Hotpoint F10 fault codewhat it means and how to fix it
Heating element fault — and the page to read the safety notice on if your machine was built between 2005 and 2015.
Take care
Get a qualified appliance engineer to look at your Hotpoint F10
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.
When was your dishwasher manufactured?
The right answer depends on what you can see. Pick the one that matches.
Choose the option on the left that matches what your appliance is doing, and the answer for that case appears here.
Between 2005 and 2015
Your machine falls inside the window covered by the open Hotpoint and Indesit dishwasher safety notice. That does not mean it is affected — the notice covers specific models, not every machine from those years, and Hotpoint publish no list.
Put your model number through the Hotpoint or Indesit dishwasher model checker before using the machine again. If it comes back as affected, their instruction is to stop using it and ring 0800 151 0905 to arrange a free repair. It takes two minutes and costs nothing.
2016 or later
The safety notice does not apply to your machine. Hotpoint also state that the problem does not affect any models on sale today.
Treat this as an ordinary heating fault and get it looked at in the normal way.
I do not know
Most people do not know, and you do not need to work it out from the serial number to get an answer.
Put the model number into the checker regardless. It will tell you either way without you having to establish the year first.
What F10 means
F10 is a heating element fault, and on its own it is an ordinary failure with an ordinary consequence: the machine runs, appears to finish, and leaves you with wet, greasy dishes that have not been sanitised. Dishwashers rely on heat both to dissolve grease and to dry the load, since they dry by heating everything and letting the water evaporate off hot china rather than by blowing air. So no heat means a cycle that completes without achieving very much.
The reason this page carries more than that is a live safety notice, and it needs stating carefully in both directions. Hotpoint and Indesit have an open modification programme covering dishwashers manufactured between 2005 and 2015. Their wording is that a small number of dishwashers have an electrical component that can fail, which may lead to overheating and in rare cases a potential fire hazard.
The remedy is a free repair, and their instruction where a machine is affected is not to use it until the repair visit. Now the caveat that matters. Hotpoint do not say which electrical component, and we are not going to guess that it is this one. There is no published link between the notice and F10. But a reader with a heating fault on a machine from those years is going to wonder, and the answer is not to speculate — it is to spend two minutes on the model checker and find out.
What causes it
| Cause | What is actually happening | How likely |
|---|---|---|
| Heating element failed | The literal reading of the code. Elements fail open circuit and the machine detects that the water is not warming. | Common |
| Element scaled up | In hard water, limescale coats the element and insulates it, so it cannot transfer heat into the water even though it is working. | Common |
| Wiring or connection fault at the element | A failed connection reported as an element fault. Only diagnosable with the machine open. | Occasional |
| Control board fault | The board failing to switch the element rather than the element failing. Hotpoint list a separate main board code, F13, but the two can present similarly. | Occasional |
Can you fix it yourself?
Stop — this needs an engineer
What it costs to fix
Typical repair cost
£110–£240
Typically £110 to £220 fitted, though the repair is free if your machine turns out to be covered by the safety notice — another reason to check before booking anything.
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
- 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: heating and drying
- F04Get it checkedThe temperature sensor circuit has failed — open circuit or shorted. A cheap part, which makes this one of the better codes to get.Related: heating and drying
- 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
- 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
- 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: 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 F10
Is the safety notice about the heating element?
Hotpoint do not say. Their wording is only that "an electrical component can fail", with no component named. We are not going to guess, and neither should anyone else — but if your machine is from 2005 to 2015, the model checker settles it for free and is worth doing before you use the machine again.
Why is this not on the government recall list?
Because it was never listed with the Office for Product Safety and Standards. Searching their database for dishwasher recalls from these brands returns nothing, and the only OPSS entry for Hotpoint and Indesit is a gas cooker programme. This is a manufacturer-run modification programme, so anyone checking gov.uk alone will wrongly conclude their machine is fine.
Does the notice cover Whirlpool dishwashers?
No. Whirlpool’s own safety notice page lists gas hobs and a KitchenAid kettle, with no dishwasher entry. The notice covers Hotpoint and Indesit only, which is easy to get wrong given all three brands share the same fault codes.
The cycle finishes. Are the dishes clean?
Rinsed rather than cleaned. Without heat the detergent cannot lift grease and nothing has been sanitised. Wash chopping boards, baby equipment and anything raw meat has touched by hand until it is repaired.
Could it just be limescale?
Quite possibly, particularly in a hard water area on a machine run without salt in the softener. Scale insulates the element so it cannot get heat into the water. That is a cheaper repair than a new element.
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.