AEG tumble dryer fault codes

AEG dryers are the same machines as Zanussi and Electrolux ones, and we can show it: the manuals carry character-identical fault tables, not just matching web pages. What differs is not the badge but the display. Older machines show C codes, newer ones show E codes, and machines with no display count flashes on two separate lamps. Start by working out which of the three you have, because AEG publish the sets separately and never tell you they are alternatives.

Where the code shows on a AEG

Three notations, one range. If your display shows a letter E and two digits, you are on the E set. If it shows a letter C and one character, you are on the C set. If your machine has no display at all, it signals by flashing lamps, and this is where nearly every guide online is wrong: it is not a single flash count. The anti-crease or end-of-cycle lamp gives the first digit and the start or pause lamp gives the second, so five flashes followed by two means E52 rather than "error five". The buzzer beeps in time with the first lamp, which is why AEG can describe one fault as "E20, C2 or 2 beeps / 2 flashes". All the lamps flashing together is not a countable code at all — it is a configuration failure, and nothing but switching off will do anything. AEG publish no way of telling in advance which notation your machine uses: no model list, no year cut-off, no marker on the case. Reading the display is the only test, which is unsatisfying but honest. One more thing worth knowing: a handful of alarms are hidden from owners by design and are configurable per model, so a machine can have a real fault and show no code whatsoever. Finally, if you need to identify your machine, use the PNC on the rating plate — a nine-digit number like 916 098 961 — rather than the name on the front, because AEG’s own manual finder works from it and model names repeat across years.

How to reset a AEG

AEG’s published reset is to unplug the machine at the wall, wait thirty seconds and plug it back in. On E70 they ask for two hours rather than thirty seconds. Before you do either, take the washing out and spread it somewhere airy. This part is ours rather than theirs, and we think their omission is a genuine mistake: AEG’s own manual carries the warning "Never stop a tumble dryer before the end of the drying cycle unless all items are quickly removed and spread out so that the heat is dissipated", and pulling the plug is stopping the cycle. A hot, part-dried load left in a heap generates its own heat. Two resets is the sensible limit on any code; a machine that keeps returning the same fault is telling you something rather than sulking.

Most common AEG faults

The AEG codes people look up most.

Every AEG fault code

12 published codes. Filtering happens in the page — every one is in the HTML.

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Showing 12 of 12 codes

Every published AEG fault code with its meaning and severity
Code	What it means	Severity
E50	AEG’s support site calls this a motor or software fault and sends you to an engineer. AEG’s own manual says it is usually just too much washing in the drum.	Get it checked
E60	The dryer is not heating. AEG’s own page for this code is circular — it defines E60 by telling you the machine displays E60 — so here is what it actually covers.	Get it checked
E20	The machine cannot get rid of the water it has collected. This is the one code AEG confirm has three faces — E20, C2, or two beeps and two flashes, depending on your display.	Get it checked
E70	The dryer has lost the ability to measure its own temperature. AEG tell you to unplug it for two hours and not to use it until it is fixed.	Stop — call an engineer
Condenser light	Not a fault code but a maintenance reminder, and the most important one on the machine. The condenser is furring up with lint and AEG tell you not to run it like that.	Get it checked
E40	The machine cannot confirm the door is properly shut, so it will not start. Usually the door, sometimes the seal, occasionally the latch itself.	Usually simple to fix
Water tank light	The container holding the water taken out of your washing is full, so the machine has stopped. Designed behaviour rather than a fault — though it can light with an empty tank.	Usually simple to fix
C6	The moisture sensor is not reporting properly, and AEG give a specific symptom: the cycle runs on past four and a half hours instead of finishing.	Get it checked
EH0	Not a fault in the dryer at all. AEG are reporting that the electricity reaching the machine is unstable, or the voltage is outside what it will accept.	Usually simple to fix
E80	The machine cannot tell which programme you have chosen. AEG’s first suggestion is the one worth trying: check the dial is not parked between two settings.	Get it checked
E90	An internal communication failure between the machine’s electronic parts. Notable because AEG print this code in the manual and their own support site has never heard of it.	Get it checked
CE	A fault in the electronics. AEG tell you to unplug the machine and not to plug it back in until you are sure it is safe, and they publish no owner checks at all.	Stop — call an engineer

AEG models

Codes can differ between generations. Check yours.

Guides that help with AEG faults

Looking for AEG’s own support? support.aeg.co.uk. We are not affiliated with AEG.