What this Samsung vs Whirlpool comparison is based on#
The numbers on this page come from one place: CPSC SaferProducts incident reports, 540 of them filed against Samsung washers between 2011 and 2026 and 115 filed against Whirlpool washers over the same period. Reports are submissions, not inspections, and nobody counts the machines that were never written up — which is why a share of reports is the only quantity here that means anything.
The smaller corpus carries the larger shares#
Wherever these two corpora differ at all, the Whirlpool share is the higher one. Its control board is named in 14% of the 115 Whirlpool reports against 4% of the 540 Samsung reports; its wiring or power cord in 8% against 2%; its lint trap or vent in 5% against 2%. The rows where the two agree — the motor, the igniter, the water valve or line — are the rows where both sides sit in the low single digits.
That pattern is worth pausing on before it gets read as a verdict. A share computed over 115 reports moves in steps of nearly a full point, so the Whirlpool column is a coarser instrument than the Samsung one, and a corpus that small tends to divide across fewer components.
What the raw counts do to that reading#
Convert the leading shares back into reports and the direction reverses. The control board is behind 16 Whirlpool reports and 20 Samsung ones; the wiring or power cord behind 9 and 13; the drain pump or hose behind 6 and 22. In absolute terms, more Samsung washers were written up for each of those parts than Whirlpool ones — the shares differ because the denominators do.
Neither reading ranks the brands, and combining them does not either. What survives is a practical shortlist that differs by brand: a Whirlpool washer's reported incidents cluster hard on the control board, while a [Samsung washer](/blog/samsung-washer-dryer-combo-error-codes)'s spread almost evenly across the drain pump or hose and the control board at 4% each.
Samsung vs Whirlpool washers: what the reports mention#
Both columns are shares of their own corpus, and the corpora differ in size. Samsung: CPSC SaferProducts incident reports for Samsung washers, 2011-2026, n=540. Whirlpool: CPSC SaferProducts incident reports for Whirlpool washers, 2011-2026, n=115. A difference no larger than one report on either side is marked "within one-report noise".
| Component mentioned | Samsung | Whirlpool | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Control Board | 4% (20 of 540) | 14% (16 of 115) | 10 points more often for Whirlpool |
| Wiring or Power Cord | 2% (13 of 540) | 8% (9 of 115) | 6 points more often for Whirlpool |
| Lint Trap or Vent | 2% (9 of 540) | 5% (6 of 115) | 3 points more often for Whirlpool |
| Heating Element | 1% (8 of 540) | 3% (3 of 115) | 2 points more often for Whirlpool |
| Drain Pump or Hose | 4% (22 of 540) | 5% (6 of 115) | 1 point more often for Whirlpool (within one-report noise) |
| Igniter | 1% (3 of 540) | 1% (1 of 115) | no measured difference (within one-report noise) |
| Motor | 2% (9 of 540) | 2% (2 of 115) | no measured difference (within one-report noise) |
| Water Valve or Line | 1% (3 of 540) | 1% (1 of 115) | no measured difference (within one-report noise) |
About the corpus: these are CPSC SaferProducts reports — incidents someone chose to report, not units sold — so the shares on this page are shares of the reports and never a failure rate. The corpus is weighted toward safety events: 12,007 of its 20,581 records (58%) are fire, smoke, burn or melt reports, which over-represents the components that burn and under-represents the ones that merely stop working.
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Samsung washers: the reported component split#
Samsung washers — every share in this table is a share of: CPSC SaferProducts incident reports for Samsung washers, 2011-2026, n=540.
| Component mentioned | Share of reports | Reports |
|---|---|---|
| Drain Pump or Hose | 4% | 22 of 540 |
| Control Board | 4% | 20 of 540 |
| Wiring or Power Cord | 2% | 13 of 540 |
| Lint Trap or Vent | 2% | 9 of 540 |
| Motor | 2% | 9 of 540 |
| Heating Element | 1% | 8 of 540 |
| Igniter | 1% | 3 of 540 |
| Water Valve or Line | 1% | 3 of 540 |
| Drum Bearing | 0% | 1 of 540 |
Shares of reports, not failure rates — see the corpus note above.
Whirlpool washers: the reported component split#
Whirlpool washers — every share in this table is a share of: CPSC SaferProducts incident reports for Whirlpool washers, 2011-2026, n=115.
| Component mentioned | Share of reports | Reports |
|---|---|---|
| Control Board | 14% | 16 of 115 |
| Wiring or Power Cord | 8% | 9 of 115 |
| Drain Pump or Hose | 5% | 6 of 115 |
| Lint Trap or Vent | 5% | 6 of 115 |
| Heating Element | 3% | 3 of 115 |
| Motor | 2% | 2 of 115 |
| Thermostat or Sensor | 2% | 2 of 115 |
| Drive Belt | 1% | 1 of 115 |
| Igniter | 1% | 1 of 115 |
| Water Valve or Line | 1% | 1 of 115 |
Shares of reports, not failure rates — see the corpus note above.
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How to use these numbers#
What this comparison can settle: which components the reported incidents of each brand actually concentrate on, for this appliance. What it cannot settle: which brand fails more often. That would need units sold, and no public source states it. Use the component split to plan for the repair each brand is most reported for, not to rank the two.
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