Should rinse water be cold?

This thread was marked as solved. Here's a summary of the problem and the fix, generated from the discussion below.

Rinse water is cold; last-minute stall may indicate heater circuit fault

The problem

A ZWF 16581 W Jetstream stopped at 1 minute remaining on a proportional load cycle twice, with no end beep, and the door only opened after using a drain cycle. On a later Cotton Normal cycle it completed and opened normally, but the laundry felt cold.

Likely cause

The cold laundry after completion is not evidence of a heating fault because the machine rinses several times in cold water, so laundry normally comes out cold. The accepted reply states that sticking on the last minute can be caused by various faults, including an open-circuit heating element or poor/broken connections on the heater sensor stat, but no specific fault was confirmed.

What fixed it

No repair was confirmed. The accepted advice was that cold laundry at the end of the wash is normal because rinse cycles use cold water. For the intermittent 1-minute stall, the strongest supported diagnosis is a possible heater circuit or heater sensor-stat connection issue, but the exact repair was not documented.

Checks to try

• Observed machine stopping at 1 minute remaining on proportional load cycle
• Door would only open after running a drain cycle
• Observed later Cotton Normal cycle completing and door opening normally
• Laundry felt cold after cycle completion

Parts or tools mentioned

• heating element
• heater sensor stat