Can You Manually Fill Your Fully Automatic Washing Machine With Water?

To put it bluntly, the water pressure in some areas of the Philippines is weak and even non-existent at some points. This poses a big issue for fully automatic washing machine owners as a fully auto needs constant water pressure to progress through the wash cycle automatically.

When the water pressure does not permit, you can manually fill your fully automatic washing machine with water. However, it will lose most of the functions that makes it “fully automatic” in the first place.

In this article, we will discuss what happens if you manually fill your washing machine, how to use it in this manner.

What happens if you manually fill your washer?

To understand what happens to a fully automatic washing machine when filled with water manually, we have to know what a fully automatic washing cycle is. The process is as follows:

After you’ve put in your clothes in the tub, a sensor in the washer detects the weight of the clothes. From there, the will compute how much water it will need to perform the wash at your specified setting. It will then turn on the tap until the water level sensor detects that enough water is in the tub. After that, the cycle we are all familiar with starts, that is: Washing → Draining → Rinsing → Drying.

When there is zero or weak water pressure, the washer’s sensors will detect this problem and will eventually return an error code on the LED display. It will also not progress to the next step of the washing process.

However, there are ways to get around this, but it entails using your fully automatic washing machine in a semi-automatic way, thus removing the benefits of having a fully auto model in the first place. But when in a bind, you can elect to do it this way.

How to use your fully automatic washing machine manually

The first step to do is to load your clothes into the tub. After that, choose a simple washing course and start it but pause it immediately afterwards. That step is for the sensor to compute how much water you will need; the LED display may show the amount of water in liters that you will need to fill.

The second step is to fill the tub with water. You should approximate the amount that you will put in to the tub, as if the water level sensor does not detect the right amount of water, it will not start the cycle. Be careful not to get any of the electronics wet. Once the tub is filled, resume the course to start the washing. By the way, the detergent should be applied directly to the tub.

After finishing the washing cycle, the third step is the draining process. This is where a fork in the road appears: some models drain immediately after the cycle, while others return an error code as it searches for water to do the rinsing before draining.

For those that drain immediately, then wait for all of the water to exit the tub and then proceed to the next step. If your washer is displaying an error code, cancel the washing course after the beeping stops. After that, set your washing machine to a spinning course. Yes, that’s right, a spinning course. This is because spinning courses always start with a drain function first. After draining, you can choose to wait for the spinning to stop or to cancel it immediately.

The fourth step is rinsing. To do this, manually fill the tub with water again, and set it into a shorter washing course. You can do this step for how many times you need. Also, you can drain the rinse water using the steps outlined above. Remember to cancel the cycle!

The fifth step is to spin dry. After your rinsing is done, just set your washing machine in a spinning course. After that, give yourself a pat on the back – you’ve succeeded in using your fully automatic washing machine manually!

Conclusion

So yes, you can fill your washing machine with water manually. However, this forgoes everything that makes a fully automatic washing machine a fully automatic in the first place. To help with this you should buy a washing machine model that can function even with low water pressure.