Hi, I have a Hotpoint Ultima FDW80 free standing dishwasher that is now 2 years old and will not work. The fault code that is flashing on the LCD display is AL01 but the troubleshooting guide does not have help on this code. The Hotpoint Service engineer line was no help - unless I want to pay just under £90 for them to just look at it ! Can you please help ? Thanks.

Nicola Williams, September 2007

I have tilted my dishwasher and looked in side no water even lay on side to look inside,nothing broken inside everything looks ok but al01 still showing and will not go off any suggestions?

Adele, February 2020

i had the same problem it was the trumpet pipe that goes from the pump to the heater, it had a minute split, cured the problem by sealing the split with araldite, heat & water proof, gave the glue/resin time for the araldite to harden i have had no problems since .
all i will say donot use heavy duty jubilee clips get the ones that you can tighten with your thumb & finger.

MICK, July 2016

Had exactly the same problem as Tony P - lower rotor arm came off, closely followed with code AL01. Bear in mind this was Christmas Eve!!!!!

Tried the tilt and tip tip. I also (after a deep breath) unscrewed the base and dried the inside with a towel and hairdryer. Rescrewed, reinstalled and retried. Think it's ok now.

Thank you all for your tips and help.

Gillimot, December 2015

AL01 code came up half way through cycle, found this site on the web, and had a read of the various answers...
Lower rotor arm had come loose (almost fell off), removed top and bottom baskets, laid machine down on left hand side, a fair amount of water came out (clean). At this point the house RCD tripped, must have got some water where it didn't like it. Mopped
water up, stood machine upright, reattached lower rotor arm, reset house RCD, replaced baskets, started wash cycle, problem solved.
Thank you to all people who left comments on this site, absolutely priceless... Will now check bottom rotor arm every time I add salt, as this is where the water probably got in???

Tony P, November 2015

Had code AL05 yesterday. Checked filter and removed a large pip which seemed to be causing the problem - that code disappeared then AL01 started flashing. My husband has spent all day trying to fix the problem with no joy . I've come home from work and found this site. Little ol me - pulled out machine, tipped it on its side - loads of water escaped. Mopped it all up, put trays back in machine - and what do you know !!!!! Works like new!!!!! Oh I just love it when we ladies over power the gents . Thanks for all the tips !!! Hope this helps someone

Sharpie99, April 2015

Hi. I've got the same error. Done the empty bit loads of time - no water came out. Then we opened the bottom, and nothing looked out of place & we did not see any leaks. But as soon as we put it on it gives the AL01 error.

Ash, November 2014

Today it started with an AL03. Like normally I clean the whole machine and open the bottom to take out the debris from the pump. Not much this time, only little block of carrot. But as we all know that's enough the pump.

Normally I put it on the left side (front view). But this time I put it on the tight side, making it difficult to take off the pump and put it on again.

So I mounted all again, closed it, and put it on. And then AL01. Out of nothing. No leaking, nothing. And I tried the tilt and no succes, only a lot of water. Then open the thing, searching for wet spots, nothing. Then remounted the bottom water shower, no luck at all. Then I checked all the tubes. Nothing.

My last try before to give up. The little red tube from the big reservoir at the right side (front view). I took it off the pump. Blew in it. And I could not do that. So I took it off. Blew again and there was a lot of little fine debris coming out, not like dirt but white hard. Then I put a tiny pin into the mounting of the red tube at the pump, and a piece of carrot came out. Reassembled and put it to work.

And still working..

Wim-Bart, August 2014

Well all I could see on this page was lots of people being pleased that the mysterious tipping answer had worked for them, but I couldn't actually see the answer.

So I pulled the machine out, tipped it on its side, mopped up about a bowl's-worth of water, then turned it on. Seems to be working nicely now. Hope it lasts!

justposted, June 2014

Thank you. My wash machine has the same problem (display al10) and after reading these expert advices I solved the problem. The most difficult was the tilt and I had some water in the floor but I'm very happy. Thank you.
Luís /from Lisboa, Portugal)

Luis, May 2014

Brilliant! Tipped, mopped and tightened the white nut holding the rotor arm. Running perfectly and my husband is gobsmacked!

Denise, February 2014

Can't thank you people enough, everybody that contributed with an answer. I had the AL01 code too. I read through the answers and followed the advice. I found the loose plastic nut that attaches the bottom jet arm at the base, tightened it and did the tilt. water came pouring out. kept the dishwasher on its side for 10 minuets, drained all the water. restarted the machine and like magic it started to work again.
I have a british gas cover and it wouldn't have cost me any money to get them to fix it. But I would have wasted half a day at least waiting for the engineer, and then for him to do his job.
Brilliant site

Malshamaa, January 2014

did as read on here just tilted it over onto a couple of old towels put it back and dried the floor and i'm back in action ...simple no need for expensive call out thanks for the advice

jane gee, August 2013

Second visit to this site regarding FDW80 problem & it delivers every time. The code AL01 was flashing - did as advised - tipped & mopped & as doing so could see the bottom rota arm had come loose hence the flood. Panic over - sink put back into retirement . And as a female feel very proud that I fixed whilst hubby looked on saying - 'why bother, just call-out a man that can'! £90 saved ! (Or so he thinks - I'm off to get a manicure!!)

