Whirlpool Duet error message HF?

[ccauthon]

My mom has this pesky code HF coming up and has followed the instructions in the manual with no avail.  Any help??  She says that it starts to fill up and then all of a sudden just stops and doesn't want to do anything else.  Help!!!

Model Number: ghw9100lw1

[Repair-man]

My guess is the display actually says "F/H" and this means the main control board in back (CCU) may be bad. The pressure switch and associated tubing should also be checked, as the control is looking for a particular water level to begin washing. If the drain hose is too far down the pipe, siphoning can occur and the unit may not be filling correctly.  Tech sheet should be under the lower panel.

[RegUS_PatOff]

or check the Duet Error Codes, one thread up...

http://appliancejunk.com/forums/index.php?topic=1785.0

[gtrdave]

Hope this helps someone else. Finally fixed mine and it was the little black tubing going to the pressure switch. It took a while to figure this out because the diagnostic test did not bring up any error so I thought the black tube was fine, but I was wrong. My washer is the GHW9150PW4 "Costco model".  Mine would start a wash load and do pre-wash cycle just fine, but about 8-10 minutes into the cycle the machine would fill up with more water and the water level would rise up too far (almost three inches up the window) and then do the emergency shut down H-F error.  Here's how I fixed it:
I opened the top and looked at the little black tubing going to the pressure switch and it looked fine & felt brand new too, so I didn't think it was a bad tube, but it was. Upon closer inspection, I saw that the clear dump water tube looked like it had been crunched a few times againset the side of the machine and had a bit of wear, and slight crease like it had been smashed against the side of the machine;(probably when a cycle ran unbalanced). Look closely with a flashlight and maybe you will find, like me, that the washer --when out of balance-- would occasionally hit and rub those two tubes. The front and back of the washer has cement-like casing that is a little rough and will definitely smash that tube. Feel down there where the washer may hit the tube. There should be a clip that keeps both tubes clamped to the back of the washer so the tubes are kept away from the washer drum rubbing on them. The plastic clip  on mine was broken off, and the tubes were hanging there to the side of the washer drum. The tube didn't have a hole, and looked good but was really warn out where it was rubbing and smashed down thin in this area (probably had a tiny pin hole leak or the smashed tube couldn't hold the correct pressure--thus not telling the machine when it had the right amount of water, overfilling & shutting down with an H-F error code and draining the washer immediately). This is an emergency shut down to prevent the washer from overfilling when it reaches 10.5 gallons of water (per manual).  I cut the bad tubing section out (about 3/4 of an inch piece of bad tubing hose) and used a tubing connector barb (Home Depot mini sprinkler tube connector) to reconnect the tubing back together. I tied a string on the tube before cutting so it wouldn't fall down below and behind the washer. This has fixed my problem perfectly and have no more errors. I'm going go to the appliance parts store and buy a new plastic clip and new black tube to keep the hoses tied to the back and out of the way of the moving drum(the splicing worked fine but I might as well get a new tube while the washer top is open and accesible).
Hope this helps someone else out. I assume by the amount of forums talking about this error this may be happening to a lot of older machines. I found this fix on another blog--thank goodness--cuz everyone kept talking about the circut board $$$, or $50 pressure switch, or flow meter (my machine doesn't have a flow meter - the GHW9100 has that) and I almost called in an appliance repair guy. Saved a few hundred dollars here and fixed it myself.    :)Hope this helps someone else. Finally fixed mine and it was the little black tubing going to the pressure switch. It took a while to figure this out because the diagnostic test did not bring up any error so I thought the black tube was fine but I was wrong. My washer is the GHW9150PW4 "Costco model".  Mine would start a wash load and do pre-wash cycle just fine but about 8-10 minutes into the cycle the machine would fill up with more water and the water level would rise up too far (almost three inches up the window) and then do the emergency shut down H-F error.  Here's how I fixed it:
I opened the top and looked at the little black tubing going to the pressure switch and it looked fine & felt brand new too so I didn't think it was a bad tube but it was. Upon closer inspection I saw that the clear dump water tube looked like it had been crunched a few times againset the side of the machine and had a bit of wear and slight crease like it was smashed against the side of the machine (probably when a cycle ran unbalanced). Look closely with a flashlight and maybe you will find like me that the washer when out of balance would occasionally hit and rub those two tubes. The front and back of the washer has cement like casing that is a little rough and will definitely smash that tube. Feel down there where the washer may hit the tube. There should be a clip that keeps both tubes clamped to the back of the washer so the tubes are kept away from the machine rubbing on them. The plastic clip  on mine was broken off and the tubes were hanging there to the side of the machine. The tube didn't have a hole per say and looked good but was really warn out where it was rubbing and smashed down thin in this area (probably had a tiny pin hole leak or the smashed tube couldn't hold the correct pressure thus not telling the machine when it had the right amount of water, overfilling & shutting down with an H-F error code and draining the washer immediately). This is an emergency shut down to prevent the washer from overfilling when it reaches 10.5 gallons of water (per manual).  I cut the bad tubing section out (about 3/4 of an inch piece of bad tubing hose) and used a tubing connector barb (Home Depot mini sprinkler tube connector) to reconnect the tubing back together. I tied a string on the tube before cutting so it wouldn't fall down below behind the washer. This has fixed my problem perfectly and have no more errors. I'm going go to the appliance parts store and buy a new plastic clip and new black tube to keep the hoses tied to the back and out of the way of the moving drum(the splicing worked fine but I might as well get a new tube while I'm at it).
Hope this helps someone else out. I assume by the amount of forums talking about this error this may be happening to a lot of older machines. I found this fix on another blog thank goodness cuz everyone kept talking about the circut board $$$, or $50 pressure switch, or flow meter (this machine doesn't have a flow meter - the GHW9100 has that) and I almost called in an appliance repair guy. Saved a few hundred dollars here and fixed it myself.  <*///><

