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A top-load washer in a US laundry room with its lid open and its power cord unplugged and lying on the floor beside the cabinet.

Water and electrical safety

Burning Smell From the Washer: What to Do

A washer burning smell means stop the cycle and unplug the machine; LG's manual says to unplug immediately for any burning smell or smoke. New motors and new rubber hoses can give off an odor for a while, but a smell with smoke, a hot plug or a tripped breaker is not a break-in odor and needs a technician before another load.

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At a
glance.

A washer has a motor, a pump, a control board and, on many models, a heater, all a short distance from water. A hot smell from one is worth a minute of attention before the next load, and some versions of it are worth a lot more.

Read the whole guide

First moveStop the cycle and unplug

LG: unplug at once for a burning smell, a chemical smell or smoke.

New washerMotor odor for 10 to 20 cycles

LG: new motor windings and insulation warm up and can smell until then.

Rubber smell at fill onlyUsually the new hoses

GE: an odor before the motor or pump runs points to the inlet hoses.

Power supplyA grounded outlet, no extension cord

Speed Queen asks for a separate 15-amp circuit.

Stop, unplug, then look

Cancel the cycle and pull the plug. If you see smoke or flame, or the smell is getting stronger with the washer off, leave the room, close the door behind you and call the fire department from outside. If there is no smoke, stay nearby for a few minutes with the washer unplugged and notice whether the smell fades, stays the same or seems to come from one spot.

Where the smell is strongest is the first clue. At the back near the floor points to the outlet, the cord or the drive motor. Around the top or the control panel points to electronics. Inside the drum points to something in the load or caught in the door boot.

When the plug or the outlet is hot

A plug that is warm to the touch after a cycle, brown marks on the outlet face or a plug that slides out too easily all mean the connection is heating. Leave the circuit switched off at the panel. The U.S. Fire Administration advises replacing wall outlets when plugs no longer fit snugly, and that repair belongs to an electrician.

Source: LG Electronics — Washer Owner's Manual (WM4080) — Unplug immediately for a strange sound, a chemical or burning smell, or smoke; some internal parts are not grounded and can shock during servicing; no extension cord or adapter

Which smell is it

Owners describe a washer burning smell in a handful of ways, and each description narrows the list of parts. None of these is a diagnosis on its own, but together with the moment in the cycle when it started they tell a technician a great deal.

  • Hot rubber only while the washer fills, before anything turns: new inlet hoses.
  • A varnish or electrical smell from a washer only weeks old: motor windings breaking in.
  • Hot rubber while the drum turns on a belt-drive washer: a belt slipping on a pulley that is working too hard.
  • Melting plastic, sharp and acrid: a wire, a connector or a component on a circuit board.
  • Scorched fabric from inside the drum: something caught against a hot or moving part.

Break-in odor on a new washer

LG explains that a new washer's motor coils and the insulation around them heat up in the first weeks and can give off an electrical or burning-rubber smell that normally fades after 10 to 20 full cycles. GE describes a separate case: new inlet hoses can smell strongly of rubber. Starting a hot fill and stopping before agitation tells the two apart, since only the hoses are working at that point.

A belt or a motor under strain

On washers driven by a belt, an overloaded tub, a drum that cannot turn freely or a pulley that has seized makes the belt slip and heat. The smell usually comes with a slower spin or a drum that stops. A washer with a direct-drive motor has no belt, and a hot smell from it deserves a technician sooner.

Something caught in the drum or the boot

LG also names debris trapped in the door gasket, the pump filter or the tub, heated during hot or sanitizing cycles. A rubber-backed mat, a hair tie or a sock wedged under the drum lip can scorch. Anything soaked in cooking oil, gasoline or solvents is a different matter: Speed Queen warns that oil left in fabric can make it catch fire by itself.

Close on a hand pulling a washer's power plug from a wall outlet.
Close on a hand pulling a washer's power plug from a wall outlet.

The outlet, the cord and the circuit

A washer runs on an ordinary 120-volt outlet, but it draws a lot of current in bursts when the motor starts and when a heater is on. Speed Queen's instructions ask for a separate 15-amp circuit, a grounded three-slot outlet, no adapter and no extension cord. The U.S. Fire Administration says the same about every major appliance: plug it directly into the wall, because an extension cord can overheat and start a fire.

Whirlpool's help pages add that if a washer will not start, a tripped breaker or GFCI outlet is worth checking and resetting once, and that a problem that keeps returning is a job for an electrician. A trip that happens together with a hot smell is not a reset-and-try-again situation.

