Samsung WF457ARGS Won\’t Spin – Error 3E

Appliance Repair QuestionsCategory: Samsung Washing MachineSamsung WF457ARGS Won\’t Spin – Error 3E
Ben asked 5 years ago
Hi, I've got a Samsung WF457 that is periodically throwing error code 3E. Or, rather, I should say that it would throw the code, I'd take it apart and fail to find the issue, and then it would mysteriously start working again. At this point, it's no longer an intermittent failure, though.... it has moved on to failing and staying failed. The day before this all started, I smelled something burning coming from the laundry room, but couldn't figure out where it was coming from. This may or may not be related, but I swear it smelled electrical in nature. It was faint, though; I was the only one who could smell it.
    Here's the troubleshooting that I've done so far:
-Completely disassembled the motor - no obvious evidence of melting or burnt components. -Reassembled motor - hand rotated it and carefully listened for rubbing; no rubbing -resistance tested motor - consistent 11 ohms -resistance tested Hall Effect Sensor - I believe it was around 6 ohms, but can't recall (it was the first thing I looked at) -visually inspected mainboard; no "shitstains" on any of the components, so it doesn't look like anything is blown on the board (unless it blew out underneath; I haven't removed it) -voltage tested the hall effect sensor while manually rotating the motor - voltage oscillated between 0v and 1.1v or 1.2v depending on the position of the motor. There didn't seem to be any motor positions that gave strange values outside of 0v and 1.1 +/- 0.1 v Each time it mysteriously started working again, I verified by entering the diagnostic menu, clearing the error codes, restarting, re-entering the diagnostic menu, and starting a spin test. If it was working, the door would lock, and then the motor would start spinning the drum. If it was not working, the door would lock, the washer would sit there for a minute or two (doing nothing), and then the door would unlock. Failure mode during a normal wash cycle is: Cycle starts, solenoids engage to allow some water into the washer, screen displays "load sensing" ... and then nothing happens for 5 minutes or so, after which point the 3E error code is displayed.I'm at a loss; It looks like the hall effect sensor is fine. It looks like the motor is fine. It also looks like the mainboard is fine. It seems as though the motor just isn't getting power ... which is something that I haven't checked, as I'm not sure what voltage is pushing the motor, and I'd rather not find out the hard way that it's more than just 110/120....Any ideas on how I might go about pinning this down? Thanks so much! Ben