SHARPIE99, February 2013

hi, my dishwasher is flashing code AL 03 what does this mean as i cant find it in my manual many thanks

robert french, October 2012

Hi there this is a great site to fix your dishwasher, it helped me fix mine!

I own a hotpoint DW85A Had the fault Code AL01 discovered from this site what the possibilities could be, did the tilt test which re-set the anti-flood switch. but needed to find the cause the of the leak, turned out to be the lower spinning washer arm main nut came loose (this main nut on the inside of the machine is connected to a tube on the outside of the machine underneath, which is then connected to pumps etc), with the nut (white in colour) being loose meant the rubber seal was no-longer creating a seal, after tilting the machine upside down and seeing which sealed had come loose it was easy, just to re-connect and tighten the main nut(white) then simply attached the lower spinning washer arm (interestingly the display on the front of the machine did display an icon of a washer arm with one water drip, when discovering the machine had a fault after switching the power back on, yes this fault tripped our main RCD!) once all back together switched on and so far all ok!

Mint Nick, February 2012

Just done the "tilt and mop" on my slimline SDW80 to great success. Thank goodness for t'Interweb!! Saved the husband a new dishwasher... altho I WAS going to angle for a proper sized dishwasher next time... Boo

FinolaBee, January 2012

what does AL10 mean,as it seams that no water is going into the dishwasher:(

Ann, December 2011

Tried draining the tray. That worked for a few minutes and AL01 came back. The leak was from the seal around the union the bottom spray arm connects to. Had to remove pump to get to it. Bit fiddly and took a little patience. Took it off, wrapped the thread with PTFE tape, screwed it up as tight as possible, replaced the metal clips with new jubilee clips from a car spares shop. A few washes later, so far so good.

Mike, October 2011

Another thing to check for, which is what I have just found out, is to check for any piercing marks made by any knifes not put in correctly.
This is what I have just found out - small hole was in the back which was letting the water out then running down the back of the washer in to the bottom tray.
Fixed by using a self tapper screw with a washer and a bit of sealing mastik - hopefully all will be ok now.

kevin warmington, August 2011

Another happy tilter.
thanks to all here

Scuz, November 2010

Thank you soooo much, don't know about grannies but I on my 7-months pregnant belly could do it, unplugged, pulled out, tilted 3 times untill all water came out (dirty though) and it worked, it worked!!!!!!

Rena, October 2010

AL01 probably translates as machine is flooded internally and as a safety willnot switch on until its not flooded anymore. The advice on this site was fantastic. You won't need your toolkit for this one...As suggested I tilted the machine to one side (either side will do) and let a couple of litres of excess water flood out and then started the machine and voila I have unglued myself from the scouring pad I thought I would have to use as a replacement!!! If this doesn't work then reach for your tools and this site for other solutions.

DIYer, August 2010

Please can someone help. My dishwasher is showing the AL01 fault. I have checked the anti flood switch and it is fine. What else could it be???

ste-sparky, June 2010

Thanks for your help, I had a AL01 alarm, just tilted my machine as suggested and it worked, fingers crossed.

Mark, February 2010

Not sure if this will help anyone, but we too had the AL01 error code.

Thing is, our waste pipe joins with the waste from the sink in the kitchen, whist the dishwasher (FWD85) is in the utility room.

2 weeks ago, the waste pipe was resting on the grid for the waste outside, as it doesn't go right through, as a consequence, there was fat and waste build-up that blocked the pipe. In turn, when using the dishwasher, there was obviously waste blow back into the dishwasher. Today, we get the AL01 error code.

We disconnected from the mains (!), pulled the dishwasher out, emptied the residue waste (as described earlier), held the ON/OFF button, saw the _ _ _ _ and switched off and back on again. All working.

Don't you just love t'Internet ?

Preston Keith, February 2010

My FDW80 has had the waste pipe replaced twice now, due to the fact that the hose runs directly next to the heating element, which is the likely cause of the brittle type failure seen with the first failure and then the second failure having burned through the pipe which ended up resting against the element. I have been receiving AL10 now for a few months, but other than not quite finishing the wash cycle i have not experienced any other issues even with the alarm code displayed. However today the dishwasher will not get very far into a cycle before it boils the water and fills the insdie full of smoke. I will be replacing the heating element..if this doesn't work then I will throw the big white heap of cack in the skip.

Paul, January 2010

I had the same problem with mine before you go unscrewing the bottom check that the bottom spinning jet has not worked loose this I discovered after doing everthing else I have tightened the jet and its now working fingers crossed........

md1302, January 2010

i had two errors, the first was the float switch. I did the tip the water out thing, which worked for about a week, i then got a 'thermistor' error code.

