Hotpoint [E9] fault codewhat it means and how to fix it

E9 is the freezer high temperature alarm and it stands apart from the rest of Hotpoint's table, because it is the one code where they name a cause an owner can do something about. Their published symptom is worth quoting because it is unusually direct: the freezer door may have been left open which has resulted in the food in the freezer defrosting, and their instruction is to check to see if your door is closed properly. Nine of the other ten codes on their table go straight to an engineer. This one does not, and that tells you how often it turns out to be exactly what they say it is.

The code means the compartment has been warmer than it should for long enough to matter. Whether that is a fault depends entirely on what happened rather than on the code itself. A door left ajar overnight, a big shop loaded in at once, a power cut while the house was empty, or hot food put straight in will all produce it on a perfectly healthy appliance. A door does not have to be visibly open to do it either — a drawer not pushed fully home, a bag of peas caught in the seal, or heavy bottles in a door bin slowly pulling the door out of square are all enough to hold it a few millimetres apart, which is plenty.

The test that separates the two situations is time and a shut door. Several hours of undisturbed running should clear an alarm caused by an event. An alarm still showing the next morning on an appliance nobody has opened is reporting the appliance rather than an event, and that is when to call. Keep the two decisions separate, though: whether the freezer is faulty and whether the food is safe are different questions with different answers. The alarm tells you the temperature rose. It does not tell you how far or for how long, and a freezer that recovers perfectly well may still have contents that partially thawed.

1. 1

   Check the door is properly closed, which is Hotpoint’s own instruction, and look for what might be holding it — a drawer proud, a bag in the seal, a package sticking out.

2. 2

   Think back over the last day for an event that explains it: a power cut, a big shop, a door left open, hot food put straight in.

3. 3

   Test the seal with a piece of paper. Shut the door on it and try to pull it out — it should resist. Try several points round the door, because seals fail in one place first.

4. 4

   Take the weight out of the door bins if they are loaded with bottles. Over time that pulls a door out of square and stops it sealing along the top.

5. 5

   Leave it shut and undisturbed for several hours, then look again. An alarm that clears was reporting an event.

6. 6

   If it is still showing the next morning, book an engineer. Judge the food separately, because a recovered freezer can still have contents that thawed.