The answer first
A washer fails in a small number of ways, and most of them are in the two paths that connect it to the house: the water going in and the water coming out. A contract-built cabinet under a retailer badge: simple specification, few sensors. Ranked for a machine in settled service, water that will not drain dominates: a value-tier build puts the cheap wearing parts — filters, hoses, seals, screens — in the path of everything the machine does, so they are where the fault usually is.
What you observe
- The cycle ends with water in the drum — A drain fault usually presents as a spin fault, because the machine will not spin a full drum. See “Will Not Drain”. — Slug: criterion-washer-drainage-failure
- A musty smell at the door, or laundry that smells — The seal fold, the drawer and the trap are where it grows. See “Odor or Mold”. — Slug: criterion-washer-smell-mold
- Streaks, dinginess or soil left behind — Dose, load size, temperature and drawer blockage account for most of it. See “Does Not Clean or Dry”. — Slug: criterion-washer-cleaning-performance
- Nothing happens when you press start — Silence is supply; a lit console that does nothing is usually the door. See “Will Not Start or No Power”. — Slug: criterion-washer-wont-start
- It starts and then stops at the same point — See “Cycle Will Not Run or Complete”. — Slug: criterion-washer-cycle-fault
- A breaker that trips, or a tingle from the cabinet — See “Electrical, Fire or Gas Hazard”. — Slug: criterion-washer-electrical-safety
- Water on the floor under or behind the machine — See “Water Leak”. — Slug: criterion-washer-water-leak
- Banging at spin, or the machine walking — See “Abnormal Noise or Vibration”. — Slug: criterion-washer-abnormal-noise
- A door that will not lock, or weeps at the bottom — See “Door, Latch or Seal Fault”. — Slug: criterion-washer-door-seal
- The door glass stays cold on a hot programme — See “Not Heating”. — Slug: criterion-washer-heating-failure
- A code, a dark display or a frozen panel — See “Controls, Display or Error Code”. — Slug: criterion-washer-control-fault
Why it happens, in order
- Water that will not drain — Ranked first on this brand: a value-tier build puts the cheap wearing parts — filters, hoses, seals, screens — in the path of everything the machine does, so they are where the fault usually is. The drain path — filter, hose, pump, standpipe — collects everything that leaves a pocket, and the filter is at the front of it. There is no counted denominator behind this order — it ranks by how the platform is built and used, not by a measured share.
- Odour and mould — Ranked second: Cold washing plus residue plus a permanently damp seal is an ideal environment, and none of it is a mechanical failure.
- Poor washing results — Ranked third: Cleaning is mechanical and chemical, and both are altered by habits far more often than by parts.
What turns up most often — No counted denominator exists for Criterion washers in this program's fact bundle, so this table carries no share and no sample size: the order is ordinal and editorial, not a measured proportion of any corpus.
General guidance| Problem class | How often it turns up | The tell-tale |
|---|---|---|
| Water that will not drain | most often | The pump runs with nothing leaving the hose |
| Odour and mould | often | The smell is strongest in the door seal fold |
| Poor washing results | sometimes | Detergent left in the drawer at the end |
| Will not start | sometimes | It starts if you hold the door while pressing start |
The line between DIY and a callout
Taps, hoses, the drain filter, the standpipe, the door seal fold and the levelling are all owner work, and they account for most washer faults. Anything behind a panel — the pump, the element, the bearings, the control — is a service call, and anything involving a trip, a tingle or a burning smell is a call made immediately rather than after another cycle. Unplug the appliance or switch off its breaker before removing any panel. A capacitor can hold a charge after the power is off.
The same machine, other symptoms
How specific this page is
This is the family-agnostic page for Criterion washers. Nothing more specific exists to send you to at the moment; a model-level page, once written, is linked here and is the better answer. Deliberately not here: the step-by-step diagnosis for any one fault — each class above has its own page.
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Lead Appliance Repair Technician · 12 years experience
Experienced technician with 12 years specializing in washing machine and dryer repairs across all major brands.
