Error code
Bosch error code E12
Bosch error code E12: limescale has built up in the heat pump. 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 E12, 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.
What it narrows down to
Scale build-up
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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Film, grit or dishes still dirty Dishwasher not cleaning properly
Dishes coming out gritty, cloudy or with food still on them. In a hard-water city a good share of this is scale and detergent rather than a failed part — and the machine will eventually tell you so with a code of its own.
- Grit left in glasses and cups
- A white film on everything
- Food still on the lower rack
In more detail
About Bosch error code E12
What this one means
Limescale has built up in the heat pump. 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:
- E12, E2060 — the same condition, on machines of different ages
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:
- Scale on the heating surfaces inside the pump assembly
What to try yourself
- Look for a white haze on glassware — the same minerals, showing where you can see them
- Run an empty hot cycle with a proper dishwasher descaler
Then what
This is the most useful code the machine has, because it arrives long before any damage. South Florida water is hard and this code will come back on a schedule; acting on it is a service, ignoring it for a year is a heat pump.
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