What E17 actually means
The machine has found too much foam in the drum and paused to deal with it — it's a warning about detergent, not a breakdown.
Blomberg machines watch for excessive foam during the wash. If foam is detected five or more times in a cycle, E17 is shown. The machine will usually run extra rinses to clear the suds, so the programme takes longer, and foam may appear at the detergent drawer or door seal.
What usually causes it
- Too much detergent for the load size or water hardness
- Hand-wash or non-automatic detergent used in the machine
- A very small load with a normal dose of detergent
- Detergent that foams heavily, or doubling up with extra liquid and capsules
- Residue build-up in the drawer from previous overdosing
What you can safely check yourself
Work through these in order. Anything beyond this — panels off, testing parts, anything to do with the wiring — is an engineer's job, and not one to attempt with the machine plugged in.
- Let the machine finish — it will often rinse the foam away on its own
- Run a rinse-and-spin cycle with no detergent to clear the suds
- Next wash, cut the detergent to the dose on the pack for your water hardness and load size
- Check you're using detergent made for automatic washing machines
- Rinse out the detergent drawer under the tap and refit it
- Turn the machine off at the socket for a minute and restart if the code stays on with the door shut
When to call someone
This often clears with the checks above, and rarely needs an engineer. We cover Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Leicestershire, and it's £66 including VAT for an engineer to come out and diagnose it — £84 in total if it's repaired on the visit with no parts needed. Any parts needed are quoted on site before we fit them — you decide. Every repair carries a 90-day workmanship guarantee.
Outside our area? The explanation above still stands — take it to a local engineer and tell them the code. Knowing it saves them time and you money.
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