What E30-10 actually means

The machine hasn't taken in enough water in the time it expects, so it stops rather than carry on with a dry drum.

Bosch's control board times the fill at the start of the cycle. If the water level it expects hasn't been reached within the allowed period, it halts and shows this code — usually within the first minute or two, with the drum sitting empty or barely wetted. On Bosch machines built before around 2010 the same physical fault showed up as F17, F29, E17 or E29; nothing about the cause has changed, only the way it's displayed.

What usually causes it

Water supply tap turned off or only part open
Kinked, trapped or blocked fill hose
Blocked filter in the inlet hose connection or low mains pressure
Faulty water inlet valve not opening
Pressure or level sensing fault so the board never sees the water arrive

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.

Check the cold tap behind the machine is fully open
Look along the fill hose for kinks or anything pressing on it
Run a nearby cold tap to confirm you have normal mains pressure — and check the household stopcock if a plumber has been in recently
Turn the machine off at the wall for a minute, then power up and restart a short cycle

When to call someone

This sometimes clears with the checks above. If it comes back, it needs looking at properly. 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.

Bosch E30-10 error — washing machine

What E30-10 actually means

What usually causes it

What you can safely check yourself

When to call someone

Other Bosch washing machine codes

Need it looked at properly?