AEG E70 fault codewhat it means and how to fix it
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 — this needs an engineer
Get a qualified appliance engineer to look at your AEG E70
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 E70 means
This is one of the few codes in the AEG range where the manufacturer tells you to stop, and the only one where the reset is two hours. Their wording is "We do not recommend using the product until the problem has been completely fixed. Unplug the product and do not plug it in again until you are certain that it is OK to do so," and the reset they ask for is two hours rather than the thirty seconds AEG give for every other resettable code.
The reason becomes clear once you know what sits underneath. E70 covers the two NTC sensors, which are the thermistors the control board uses to read the temperature of the air going through the drum.
When one of them fails, the board has not lost a convenience feature. It has lost the only thing telling it how hot the machine is, and the service documentation records that the machine’s response is to force a cooling cycle — it dumps heat because it can no longer tell whether it needs to. A heating appliance running without temperature supervision, a few inches from a filter full of dry lint, is the scenario every dryer safety warning is written about. That is why we rate this as stop rather than as get-it-looked-at, and why you will find no repair steps on this page.
What causes it
| Cause | What is actually happening | How likely |
|---|---|---|
| One of the two temperature sensors has failed | AEG group two thermistors under this code. A failed one typically reads as an impossible value — a short or an open circuit — rather than as a slightly wrong number, which is what the board detects. | Common |
| The wiring or connector to a sensor has failed | The board cannot distinguish a broken sensor from a broken wire to a working one. Both present as a reading that cannot be right, and both leave the machine equally blind. | Occasional |
| The sensor is buried in lint and reading the wrong thing | A thermistor packed round with fluff responds slowly and lags behind the real air temperature, which can produce readings the board rejects as implausible even though the part itself is sound. | Occasional |
| The control board input has failed | Less often, the sensor is fine and the circuit on the board that reads it is not. It produces the same code and the same loss of supervision, and it is the more expensive of the two outcomes. | Rare |
Can you fix it yourself?
Stop — this needs an engineer
What it costs to fix
Typical repair cost
£90–£260
A temperature sensor is inexpensive and the visit is most of the cost; a control board is considerably more. AEG publish no call-out charge, so these are independent market estimates rather than manufacturer figures. AEG do commit to stocking temperature sensors for at least ten years after a model is discontinued, which is worth knowing before writing the machine off.
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 AEG fault codes
- C6Get it checkedThe 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.Related: sensors and control
- EH0Usually simple to fixNot 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.Related: sensors and control
- E80Get it checkedThe 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.Related: sensors and control
- E90Get it checkedAn 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.Related: sensors and control
- CEStop — call an engineerA 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.Related: sensors and control
- E50Get it checkedAEG’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.Related: same brand
Own an AEG tumble dryer? Save it and its codes come first next time.
Related guides
Common questions about AEG E70
Can I just keep using it until the engineer comes?
No, and this is one of the few places where we would say that as firmly as AEG do. Their instruction is not to plug it in again until you are certain it is safe. A dryer that cannot read its own temperature has lost the check that stops it overheating, and the material sitting next to the heater is dry lint.
Why two hours rather than thirty seconds?
AEG do not explain the difference. Every other reset in their range is thirty seconds. Our reading is that two hours is long enough for the machine to reach room temperature throughout, which both allows a heat-related sensor reading to settle and keeps the machine out of use for a meaningful period. Treat it as an instruction rather than as a fix.
My machine shows C8 instead. Is that the same thing?
AEG describe C8 in the same terms — a problem with the temperature sensor — and attach the same do-not-use warning to it. What they do not do anywhere is publish that C8 and E70 are the same fault on different display generations, so we are not going to claim it. Treat a C8 with the same seriousness and follow your own machine’s documentation.
Is this expensive?
A thermistor is a cheap part and the labour is most of the bill. It is worth asking the engineer to confirm whether it is the sensor or the board input before authorising work, because those are very different repairs at very different prices.
Is my model affected by a recall?
Not on AEG, Zanussi or Electrolux. There is no current UK tumble dryer recall for any of the three, and unusually the manufacturer’s own safety page and the government register agree on that. The live UK dryer safety programme covers other badges entirely.
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
- Manufacturer technical and service documentation
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.