documented instruction for this fault family, not a workaround. Then prove the change with a fill: if NF was the hose's shut-off mechanism tripping on the valve's opening surge, a direct-connected machine fills at full rate immediately, and no part of the washer itself was ever at fault.
5. Connect the missing hot line, or correct crossed lines, before condemning the inlet valve: Samsung is explicit that an unconnected hot supply produces this error when the washer attempts hot water — even inside Cold-labelled cycles — and that hoses belong on their corresponding inlets. A cycle-dependent NF on a one-line installation is cured at the plumbing, and it will survive any number of replacement valves fitted to a machine that is still being asked to blend from a supply it does not have.
6. Use Samsung's top-load underfill route only where it belongs: Samsung's Pakistani guide notes that a top-load machine that is not receiving enough water but is NOT showing 4E/4C can be given more water by using a Deep Wash or Deep Fill cycle. That is a remedy for a codeless underfill on a top-loader. A machine actually displaying NF is reporting a failed fill, and it follows the hose, screen and inlet checks above to Samsung's stated endpoint — if the error still appears, request service — not a deeper cycle selection.

The part that usually fails: Water inlet valve assembly

Usual failed part once screens are clean; compare the two solenoids' continuity — an open one is the fault.

How to reset / clear the NF code

Power-cycle 5 minutes and start a cycle; NF clears when a normal fill registers.

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.

Why does the NF code keep coming back?

Recurring NF usually tracks house pressure drops (busy times of day) or a level-sensor hose slowly taking on water. An NF that returns after the screens are clean and the taps are proven is following a pattern, and the pattern is the diagnosis. NF only on certain cycles — warm washes, or even Cold cycles on a machine with no hot line connected — is the missing-or-crossed-supply story Samsung documents, and it is cured at the inlets, not in the machine. NF that arrived with new hoses is the Flood Safe mechanism Samsung warns against. NF on a new installation is the drain hose siphoning the fill, inserted past Samsung's 6-inch limit or sealed airtight. NF that appears at busy times of day, and never at quiet ones, is household pressure sagging while other fixtures draw. Each pattern has a one-step proof, and running the proof for your pattern is what separates a finished repair from a second filter clean — after which Samsung's own guidance for this family ends at a service request, with the pattern as the most useful thing you can hand over.

How to stop NF coming back

• Taps off or hoses kinked/frozen: The commonest cause after moving the machine or plumbing work.
• Clogged inlet screens: Sediment throttles the flow until the fill times out.
• Inlet valve failure: A dead solenoid leaves the valve shut.

Retrieving stored fault codes on Samsung washers

Most Samsung washers store recent fault codes that a technician can read in the service/diagnostic mode. Entry varies by model family: on many front-loaders you press and hold Delay End and Pre Soak (or Temp and Spin, on older models) together for about 3 seconds until the display lights all segments; on top-loaders a similar two-button hold (often Delay End + Pre Soak) is used. Once inside, the cycle knob steps through stored codes and component tests (fill, drain, motor, heater). Because the button pair differs between model years, confirm the pair for your exact model in the tech sheet fixed inside the machine or in the user manual before relying on a code you read there.

Other Samsung washer error codes

See the full list on the Samsung Washer error codes hub.

Codes NF gets confused with

SE — No drain — the washer is not draining (Samsung lists SE in its nd, 5E, SE, 5C, SC no-drain family). It is not a sensor error on washers. SE is a spelling Samsung itself prints for its washer no-drain fault: Samsung's US/Caribbean washer information page groups the family as 'nd, 5E, SE, 5C, SC, 1 5C: No drain error — water is not draining from the washer at the correct speed (or at all)', and its published fix sequence is to turn the washer off and check the level, inspect the drain hose, clean the pump filter (front loaders only), then turn the washer back on and start a cycle.

XL — Not a Samsung washer fault code — no XL entry exists in Samsung's published washer code lists. 'XL' in Samsung laundry searches refers to extra-large-capacity models and listings, and searches for an 'XL error code' usually trace back to a capacity description or a misread display. Samsung sells extra-large-capacity washers (its own product literature words the feature 'Extra-Large Capacity', shortened to XL in retailer listings and size categories), and the 'XL' from a listing is frequently mistaken for an error code when the machine stops for another reason.

4E — Water supply error — the washer is not filling (older-display version of 4C). 4E is the water-supply fault on older Samsung washers; newer models display the identical fault as 4C.

ND — No Drain — the washer is not draining (Samsung groups nd with 5E/SE/5C/SC as one no-drain family). ND (shown as nd on many displays) is Samsung's no-drain report: the control ran the drain pump but the water did not leave at the correct speed, or at all.

Working from a symptom instead? Read our troubleshooting guide for this problem.

Frequently asked questions

Related guides

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