Hotpoint F02 fault codewhat it means and how to fix it
The fill valve is letting water in when it should be shut. Turn the tap off — that is our instruction, not Hotpoint’s, and the difference is worth knowing.
Stop — this needs an engineer
Get a qualified appliance engineer to look at your Hotpoint F02
We do not pass enquiries to a repair firm, so there is no form here. When you book a qualified appliance engineer, tell them the make, the model and the exact code or message on the display, and ask whether they carry parts for this make — that is what turns one visit into a repair rather than a quote.
What F02 means
Hotpoint give F02 as a water fill solenoid valve failure, and the detail they publish underneath is the part that matters: the fill valve admits water even when deactivated. Read that again, because it describes a specific and unusual situation. This is not a machine that cannot get water. It is a machine that cannot stop getting water. The inlet valve is an electrically operated tap, and it is designed to be shut whenever it is not being told to open, which is most of the time. When it fails in the open position, mains water keeps arriving regardless of what the appliance is doing — whether the programme has finished, whether the cycle was cancelled, whether the machine is switched off at the wall and has been all day.
Where that water goes then decides how bad it is. If it drains away quietly through the waste, you may notice nothing except a water bill. If it does not, the tub fills, and eventually it goes over. Hotpoint add a third bullet to their own causes that seems out of place until you think about it: make certain the drain hose is not on the floor. A waste hose lying low enough can siphon continuously, drawing water through the machine without the valve having failed at all, and that produces the same reading. So this can be an installation fault rather than a component fault, which is worth mentioning when you book.
What Hotpoint do not publish anywhere in this entry is any instruction to the owner. There is no step, no check, and nothing about the water supply — the whole published response is to ring and book an engineer. Turn the tap off. That advice is ours rather than theirs, and we are flagging it because on the same fault Bosch, Siemens and Beko all lead with the tap and Beko name isolating the electricity too. Switching the machine off does not close a valve that has failed open. Only the tap does.
What causes it
| Cause | What is actually happening | How likely |
|---|---|---|
| Fill solenoid valve stuck open | Hotpoint’s own description is that the valve admits water even when deactivated. Scale or grit holding the solenoid off its seat is the usual mechanism. | Common |
| Drain hose lying too low, siphoning | Hotpoint list this in the same entry. A waste hose routed near the floor can pull water through the machine continuously with nothing having failed. | Occasional |
| Control board holding the valve energised | Hotpoint describe a short circuit on the board’s fill valve output. The board rather than the valve, presenting identically. | Occasional |
| Debris in the valve seat after plumbing work | Grit disturbed by work on the supply and carried into the valve. Worth mentioning if anything has been done to the pipework recently. | Occasional |
Can you fix it yourself?
Stop — this needs an engineer
What it costs to fix
Typical repair cost
£85–£220
A replacement fill valve is typically £85 to £160 fitted. Re-routing a siphoning waste hose is usually a short visit at the lower end. A board fault is dearer, at £150 upwards.
Typical UK prices including parts and labour, updated September 2026. Your quote may differ.
Own this appliance and had this code? . Nothing is published until a person has read it.
Related Hotpoint fault codes
- F01Stop — call an engineerAnti-flooding overflow. The one code in the Hotpoint list that offers no owner check at all — it goes straight to an engineer.Related: flood protection
- F03Get it checkedDrain failure or timeout — one of only two codes Hotpoint invite you to look at yourself, and usually a blockage.Related: same brand
- F10Get it checkedHeating element fault — and the page to read the safety notice on if your machine was built between 2005 and 2015.Related: same brand
- F06Get it checkedWater fill timeout. The other code Hotpoint hand back to you, and their own checklist covers pressure as well as the tap.Related: same brand
- F08Get it checkedTemperature timeout on the two-digit system. Check the shape of your code first, because a single-digit F8 belongs to a different code set and is not about heat at all.Related: same brand
- F11Get it checkedWash pump failure. The dishes come out dirty because water is never reaching them with any force.Related: same brand
Own a Hotpoint dishwasher? Save it and its codes come first next time.
Related guides
Common questions about Hotpoint F02
What should I do first?
Close the tap that feeds the machine, then switch it off at the wall. In that order, because the tap is the only thing that stops water arriving — a failed-open valve does not care whether the appliance has power. Be aware that this is our advice and not Hotpoint’s: their published response to this code is a phone number and nothing else.
The machine is off. Can it still be taking water?
Yes, and that is the whole point of this code. The inlet valve sits on your mains supply. If it has failed in the open position it stays open whether the dishwasher is running, finished, cancelled or switched off at the socket. Only closing the tap stops it.
Why do Hotpoint mention the drain hose?
Because a waste hose lying on the floor can siphon water through the machine continuously, which the appliance reads the same way as a valve that will not close. It is an installation fault rather than a broken part, and it is much cheaper to put right — so say when the machine was fitted or last moved when you book.
How is this different from F06?
They are close to opposites. F06 is a fill timeout — the machine wanted water and did not get enough of it. F02 is the valve failing in the other direction, letting water in when it should be closed. F06 comes with checks Hotpoint invite you to make; F02 does not.
Technical review
Not reviewed by an engineer
No engineer has read this page. Severity follows what the manufacturer publishes, and we would rather tell you that than let a byline imply a sign-off.
Sources and how we verified this
We establish the facts from the sources below and then write the explanation ourselves. We do not copy manufacturer wording and we do not host their manuals.
- Manufacturer support portal
This page has not been reviewed by an engineer, and we would rather tell you that than imply otherwise. The severity rating follows what the manufacturer publishes: where they say isolate the appliance and call someone, so do we.