Appliance Spares
Quick answer: If your Fisher & Paykel front loader is slow to drain, smells a bit swampy or keeps stopping with water in the drum, the first fix is free: clean the pump filter behind the flap at the bottom front. Takes ten minutes, once a month. If the filter’s cap is cracked or its thread is chewed, replace it — the genuine part is H0020813720, typically $15–30, listed for the WH7560, WH8060 and WH8560 families. Matching the model number on the sticker is what matters.
Last updated August 2026
The ten-minute job that stops the drain drama
The drum’s full of water, the display’s been stuck at eleven minutes for half an hour, and the machine is making a half-hearted hum instead of that confident draining gurgle. On a Fisher & Paykel front loader, that story almost always starts at the pump filter — a small twist-out trap at the bottom of the machine whose entire job is to catch coins, bobby pins, bra wires and lint before they reach the drain pump.
Fisher & Paykel’s advice is to clean it monthly. Almost nobody does, until the machine forces the issue mid-load on a Sunday night. This is the maintenance article: where the filter lives, how to clean it without flooding the laundry, what the gunk in it means, and how to tell when the filter itself is past saving. If you’re already stuck mid-cycle with a drum full of water, start with our diagnosis guide Fisher & Paykel washing machine not draining — which part fixes it, then come back here for the ritual that stops it happening again.
One part number, three model families
Across the WashSmart and QuickSmart front loaders — the WH7560, WH8060 and WH8560 families — the pump filter is one genuine part: H0020813720. We list it by model family so you can match the sticker quickly. Every row below is the same H0020813720 filter; open the listing that names your machine.
| Your model sticker says | The H0020813720 listing to open |
|---|---|
 WH7560J1, WH7560J2, WH8060P1, WH8060P2 | Fisher & Paykel pump filter H0020813720 — WH7560J / WH8060P |
 WH8060P1, WH8060P2, WH8560J1 | Fisher & Paykel pump filter H0020813720 — WH8060P / WH8560J1 |
 WH8560J2, WH8560J3, WH8560P1 | Fisher & Paykel pump filter H0020813720 — WH8560J2–J3 / WH8560P1 |
 Another WH7560, WH8060 or WH8560 variant — WH7560J3, WH7560P1, WH7560P2, WH7560P3, WH8560P2 | Fisher & Paykel pump filter H0020813720 — all WH7560 / WH8060 / WH8560 variants |
The J and P suffixes are series variants within the same families, so don’t panic if your exact suffix isn’t in the first row you check — check the full model number appears on the listing you open, and if it doesn’t, send it through and we’ll check it against the part before you order.
Where the filter lives
Down low on the front of the machine, behind a small flap or kick panel at the bottom corner. Pop the flap with a fingernail or a flat blade and you’ll see a round cap about the size of a jam-jar lid. That cap is the pump filter: it unscrews anticlockwise, and the basket that comes out with it is the trap that’s been quietly collecting everything your pockets forgot. Many models also hide a thin black drain hose with a plug behind the same flap — that’s your friend, and you’ll use it in step three.
The monthly clean, step by step
The whole job is ten minutes, and most of that is finding a towel.
- Finish or drain the cycle, then unplug the machine. Always. It’s a two-second habit that removes every nasty surprise.
- Lay a towel and a shallow tray under the flap. A baking tray or oven dish under 5 cm tall slides under the lip of the cabinet. There’s always more water than you expect — litres, if the machine didn’t finish draining.
- Bleed the water first. If there’s a small drain hose behind the flap, unclip it, pull the plug and let it dribble into the tray, swapping the tray as it fills. No hose? Go to the cap, but slowly.
- Twist the cap anticlockwise half a turn and pause. Let water bleed out around the thread into the tray. When the flow stops, unscrew it the rest of the way and draw the filter out.
- Empty the trap. Coins, hair ties, bra wire, a solid felt of lint — clear the lot, then reach into the housing and check nothing is left in the pocket. The pump impeller sits just behind it; it should turn with light finger pressure, in little clicks.
- Rinse the filter under a warm tap. An old toothbrush gets the grey biofilm out of the mesh and the thread. Never use boiling water on the plastic.
- Check the O-ring seal, then refit. The rubber ring on the cap should be supple and seated, with no flat spots. Screw the filter back in clockwise until firmly hand-tight — no tools.
- Run a rinse-and-spin and watch the flap for drips before you push the machine back and call it done.
