What to check yourself
Step 1. Turn off both taps
Both of them, before touching a connection. The hoses are under mains pressure and will empty themselves onto the floor otherwise.
Have towels ready: even with the taps closed each hose holds a surprising amount of water.
Step 2. Swap the two hoses at the machine
Unscrew both at the machine end and change them over. The inlets are marked on the back panel, and the hoses usually carry red and blue markings. Hand tight plus a light nip is enough: overtightening splits the washer inside the fitting and creates a leak where there was none.
Step 3. Check for drips, then run a short cycle
Open the taps slowly and watch both connections for a full minute before starting anything. Then run a short cycle to confirm the code has gone.
Step 4. If the hoses were already correct, look behind the wall
On some installations the hot and cold supply pipes themselves are crossed inside the wall, usually after a water heater has been replaced or a valve swapped. Nothing at the machine is wrong, and swapping the hoses at the machine end is the right and cheapest fix.
When to call a technician
Rarely needed. If the hoses are demonstrably on the correct inlets, the supply is genuinely cold at the tap, and the machine still reports the code, the temperature sensor is misreading and that is a service call.
What the repair costs
| Repair | Part only | Fitted by a technician |
|---|---|---|
| Swapping the hoses over | - | Free |
| Temperature sensor diagnosis, if the hoses are correct | - | $70 to $200 |
A new machine of the same class runs $500 to $1,500. Once a quote passes about a third of that on an older appliance, the repair stops making sense.
Codes people confuse this with
Questions people ask
- The machine has worked for years and now shows this. Nobody touched the hoses.
- Then look at what else changed in the house. A water heater replacement or work on the supply pipes can reverse hot and cold behind the wall without anyone going near the appliance. The fix is the same, and it is done at the machine.
- Does it actually matter if the clothes come out clean?
- More than it looks. A cold wash running on hot water sets blood and egg stains rather than removing them, and it fades colours noticeably within a few months. The fix takes ten minutes and costs nothing.
Which machines this applies to
Applies to
Samsung washers that measure inlet temperature. Shown as 4E2 or CE on older machines, 4C2 or nF1 on newer ones.
Last checked
2026-08-09