Error code
Bosch error code E21
Bosch error code E21: the heat pump is blocked. 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 E21, 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
Heat pump blocked
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 most common call Dishwasher not draining
Water standing in the bottom of the tub after a cycle. Two of the five causes come out by hand without tools, which makes this the symptom most worth five minutes before booking anything.
- Standing water after every cycle
- A code in the twenties, or four flashing lights
- Dishes clean on top, wet and gritty below
In more detail
About Bosch error code E21
What this one means
The heat pump is blocked. 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:
- E21, E6002 — 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:
- Debris that has reached the pump
- Scale restricting it
Worth doing before you call
- Clean the filter in the floor of the tub
- Cut power at the breaker for thirty seconds and try again
Then what
Debris reaches the heat pump when the filter has been left long enough to stop catching it, which makes this a maintenance problem that became a mechanical one.
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