How easy is it to replace a heater element on a Hotpoint Aquarius DWF40 dishwasher

john bostock, May 2009

(12:15pm 27/10/09) Have just finished fitting the replacement heating element and now have a working dishwasher again! The replacement part cost me £49.50 from a local electrical spares stockist: part no. 057684.
Procedure is basically a reverse from taking it out: remember to put the earth lead back on first as (on mine) it was somewhat tucked behind the unit when originally fitted and you will need to plug the supply back in at the front later. I found that it was easier to fit the hose with the U-bend first and then get the top hose back on by removing (temporarily) the motor condenser (capacitor) and tucking it out of the way (nut and spring washer to take off and replace later). This allowed my hand to better grip the conical rubber hose piece. I had to replace the original hose clips as previously stated - used terry clips this time (with screw tightener) to do this - make sure you can get in with the screwdriver to tighten them up. Whole of this procedure, replacing the bottom cover and front plinth and back into the kitchen took about 1 hour. It certainly saved me the call-out fee and only took 3 working days for the part to arrive at the suppliers despite the postal strike!

Andy Heslington, October 2009

Have just taken the heater out of my DWF40 thismorning... the error lights I was getting were both the wash and drying flashing together: result is open-circuit heater. Other posts on other sites have no replies and I thought it time to put this right!
OK - unplug from mains and drain water from unit as best you can. Lean the machine on it's side - some water will still come out - I took mine apart outside in the yard.
Take off the bottom tray of the unit (6 screws) - I found that taking off the bottom front plinth (2 screws) was helpfull to do this. Take off electrical connection to float switch (note which two connections it was on first). Heater is partially hidden beneath the motor and looks like a short section of car exhaust with metal lagging and what looks like a small spark plug!!!(Which isn't of course!) Remove electrical connection and test pins on heater to see if it is open circuit. (Mine is). If you need to take it out then: using a flat blade screwdriver ease off the 2 circular clips and release the rubber hoses from both ends - heater should just slide a little bit and then come out. On mine I will need to obtain 2 replacement Jubilee clips when fitting the replacement unit as the circular clips broke when taking them out. This whole process took about 1/2 an hour to do. I am presently trying to source a replacement- prices on the net that I've seen so far vary from £45 to £75. Will let you know how I get on... (13:15pm 22/10/09)

Andy Heslington, October 2009