What the gunk is telling you
- Coins, screws, hair ties: normal life. Consider it the machine’s tip jar, and empty pockets on wash day.
- A thick felt of grey lint: towels, pet blankets and fleece are the usual suspects. Wash the big shedders in a laundry bag and the filter stays cleaner for longer.
- Black, greasy sludge and a swampy smell: detergent and fabric-softener residue feeding biofilm. Run a hot maintenance wash with an empty drum, and go easier on the detergent dose — front loaders need far less than the scoop suggests.
- Grit or glass: something has broken further up. Clear it carefully and keep an eye on the next few washes.
If the filter is clogging again within a week or two, or the machine still drains slowly with a spotless filter, the problem has moved past the trap — hose kinks and the drain pump itself are next in line, and the diagnosis guide linked above walks that ladder in order.
When cleaning isn’t enough: replace the filter
The filter is plastic, lives in warm detergent water and gets wrenched in and out for years — it doesn’t last forever. Replace it rather than re-rinse it when you see:
- A cracked spigot or body — hairline cracks weep onto the floor and grow with every hot wash.
- A chewed or stripped thread — usually from one cross-threaded refit. If the cap needs force to seat, or seats crooked, the thread is done.
- A flattened or perished O-ring — the seal is part of the filter assembly on these machines.
- A snapped handle or tabs — if you can’t grip it, you can’t clean it, and the next blockage wins.
- A persistent drip from the flap after a careful refit — stop retightening and swap the part.
The genuine H0020813720 filter is typically $15–30, and swapping it is the same twist-out, twist-in move as the monthly clean. While you’re down at that end of the machine, listen to the spin: if the drum has started rumbling like a jet on take-off, the bearings are on notice, and the Fisher & Paykel drum noise fix kit for the WH7560 and WH8060 families bundles bearings, lip seal and a fresh pump filter together for typically $20–40. Our fitting guide for the lip seal and bearings kit walks that bigger job end to end.
Match it on the model sticker
Open the door and look around the rim of the door opening — on most of these front loaders the model sticker sits right there; otherwise check the back panel. You’re after the full model number: WH7560J2, WH8060P1, WH8560J3 and so on. Search that model number or the part number H0020813720 in our store, or browse the washing machine parts range. Don’t match by eyeballing the old filter — similar-looking caps carry different threads, and the sticker settles it in seconds.
Frequently asked questions
Q: How often should I clean the pump filter on a Fisher & Paykel front loader?
A: Monthly is the official line and a fair one. Households with pets, sports kit or a surf-towel habit should make it fortnightly. At minimum, clean it whenever draining slows and before you go away for a stretch.
Q: Is the pump filter the same as the lint filter?
A: No. The pump filter is the twist-out trap at the bottom front of a front loader. Fisher & Paykel top loaders use clip-in lint traps up at the drum instead — if yours has snapped its tabs, see our guide to the Fisher & Paykel lint filter tabs replacement pack.
Q: Water gushed out when I opened the filter — is something wrong?
A: A cupful or two is normal; the housing always holds some. A flood means the machine never drained, so there was a full drum sitting above the filter. Next time bleed it out through the small drain hose behind the flap first, with the towel and shallow tray in place.
Q: The filter cap won’t screw back in straight. Can I keep using it?
A: No — a cross-threaded or chewed thread will weep water every wash and gets worse each time it’s forced. Stop tightening and fit a new H0020813720; it’s a $10–20 part and threads in by hand.
Q: Do I need a repairer for any of this?
A: Not for the filter — it’s a no-tools, twist-out job designed for owners. Where a repairer earns their keep is further in: if the machine still won’t drain with a clean filter and a straight hose, the drain pump may be the part, and that’s a call-out typically $100–165 before parts. All the more reason to do the free ten-minute check first.
Grab the model number off the sticker inside the door, then search it — or the part number H0020813720 — in our store. Not sure? Send the model number through our contact page and we’ll match the right listing before you order. Order by 12pm and your filter is dispatched that same business day from Sydney’s Northern Beaches.
Disclaimer: this article is general information only and is provided without warranty of any kind. Appliance designs vary between models and production runs — always follow the manufacturer’s instructions, switch off and unplug the appliance before starting any work, and confirm parts against the model number on your appliance’s model sticker. Any repair is undertaken at your own risk and Oz Appliance Spares accepts no liability for injury, loss or damage arising from work performed after reading this guide, to the maximum extent permitted by law. If in doubt, use a qualified technician.
