Dishwashers fault codes by brand
Find your manufacturer below, then your code. Dishwashers fail in a narrower set of ways than washing machines — most codes come down to water not arriving, water not leaving, or water ending up somewhere it should not. The last of those is the one to take seriously, and we will tell you plainly which codes are which.
Brands
Pick your manufacturer to see every code we cover.
Most looked-up dishwasher codes
Across every brand in this category.
- E15BoschThe water protection system has activated — there is water in the base of the machine. Turn the tap off and call service. Do not tilt it, whatever else you read.Stop — call an engineer
- E24BoschThe machine cannot drain. Bosch publish a full owner procedure for this one, and two warnings about doing it that their UK page leaves out.Get it checked
- i20AEGThe machine could not drain. Two beeps on a model without a display, and the filter in the bottom of the tub is the first place to look.Get it checked
- F11MieleWater left standing in the cabinet because the machine cannot drain. Miele treat this as an owner job and walk you through the drain pump.Get it checked
- i30AEGThe anti-flood device has triggered — water has collected in the base of the machine. AEG say to close the water tap and call service.Stop — call an engineer
- F03HotpointDrain failure or timeout — one of only two codes Hotpoint invite you to look at yourself, and usually a blockage.Get it checked
- E18BoschWater is not getting in. Bosch publish a full owner procedure including a flow rate you can measure with a jug.Get it checked
- F10HotpointHeating element fault — and the page to read the safety notice on if your machine was built between 2005 and 2015.Get it checked
- OELGDrainage problem. LG list this twice — once as a running fault and once as an installation fault — and the second is the one people miss.Get it checked
- F06HotpointWater fill timeout. The other code Hotpoint hand back to you, and their own checklist covers pressure as well as the tap.Get it checked
- i10AEGNo water is coming in. One beep on a model without a display, and AEG publish a pressure range you can test against.Get it checked
- E3CandyThe dishwasher does not drain. Three flashes on a machine without a display, and Candy tell you exactly how to count them.Get it checked
- F01HotpointAnti-flooding overflow. The one code in the Hotpoint list that offers no owner check at all — it goes straight to an engineer.Stop — call an engineer
- F12MieleThe water inlet is blocked or restricted. Miele use the same wording for F13, F15 and F173, and warn that the hose connection houses an electrical valve.Get it checked
- F70MieleThe Waterproof System has activated. Miele give the clearest emergency instruction of any dishwasher manufacturer — close the stopcock, switch off, unplug, call.Stop — call an engineer
- IELGWater inlet problem. It is IE with a letter I, not 1E — the washing machine convention does not apply here.Get it checked
- E02BekoWater outage error — the machine asked for water and none came. Beko send you to the supply and the filters first.Get it checked
- E4CandyA water leak. Candy specifically warn against tilting or moving the machine, which rules out the fix most often recommended online.Stop — call an engineer
- AELGLG’s leak code. LG tell you to call for service if it happens again — we think that is the wrong advice and explain why.Stop — call an engineer
- E01BekoWater in the chassis. Beko’s own instruction is to cut off the electricity and close the valve — the bluntest wording of any brand we cover.Stop — call an engineer
Symptoms
No code on the display? Start from what it is doing.
Dishes coming out dirty, gritty or cloudy
Three quite different problems get described the same way. Working out which one you have takes one look at a glass and saves you buying the wrong thing.Dishwasher leaking onto the kitchen floor
The one dishwasher problem worth stopping for immediately. Turn the water off first, then work out where it is coming from — the answer is often not where the puddle is.Dishwasher left with water in the bottom
Standing water in the base of the tub is the most common dishwasher complaint there is, and the cause is usually reachable with your hands in about fifteen minutes.
How dishwashers fault codes work
Dishwashers share the same awkward fact as washing machines: the badge on the door often is not the manufacturer. Bosch, Siemens and Neff are one company running one platform. AEG, Zanussi and Electrolux are another. Hotpoint, Indesit and Whirlpool are a third. If your brand is not listed, its sibling's codes are not an approximation — they are the same codes.
Where dishwashers genuinely differ from washing machines is flooding. A washing machine holds water for part of a cycle; a dishwasher is plumbed into the mains, sits under a worktop where a leak is invisible for weeks, and runs unattended overnight. That is why nearly every dishwasher has an anti-flood system with a float in a base tray, and why the code that reports it — E:15 on a Bosch, i30 on an Electrolux, LC on a Samsung, AE on an LG — is the most important code the machine can show.
It is also where the internet gives the worst advice on this site. The most widely shared "fix" for an anti-flood code is to tip the machine onto its side or back to empty the base tray and reset the float. It does clear the code. What it does not do is address the leak that filled the tray, and it disables the one thing standing between a slow leak and your kitchen floor. Draining the tray is not a repair; it is removing the smoke alarm because it keeps going off.
Beyond flooding, the families are straightforward. Fill faults mean the machine asked for water and did not get it. Drain faults mean it could not pump out, and a blocked filter at the bottom of the tub accounts for a great many of them. Heating faults mean the water never got hot enough to clean anything. Spray arm and circulation faults mean water is moving but not reaching the dishes.
Two things are worth knowing before you open the door on a machine that has stopped. Steam released from a machine interrupted mid-cycle is hot enough to scald, so give it a few minutes. And dishwasher detergent is strongly alkaline — considerably more caustic than anything you would put in a washing machine — so undissolved tablet residue in the bottom of a stopped machine deserves gloves and respect, particularly with children in the house.
Flood protection
Water has reached the base tray and the anti-flood float has cut in. The one family worth stopping for.
Draining
It could not pump out. Very often the filter in the bottom of the tub rather than the pump.
Filling
It asked for water and did not get enough in time. Usually the tap, the hose or an inlet filter.
Spray arms and circulation
Water is moving but not reaching the dishes. Blocked jets and a clogged filter both do this.
Heating and drying
The water never got hot enough to clean properly, or the load came out wet.
Door and latch
The latch will not confirm the door is shut, and nothing runs until it does.
Water softener and salt
The softener that stops limescale ruining your glasses — and the one place table salt does damage.