Water doesn't come in one tray and softener tray

I suggest there may be hard water mineral deposits in the hose or orifice to the tray. Try soaking it with some Coke (yes I mean the soft drink) overnight and see if the flow improves. Either that or you can try some CLR but Coke should be enough to gently remove any deposits there are in the tray, hose or line.

In my case it was simply a matter of cleaning the nozzles that spray the water into the MAIN DETERGENT compartment. Turns our that when the washer was filling up, some nozzles were partially clogged and were directing water to the side where the softener compartment was, causing the fluid level to rise and therefore releasing the softener early. The washer was NOT spraying water in the softener side, what happens is that the dispenser tray is configured in a way that when the fluid reaches a certain max level in the softener/bleach trays, it completely drains. A way to test for this problem would be to completely dry the softener tray and start the wash cycle like you normally would (including detergent), only without adding any softener to the tray and see if after filling there is any water in the softener tray, this would prove that the water is coming from the other side.

Unit is clogged up, see if you can take apart clean what you can see than put white vingar in dispencer let sit run unit coulpe times will clean out system and clog

Hi from retired Englishman in SW France,
(I have pre-typed the following; I cannot type that fast!)

This is a common problem with many machines.
I suspect that it is the conditioner/softener tray which needs a thorough clean, paying particular attention to the sentences in BOLD OR the water feed into the softener tray is not working properly. If the latter, follow these instructions and then clean the jets where the softener water is supposed to enter before calling for service;-0)
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Remove the complete drawer. To do this you will have to do one of the following-

• Top catch- push down the lip/catch at the middle rear and pull the drawer out (that's how our Bosch one is removed)
• release the catches underneath (our daughter's Indesit) or
• lift upwards on the tray as it is coming out to clear the lip underneath.

Once out identify which tray is for the conditioner- the others are simply 'chutes' and open-ended.
It will normally have some sort of cover over it which you must remove to expose the little stuck up pipe/tube. On some models there is just a small individual cap over the tube but on others the cover is part of the tray's plastic top. The tube is down which the conditioner and water should siphon. It is likely to be blocked by 'gunge'- a mix of powder and conditioner. The whole of the tray, particularly this pipe and the bit which fits over it, must be completely clean and clear for it to operate correctly. It is worthwhile checking fairly regularly.

If this does not work, pull out the dispenser drawer far enough to be able to just see the softener tray, select the (final?) rinse and check that water is entering the tray. If it isn't there is a fault with the water distribution and an engineer call is required ;-0(

If this has assisted you please consider a 4 thumbs up for the rating.
Thanks and good luck!
John C

Hi from retired Englishman in France,

Absolutely right! If the tray is blocked with a mix of powder and softener the softener will not easily syphon into the drum and water tends to be left in the tray. Some water is not unusual, though.

Very easy to remove. Most trays are stopped from coming out by a catch/lip on the top at the back in the middle. Often, if the middle tray is the softener, it is there.
Just bend down to eye level with the top of the tray and you should see which bit is sticking up. Gently press it down and pull the tray out!
I give ours a good clean every few months as my wife tends to allow some powder to spill into the softener tray- but don't tell her I told you so, please!

Best of luck,

John C

The Solution: Top up the softener tray with extra water so that it is up to the 'max level' mark.

The softener tray works by a siphon action. Thus, the reason the tray does not empty is that not enough water is added by the machine during the softening cycle, so that the machine does not completely fill the softening tray; only when the softening tray is filled beyond the 'max' mark does the siphon action works. A partially filled tray will never empty - it's impossible due to the siphon.

The reason that not enough water is added to the tray during the softening action is that the water inlet of the machine is partial blocked (you can try to fix that) but it is simpler to just added more water to the conditioner tray.

Thus, the easiest way to ensure that the softener tray empties every time (after adding the softener to the softener tray of course) is to top up the softener tray with extra water, top it up to the 'max level' line (keep a bottle of water by the machine). That way, even if only a little water is added to the softener tray during the softening cycle by the machine it is enough to trigger the siphon action and the tray will empty!

Works for me every time, and no need to remove any parts - I used to take the tray out, clean it, scrub the outlet holes that fill the tray etc, but they used to gum up again quite quickly!

Hope that helps

Hello, W/D here.

There are a couple of reasons why the fabric softener will not dispense. If everything else dispenses properly (detergent and bleach), then I would suspect a bit of plugging. If the softener remains in the dispenser, the water valve above the tray may be sticking. You'll have to get the top up to check it. If there is water in the tray, or some water/softener, then you'll need to look at the overflow cap. Here's how that works: Your dispensing trays for bleach and softener have a raised tube built into them, and each is covered with a loose fitting cap. When water is let into the tray, the level rises under the cap until it overflows, creating a syphon. The softener is literally pulled from the tray, and chased by the water. When the water stops, the tray level continues to drop, until air gets into the cap, breaking the syphon. The cap can be removed and cleaned. Sometimes the tray has to be removed first. Theres a catch towards the rear of the tray.
Best regards, W/D

You need to replace the cold water inlet valve. If the machine is older than one year it may be clogged on the side that moderates the cold water to the bleach and softener compartment. Replacing the valve fixed the problem. During the cycle when the softener dispenser fills it should fill quickly and no or little water should be seen in the soap dispenser area. If a lot of water goes into the soap dispense and little into the softener area the valve is clogged.

The Solution: Top up the softener tray with extra water so that it is up to the 'max level' mark.

The softener tray works by a siphon action. Thus, the reason the tray does not empty is that not enough water is added by the machine during the softening cycle, so that the machine does not completely fill the softening tray; only when the softening tray is filled beyond the 'max' mark does the siphon action works. A partially filled tray will never empty - it's impossible due to the siphon.

The reason that not enough water is added to the tray during the softening action is that the water inlet of the machine is partial blocked (you can try to fix that) but it is simpler to just added more water to the conditioner tray.

Thus, the easiest way to ensure that the softener tray empties every time (after adding the softener to the softener tray of course) is to top up the softener tray with extra water, top it up to the 'max level' line (keep a bottle of water by the machine). That way, even if only a little water is added to the softener tray during the softening cycle by the machine it is enough to trigger the siphon action and the tray will empty!

Works for me every time, and no need to remove any parts - I used to take the tray out, clean it, scrub the outlet holes that fill the tray etc, but they used to gum up again quite quickly!

Hope that helps