Why do washing machines often say 1 min left, but that 1 minute lasts 5 or more minutes?

Question

Why lie about that

In: Technology

Answer 1

It appears to be a software defect, at least on my Kenmore front loader.

If you pause the washer for a long time, it throws the internal timing off. At worst, it will mess up the cycle. It appears to me that one timer keeps running internally, or it calculates elapsed time for each program segment incorrect when paused.

That said, my washer often finishes a few minutes earlier than it estimates it will.