Error code
Bosch error code E15
Bosch error code E15: the sensor in the base pan has found water and shut the machine down. What the code covers, what to check first, and what it does not tell you — on dishwashers.
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What we can confirm
Code E15, from the manufacturer's own pages
A code is only meaningful together with the generation showing it — the same two digits mean different things across generations.
The code
E15
The sensor in the base pan has found water and shut the machine down
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What it narrows down to
Leak protection
What you are probably seeing
Diagnostic
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What it looks like from the kitchen
The symptom this code usually arrives with
A code names the subsystem; the symptom is what sent you to look at the display in the first place. That page says what it usually turns out to be, cheapest cause first.
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The machine may lock itself out Dishwasher leaking
Water on the floor, or a machine that has stopped and refuses to start. The leak protection on these dishwashers catches water in the base before it reaches your kitchen — which is why the first sign is usually a machine that will not run rather than a puddle.
- Machine dead with a leak code showing
- Water at the front edge of the door
- A damp cabinet base with no visible puddle
In more detail
About Bosch error code E15
What this one means
The sensor in the base pan has found water and shut the machine down. It is a code the manufacturer publishes for this appliance, not one we have worked out — and it is decoded here rather than left as three characters on a display.
The other ways your machine may say it
The same condition is published under more than one label, because it has been carried across generations of this appliance:
- E15, E3100, F15 — the same condition, on machines of different ages
- Active lights flashing — how a model with no digital display says it. On that machine, the lights are the code
What the code covers
A published cause names a circuit rather than a component, which is the single most useful thing to know before ordering a part. This one covers:
- Any leak that reaches the base pan — the door seal, the sump, a hose connection, the inlet valve
Worth doing before you call
- Turn the water off at the valve under the sink, first and before anything else
- Look for water under the front edge of the machine
Then what
This is protection working rather than a part failing. The machine will keep refusing to run until the pan is dry and the leak is gone — and tipping it backwards to drain the pan resets the lockout without repairing anything.
This code is published for dishwashers. The full list of codes has the rest of them, searchable, including the labels older and newer machines use for the same conditions.
This article is based on:
- Official manufacturer documentation
- Internal repair procedures
- Technician repair history
- Company quality standards