After 3.5 years our dishwasher stopped drying the dishes and gave E10 error. After some searching I found that the error is not related to the scaling of the heating element (descaling did not help), but the heater failure. Also I found that a new heater element costs at least 100 euro. Very disappointing, should have bought a used Miele instead.
I am writing this post as I take the dishwasher apart:
- Disconnect electricity, water inlet and outlet on the wall.
- Remove two screws (behind the door) attaching the appliance to the kitchen cabinet.
- Drag it out, pull out the power cable plug
- Remove the sheet metal sides and insulating material. One Torx screw holds each side, they can be found behind the door seals.
- Lay the dishwasher down on its back. Be careful about the hoses.
- Take out the front metal plate containing the LCD projector. One connector and two screws.
- Disconnect the hinge ropes. Pull them with pliers until the plastic part comes off the hinge
- Pull out the plastic bottom. On the back it is held by bent sheet metal tab, on the front there are plastic tabs that can be pushed from behind. Or you can remove more hinge parts to access the tabs. Some water will spill from the left side when the bottom is disconnected.
- Study the drawings at https://www.bosch-home.com.au/supportdetail/product/SMV68M90EU/80#/Tabs=section-spareparts/Togglebox=tb0199/Togglebox=tb0470/ . The heater part number is 0470.
- The heater is inside a metal tube leading to the magic crystal container. You need to disconnect two wire connectors first, then compress the three tabs holding the heater and pull the fan away. Moving the controller box away to make space helps too.
I found some minor traces of dirt inside the heater. It is encased in glass tube epoxied(?) into a plastic seal/connector block. This, of course, provides the best insulation between you and your 100eur. However, I was able to wash the dirt away with distilled water and some Q-tips.
There appear to be two protection devices inside. One is a thermal fuse, another is a metal rod laying on the bottom side of the glass tube. I guess the metal rod is some sort of water detection mechanism, measuring current leakage. The rod should be cleaned and the thermal fuse checked and replaced if needed.
You can check the thermal fuse by reaching it with a multimeter, no dissassembly needed. Mine is blown, the rest of the heater measures 35 ohm.
I was not able to read the writing on the fuse apart from 5A rating. Please leave a comment if you know the values. I soldered in a 200C 10A (basically the only one I had) thermal fuse. Be careful to not overheat the fuse while soldering – hold it with substantial pliers and be quick. Good steel flux helps a lot. Originally the fuse was spot-welded, but I still don’t have a spot welder..
I will put the dishwasher back together and update this article in case something goes wrong.