Source: Alliance Laundry Systems (Speed Queen) — Installation Instructions for Topload Washers, 204104 — Separate 15-amp branch circuit, grounded three-prong receptacle, no extension cord or adapter; U.S. Fire Administration — Appliance and electrical fire safety — Washers go straight into a wall outlet, never on an extension cord; a wall outlet that holds plugs loosely should be replaced; Whirlpool Product Help — Front load washer installation checklist — Check and reset a tripped breaker or GFCI; call an electrician if it keeps happening

What not to try

The instinct after a strange smell is to run the washer again and sniff. That is how a warm connection becomes a burned one.

  • Do not run a test load to find the smell again.
  • Do not take panels off with the washer plugged in. LG warns that some internal parts are intentionally not grounded and can shock during servicing.
  • Do not spray water or cleaner into the control area or onto the motor.
  • Do not plug the washer into a different outlet with an extension cord to see if the problem follows it.
  • Do not wash rags that held oil, stain or solvent, even after they seem dry.

Source: LG Electronics — Washer Owner's Manual (WM4080) — Unplug immediately for a strange sound, a chemical or burning smell, or smoke; some internal parts are not grounded and can shock during servicing; no extension cord or adapter; Alliance Laundry Systems (Speed Queen) — User's Guide for Frontload Washers, 808187 — Oils left in fabric may make it catch fire by itself; do not wash items soaked in gasoline or solvents

Step
by step.

Four steps, in the order worth doing them.

01

Stop and unplug

Cancel the cycle and pull the plug. With smoke or flame, leave and call the fire department.

02

Locate the smell

Note whether it is strongest at the back near the floor, at the controls or inside the drum.

03

Check the plug and outlet

Once the washer has been unplugged for a while, look for scorch marks, melted plastic or a loose fit. Leave the circuit off if you find any.

04

Empty the drum

Take the load out, look for anything wedged under the drum lip or in the door boot, and remove it.

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Questions
owners ask.

My new washer smells hot. Should I return it?
Not necessarily. LG describes a motor break-in odor that fades after 10 to 20 cycles, and GE describes new hoses that smell of rubber. If you ever see smoke, or the odor grows instead of fading, unplug it and have it inspected.
The smell only appears on hot or sanitize cycles. Why?
Those cycles heat the drum and everything in it. Debris in the door boot or pump filter, or residue from a load that held oil, is the usual source, so clean both before the next hot cycle.
Can a washer and a dryer share one outlet?
A washer should have its own grounded outlet, plugged in directly. An electric dryer needs a separate 240-volt circuit in any case, and a gas dryer uses its own 120-volt outlet.
Won't the washer shut itself off if something overheats?
Whatever protection a washer has reacts to conditions inside the machine, and only after heat has built up. It does nothing for a loose plug, a damaged cord or a crowded outlet behind the cabinet, which is why unplugging comes first.

The problems
behind it.

Each has a page of its own: what it usually means and the causes in the order worth checking.

All 17 problems
A front-load washer in a US home laundry room seen from the side, its power cord and wall outlet in focus at the lower left, a thin wisp of haze near the back panel. Water or electrical risk

Washer Burning Smell

5 causes, cheapest first

 A gray electrical panel on a laundry room wall in a US home with one breaker switched to the off position, a white top-load washer visible below and to the side. Water or electrical risk

Washer Tripping Breaker

5 causes, cheapest first

 A top-load washer in a US home laundry room with its lid open and a heavy damp comforter bunched to one side of the drum. Problem

Washer Not Spinning

5 causes, cheapest first

 A top-load washer in a US home laundry room with its lid open mid-cycle, laundry sitting still in gray water, a laundry basket on the floor beside it. Problem

Washer Stops Mid-Cycle

5 causes, cheapest first

When it needs
a technician.

The repairs on the right are where this guide ends when the checks do not settle it.

Drive motor and belt repair

A drum that hums without turning, a burning rubber smell or a spin that never reaches speed, traced to the belt, the coupling, the motor or its control.

Controls and sensors

A dead display, buttons that do nothing, cycles that stop at random or codes that keep returning, traced to the control, its sensors or its wiring.

Drain pump repair

Water left in the drum and clothes that come out soaked, traced to the pump filter, the pump, or the hose and standpipe behind it.

Diagnostic visit

One visit that turns standing water, a silent drum, a banging spin or a puddle into one named part and a price.

More in
water and electrical safety.

What to do when water reaches the floor, why a burning smell or a tripping breaker means stop, and how to shut a washer down safely.

The whole section
Is it safe to keep running

Washer Leaking: What to Do First

Power before water, valves before mopping, then reading the puddle to tell a hose from the drain, the door boot or a leak inside the cabinet.

 Is it safe to keep running

Washer Supply Valves and How to Shut Off the Water

The kinds of valve behind a washer, when the manuals say to close them, the pressure a washer expects, and what to do about a valve that sticks.

 Guides

All 18 guides

Six sections, by what you are trying to find out.

Back to your everyday

Read it and still not sure?

Book with what you checked and the model number, and the technician starts where the guide stopped.

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