Hotpoint Flashing lightswhat it means
No display, just lights? Hotpoint decode them by which are lit, not how many times they flash — and every "count the flashes" table online is wrong.
Before you start
What this means
A great many Hotpoint washing machines have no digital display, and on those the fault is reported by which warning lights are on. This is the single most misunderstood thing about the brand, because the internet is full of tables telling you to count the flashes — five flashes means F05, and so on.
Hotpoint publish no such table anywhere. What they publish is a tool whose instruction reads "Please select all the flashing LED’s in sequential order to reveal what your error code could mean", and it works on the combination of lights rather than a count. Underneath, each light carries a value and the code is the sum: the fourth light is worth one, the third two, the second four, the first eight, and the fifth sixteen. So the third and fourth lit together make three, which is F03, a temperature sensing fault.
Hotpoint never state that rule on the page and it has to be worked out from the answers, which is why it is worth writing down. Two warnings about the tool. Several combinations return "no errors found" because Hotpoint do not publish those codes at all. And the combination that should give F11 serves the answer for F09 instead, which is a genuine error in their page rather than a diagnosis — if your machine will not empty, trust that over what the tool says.
What causes it
| Cause | What is actually happening | How likely |
|---|---|---|
| Machine has no digital display | Very common across the Hotpoint range. The lights are the only way these machines report a fault. | Common |
| A third-party flash-count table was used | The commonest reason people arrive at the wrong code. Hotpoint publish no flash-count decoder for washing machines. | Common |
| Panel layout differs from the illustration | Hotpoint offer a horizontal and a vertical layout and tell you to pick the alternative if the lights are arranged differently. | Occasional |
What to try yourself
Note exactly which lights are lit, not how many times anything flashes. That is the input Hotpoint’s own tool asks for.
Work left to right and give the lights the values eight, four, two, one, and sixteen for the fifth. Add up the ones that are lit.
The total is your code number. A total of five is F05, a total of six is F06, and so on.
If your total is eleven, the code is F11 — a pump circuit fault. Hotpoint’s own tool wrongly returns a software fault for this one.
This is the combination worth knowing about. A blocked pump reported as a software fault sends people to a paid engineer for something that can be a coin in the filter.If your total is four, ten or fourteen, or the fifth light is lit with any other light, Hotpoint publish nothing for it. Their tool says "No errors found for this combination", and that is the honest answer rather than a failure on your part. The fifth light on its own is F16, which Hotpoint scope to top-loading machines only.
Get a qualified appliance engineer to look at your Hotpoint washing machine
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 it costs to fix
Typical repair cost
£0
Time on site
10 minutes
Nothing to read the lights. What it costs depends entirely on which code they turn out to be.
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
- F01Get it checkedA control board fault where some or all functions stop responding. Hotpoint give a specific two-minute power cycle, and it is worth doing once properly.Related: electronics and power
- F18Get it checkedAn internal data error, and one of only four Hotpoint codes with a published owner remedy. Do the power cycle properly, once, before booking anything.Related: electronics and power
- F12Get it checkedAn electronic control fault where the machine will not turn on at all. Different from the codes where it powers up and then refuses instructions.Related: electronics and power
- F09Get it checkedA software fault, usually showing as several lights flashing at once and no way to select a programme. Hotpoint send this one to an engineer and publish nothing else about it.Related: electronics and power
- F05Get it checkedThe machine cannot pump out, so the door stays locked with water inside. Hotpoint treat it as an owner job, and two of their own documents agree on the causes.Related: same brand
- F06Get it checkedA door lock fault — and the one code on this machine with an open safety recall behind it. If yours was built between October 2014 and February 2018, check the recall before anything else.Related: same brand
Own a Hotpoint washing machine? Save it and its codes come first next time.
Related guides
Common questions
So counting the flashes does not work at all?
Not on Hotpoint washing machines. They decode by which lights are lit, in combination. Every table telling you that five flashes means F05 is reconstructing a system Hotpoint do not use, and it will give you the wrong code for most faults.
The tool says no errors found for my combination.
That is a real answer rather than a bug. Hotpoint do not publish codes for every possible total — there is no F04, F10, F14, F17 or F19 in their table, so those combinations have nothing to return.
My lights are arranged differently from the picture.
Hotpoint anticipate that and offer two panel layouts, horizontal and vertical, with a button to switch between them. Pick whichever matches your machine.
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.