What OVERFLOW Means
WHICH MACHINES THIS APPLIES TO: Asko washers with a text window rather than a numeric display report their problems in words, and several generations do it. The Use and Care Guides for the US W6761, W640 and W660 carry one such table; the operating instructions for the W8844XL and the W6884 Eco carry another; and the WM60 service manual carries the problem-indication tables for the WM60.2 and WM60.3 panels. The wording varies slightly between them and the section below says which document each form comes from. All of these machines introduce the table the same way: a message appears on the display if an error occurs during the program, and it is cleared by turning the machine off and then back on.
THE WORDINGS, AND WHY THEY ARE ONE PAGE: the W6761, W640 and W660 guide prints "Overflow". The W6884 Eco book prints "Overfilling". The W8844XL book prints "Over flow problem". The WM60 service manual prints "Overflow problem" for both the WM60.2 and the WM60.3 panels. Four strings, one condition: there is more water in the machine than the program asked for.
WHAT THE SERVICE DOCUMENTATION ADDS: the W600-series service manual defines it as "Too much water in the drum due to a problem in the level sensing system or the inlet valve", and the WM60 manual gives it simply as "Too much water in the machine". Between them they name the two ways to arrive here. Water can be coming in when it should not, because an inlet valve is passing or because the level sensing is reporting a level lower than the real one. Or water can be failing to leave, so each stage adds to what was already there.
WHY ASKO'S FIRST INSTRUCTION IS ALWAYS THE TAP: the W6884 Eco and W8844XL books both print the same two-step action - "1. Shut off the water tap. 2. See 'Drainage error'." The tap comes first because it is the only control over the incoming water that is outside the appliance, and it works whether the cause is a valve or a blockage. The second step points at drainage because that is the commonest route to a machine holding too much.
WHY THIS CARRIES A HIGH SEVERITY: the thing that has gone wrong is the thing that was supposed to limit the water. The drum holding more than it should is not in itself a flood, but the conditions behind it are the ones that lead to one, and running another program to see what happens is the wrong experiment.
WHAT THE W6761, W640 AND W660 GUIDE SAYS TO DO: "Call a service technician." Asko offers no owner procedure at all on those models, which is a deliberate choice for this particular code.
CLASSIFICATION: problem, with a water-escape risk attached.
Common Causes of OVERFLOW
- Inlet valve passing water when it should be closed
- Level sensor or its pressure hose reporting a level lower than the real one
- Water not leaving the machine, so each stage adds to what is already there
- Pressure hose to the level sensor split, kinked or blocked
- Pump filter or drain path blocked
- Control unit not closing the valve when the level is reached
🔧 One Safe Check You Can Try
Close the water tap to the machine before anything else and leave it closed. Then switch the machine off - at the breaker rather than by reaching behind a wet appliance for its plug if there is any water on the floor. Look with a torch at the floor around and under the machine, including the front edge under the door where a leak shows first, and note what you find; that single observation tells whoever attends whether this is a contained problem or an escaping one. Look through the glass and note whether the water is above the level the drum normally holds and whether the door is locked. If the machine is one of the models where Asko does publish a next step, its instruction is to treat it as a drainage problem: with the power off, put towels and a shallow tray at the bottom front, release the pump filter slowly in stages so the water comes out at a rate you can catch, clean it and the pump housing, and check the drain hose and its outlet for blockages and kinks. Do not run a program to try to pump the water away while the cause is unknown, because if the water is arriving through a valve that is passing, a running program simply lets more of it in. Asko's own instruction on the W6761, W640 and W660 is to call a service technician, and that is the right place to stop on those machines.
⚠ Why You Shouldn't Go Further Than That
- The water tap is shut off first because it is the only limit on the incoming water that can be applied without opening anything.
- Where there is water on the floor, the supply is switched off at the breaker rather than by reaching behind a wet machine for its plug.
- Running a program to pump the water out is not a diagnostic step while the cause is unknown, because a valve that is passing simply admits more water during it.
- The inlet valve, the level sensor and its pressure hose sit inside the cabinet alongside the heating circuit wiring, so none of them is reached on a connected machine.
Opening a panel to inspect or repair something yourself doesn't automatically cancel your manufacturer's warranty — but it can risk accidental damage, and some manufacturers do have specific service conditions. Check your product's warranty terms, or ask us, before deciding.