[Repair-man]

I think my post above deserves  most of the cred for you finding the problem-

The pressure switch and associated tubing should also be checked, as the control is looking for a particular water level to begin washing.

We are ultimately glad you arrived at the problem and appreciate your extensive discertaion as well.

[gtrdave]

Yes a number of posts all over the internet and service manual mention pressure switch, tubing, flow meter and such but the tube looked fine from a distance and nobody really described the clip breaking off the back so just trying to be helpfull as to describe the process how I found the bad section of tubing. It's not brain surgury, and I was so close to calling an appliance repair guy, but I fixed it myself - easilly with a $5.00 tube. I almost bought a new pressure switch too but would have wasted $50 on that. Hopefully my dissertation, ahd photo (  LOL) will help someone else know where to look for the damaged tube.

[gtrdave]

Yep and thanks Repair-man you did mention the tube as did a lot of forums.  But since the damaged tube wasn't totally obvious to me I kept thinking it was something else. I just didn't know exactly where to look and why that tube would be bad. I didn't even see that the clip was broken because it's hidden in the back behind the hoses.  I think it's a bad design myself that Whirlpool should be using a metal clip or something that won't break so easily when the washer starts bouncing around with an unbalance load. I'm sure I'll be buying another clip and hose in a few years Anyway thanks for the tip off on the hose and sorry you had to read my dissertation Just trying to be helpful. Hope the photo I posted will help too.

[Repair-man]

So you think the design is bad? I do, too. Let's tell those persnickety Germans a thing or two....oh, but wait! We overlooked the fact that corporations are practicing "Lean Sigma" and other terms for making stuff cheaper. In fact, their engineers sit up nights dreaming of ways to save 2 cents here or there. You and I are the Guinea pigs nowadays, and the phrase Caveat Emptor should be  taken seriously.

Congratulations for  figuring out your issue after so much research...you are to be commended.