Series 6 washing machine doubling cycle time

[benw]

I have a series 6 washing machine (not sure of model number - its 9kg/1400rpm, has auto dose, AI, smarthings, addwash).

I usually use the cottons cycle which takes 1h40m. Every now and then it doubles the wash time to 3 hours. The display definitely says 1h40m when I start it but some time in the first 30 minutes I notice the remaining time has jumped up to 2h30m. This seems totally random. I'm washing roughly the same size load, same cycle, same detergent/softener. At a guess I'd say it happens every 6th or 8th wash all year round.

Filters and detergent drawers are all clean. We don't get limescale where I live. Water pressure is constant (I'm on a private water supply and there is a pressure vessel that keeps the pressure between 2 to 3 bar).

What can I do to stop it doing this? It's a major problem. Last night I was exhausted and tired and really needed to sleep but had to stay up for an hour and a half waiting for the machine to stop.

[andy_in_ireland]

hello there. - you could try using one of the non weight detection washes (a detection wash is when it does that revolving garments in drum dry backwards and forwards for about 30seconds or so before starting washing)

if you try one  of those cycles that might stay true to the time left during washes. If you have one of the dearer Samsung's I think they have an extra sensor in the Drum called a Turbidity sensor and throughout the was this extra sensor monitors things like how dirty the water is and adjusts the length of the wash time and things like how many rinses to choose and level of rinse water and this can all adjust the cycle time . - I think the Turbidity sensors are not there on the entry level cheaper models.
Good luck.  

[benw]

Thanks for this. What doesn't make sense is that the washes I'm doing a near identical. Same sorts of clothes, same quantity of clothes, same amount of dirt. Maybe I put an extra t-shirt in one day or there's a bit of mud on a trouser leg but I'm sure the machine wasn't really designed to add 1h 20m to the cycle because of this.

I'll try using the "dumb" cycles for a while to see if it still happens - just for the sake of narrowing down the problem.