Straight to it
The short answer: 1c31 says a self-check on the oven control and its wiring that did not return what the machine needs to commit to a cycle. It will often come back after a power-down and then latch again, and which of those happens is the diagnosis, and the cheapest of the likely causes is a plug on the board that has vibrated or crept loose rather than a board that has failed.
The code and what the manufacturer documents for it
Reference| Code | Documented meaning |
|---|---|
| 1c31 | There may be a problem with the Oven Control, or the associated wiring. |
What an owner observes
- The code comes back within a cycle or two of a reset — How fast it returns is more informative than the code itself.
- The display flickers, or loses what it was set to — A control that cannot hold its own state is telling you about its supply or its connections.
- NEAR MISS - nothing lights up at all — A dead display is a supply fault; this code needs a control that is awake enough to complain.
Causes, and why they rank that way
- A plug on the board that is not making properly — First, because it is what actually fails: boards are screwed into machines that vibrate and heat, and a connector that has crept a millimetre breaks a check without breaking a part.
- A supply event the control could not clear by itself — Second: a dip or a surge leaves a latched state, and one full power-down is the whole repair when that is the cause.
The cheapest checks first
- Power the appliance right down and bring it back once — Free, and it splits a latched state from a hardware fault before anything else is considered.
- Count how long it takes the code to return — Immediately, one cycle later, or never - three different faults.
The owner-safe sequence
- Switch off at the breaker until the display is fully dark — Draining the control is the point, not the number of seconds.
About 5 min
- Start the shortest cycle available and time the code — Whether it returns, and how quickly, is the observation the technician cannot make later.
About 15 min
- STOP HERE - the control housing stays shut — Unplug the appliance or switch off its breaker before any panel comes off; a capacitor can hold a charge after the power is off.
Before you open anything
Safety
Before anything is opened: unplug the appliance or switch off its breaker, because a capacitor can hold a charge after the power is off. A control fault adds one more caution - if a connector is discoloured or smells hot, that is arcing and it is the finding to report, not something to clean up and carry on from.
Where an owner stops and a technician starts
One full power-down is the owner's whole entitlement on this code. Call when the code returns after one full power-down: from there the answer is a meter on the board's connections with the machine isolated, and the wiring diagram for the model line.
Other codes on the same appliance
The scope of this reading
Written for the model lines that carry this control on this platform. If your model has its own page it is the closer answer - start there - and the code index below is the route to it.
Lead Appliance Repair Technician · 12 years experience
Experienced technician with 12 years specializing in washing machine and dryer repairs across all major brands.
