The short answer
The single most useful thing you can establish about a leak on Aviva ALWF is which part of the cycle it happens in: fill, wash or drain. Each stage pressurises a different part of the machine, so the timing narrows the cause before anything is moved. On a compact front-loader the weight is carried on a suspension and controlled by counterweights, so a fault here is felt as a change in the spin rather than seen.
What you observe on these models
- Water only while it is filling — Fill-stage leaks are on the supply side, which is the most accessible part of the machine and the easiest to fix.
- Water only during the drain step — A drain-side leak: the connection at the standpipe, or a standpipe that overflows because it cannot take the flow.
- Water at the front of the machine under the door — On a front-loading machine this is the boot; on a top-loader it is more likely to have travelled from elsewhere.
- Foam rather than water — Oversudsing.
- NEAR MISS — water under the machine after it has been idle for days — That is a supply connection dripping with the machine off, and the tap should be closed until it is fixed.
Causes, most likely first on ALWF
- The fill hoses and their washers — Hose connections are the most common washer leak and the easiest to confirm: they are accessible, they drip under pressure, and the water is clean. Ranked first on Aviva ALWF because this machine is normally installed permanently, which makes the supply, the drain and the standpipe part of the diagnosis rather than a footnote.
- The drain connection or an overflowing standpipe — Water appearing only during the drain step is a drain-side report, not a tub-side one, and the timing separates them cleanly.
- The door boot or the tub-to-cabinet seal — On a front-loader the boot holds water against the door on every cycle, and it collects the debris that eventually cuts it.
- The pump filter cover — A filter cover that was not seated after cleaning leaks a small amount on every cycle, always from the same low corner.
- Oversudsing — Foam escapes where water would not, so an apparent leak that only appears with a particular detergent is usually the detergent. Last on this list, and the item that every cause above it can imitate exactly.
Check in this order, and why that order
- Dry everything and place paper at each corner — Run one cycle and read the paper. Position plus stage is most of the diagnosis and it costs one cycle.
- Check both fill hose connections by hand — At the tap and at the machine, with the taps open. A weeping connection is usually a washer or a cross-thread rather than a hose.
- Inspect the door seal or the tub-to-cabinet seal — Run a finger right round the bottom of it and look for grit, a hair clip or a tear. The bottom of the seal is where everything collects.
- Re-seat the pump filter cover — A cover that was not tightened after cleaning leaks a little on every cycle, which is exactly the pattern people find hardest to trace.
Before you open anything
Safety
Unplug the washer or switch off its breaker before removing any panel, and close the tap before touching a fill hose. A capacitor can hold a charge after the power is off, and the door lock stays engaged for a period after a cycle ends — wait it out rather than forcing the door. Close both taps before working on any hose connection, and mop the floor before moving the machine.
Models this page covers — the ALWF family
Reference| Model number | Family key |
|---|---|
| ALWF190WH | aviva:washer:alwf |
When to call a technician
Call when the leak is not at a hose, not at a seal you can see, and not at the filter cover — at that point it is inside the cabinet and the machine has to come apart. Call immediately if water is reaching an outlet, if the machine has tripped protection since the leak began, or if the leak is large enough to appear during a single cycle. On Aviva ALWF the accessible causes above cover most reports and cost nothing but a cycle and a torch. Before ordering anything, match the plate against the ALWF variant table above. The family is a compact washer, and parts that look alike across a brand's other lines often do not fit it.
Other problems covered for the ALWF family
Lead Appliance Repair Technician · 12 years experience
Experienced technician with 12 years specializing in washing machine and dryer repairs across all major brands.
