What E17 actually means
The machine has spotted too much foam in the drum repeatedly and has cut the wash short rather than carry on.
During a cycle the machine checks for excess suds. If it detects heavy foam five or more times it stops trying to rinse and spin properly and flags E17. It's a warning rather than a fault with a part — usually the machine is fine and the detergent or load is the problem.
What usually causes it
- Too much detergent for the load size or water hardness
- Using hand-wash or non-HE detergent in an automatic machine
- Very small load with a normal dose of detergent
- Detergent left over from a previous overdose still in the drum
- Washing items that hold a lot of soap, such as bedding or heavy towels
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.
- Run a rinse and spin cycle with no detergent to clear the suds out
- Next wash, halve the amount of detergent and use only detergent meant for automatic machines
- Check the detergent drawer isn't clogged with old powder — rinse it out under the tap
- Make sure the drum isn't overloaded, and turn the machine off at the wall for a minute to reset the warning
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.
Other Montpellier washing machine codes
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- Montpellier E07 — The washing machine's control board has lost or mismatched i…
- Montpellier E08 — The machine has detected that the electricity reaching it is…