I drained the machine, (run a short cycle you'll hear the water drain out, then cancel the programm by holding the cancel button after about 5 seconds, this will save you alot of mopping). Tip the machine on it's back, clean up any spilt water, then remove 6 screws from the bottom panel (not the 2 located in the centre of the bottom panel, this holds the float switch in place). Be careful when you remove the bottom panel, the float switch is attached by a wire, you need to unplug this for ease of access (remember the position of the plug as there are 3 pins and it only goes on 2 of them).

Once inside there's not much too it. I could see limescale deposits on the bottom panel, which meant a leak somewhere. It was easy to find and easy to fix. The grey waste pipe, which is grey in coloured and looks a bit like a plastic spring, had completeley deterioated. It was split in numerous places. This pipe is connected to the small waste pump and runs out the back of the machine and into the drain. I removed this, bought a new one from the local plumbers (£6) and replaced it. It's easy to remove, it's connected by a mteal spring clip one end, you just need pliers to remove it. It's held in place at the the back of the machine by a small white clip, this fiddly to remove, but needed to stop the pipe rubbing on the back of the machine. With the leak fixed, i needed to find the cause of the over heating.

This turned out to be the main impellor inside the main motor. It had seized due to the limescale build up. A bit of prodding with a screw driver, and a small ammount of wd40 and the impellor was free (you don't have to remove the motor, just free it from the rubber mount to expose the impellor). I put the machine back together, and it's now all back to normal. Took about an hour and a half, cost six quid.

Hopefully you'll catch your leak before you have a problem with the motor. Check that pipe and i bet thats your problem.

Hope this helps.

Utah, December 2009

awesome tilted the machine now i have no power at all.

chris, November 2009

Firstly, i am no engineer or electrician, i don't recomend you try the way i managed to find the fault but it worked for me. I had thew AL01 error code, when i had unplugged the machine from the mains I drained it by tipping to its side, turned it upide down and found that (after the advice on this site's previous posts), the float switch was attached to the bottom panel. I couldn't find any leakage or errosion so i left the bottom panel off and put the machine up on blocks of wood so there was a gap to see where any leak may come from. I turned the machine on and set to a short cycle and almost as soon as i did, i saw the leak was coming from the back of the machine not the workings underneath. After taking off the plastic back panel, the problem was the joint at the top of the pipe that carries water up to the top rotor was loose. I turned the machine back the right way up, tightened the plastic nut with pliers on the inside of the machine, put everthing back together and haven't had a problem since .... touch wood. Couldn't have done it without the help on this site.

Vaders Apprentice, November 2009

Tried the suggested tilt with my Hotpoint FDW80 still doesn't work. Any ideas? This machine is only 18 months old and on its third failure. 1st time only 1 month after delivery. Best advise is leave Hotpoint and Indesit well alone!!

Neil, July 2009

had the AL01 fault ... read the manual, no fault code listed there ... checked this site ... read the info ... tilted my machine ... excess water drained out ... mop at the ready ... switch on ... working again ... Excellent site

Sam, June 2009

This site is incredible. My reply here might be slightly off topic, but as the complete list of codes is presented here, I'll give it a go.

My Ariston LD87 suddenly displayed error code AL03, and would not pump out water. After finding this website I pulled the machine out on the floor, laid it on it's side and opened it up. The pump is easily accessed, and can be opened with a Torx-screwdriver. After removing a piece of a match-stick(!) and reassembling the machine now works like a charm. I think even my grandmother could have fixed the problem with help from this website. And thus save at least €100.

Thank you!

Kristian, Norway, April 2009

Thankyou Joe, I had same problem and resolved it by tilting machine to one side.
Hotpoint had quoted £150 to repair fault and explained to my wife that the lcd board needed to be changed.
Again many thanks

Mohammed, March 2009

Hi did as Joe suggested and it worked but not for long and then i noticed that the waste pipe had gone britle and was leaking so replaced and then all sorted.

Tony, December 2008

Great site! I browsed the web for half an hour before getting here, and it take me 5 minutes to solve the problem!
My appliance is a LX83DUO dishwasher from Ariston
Thank you very much!

lucamenego, November 2008

Thankyou for the great advice just did as you suggested and all is working. No more dishpan hands!!!

Carey, June 2008

How superb is this site!!! After the despair of seeing AL01 and not having a clue what to do, I find this site which says, 'It's a
flood trip switch, tilt the machine 30 degrees, have a mop handy and let the excess water drain out and it will work' It did! fantastic.

One final question........why can't Hotpoint have a website like this?

Bruce Dunton, May 2008

We have the same prob with ours, did as Joe suggested , worked for a little while then went again, paid hotpoint £90 to fix with 1 month guarentee , 6weeks later gone again ...............................never buy hotpoint again

Paul Keegan, April 2008

Had the same alarm as Joe Gravy, did as he suggested and all is well.. Thanks for that Joe.

Jimbob Thornton, November 2007

I had the AL01 fault on my Hotpoint, and I resolved it by tilting the machine at a angle to allow any residual water out onto the towel-covered floor. I then put it through a deep clean with 'Oust' and all is well. I hop this helps and saves you money. It did me!!!

Joe Gravy, November 2007

Hi Nicola, I have the same problem thats just happened to me. I think that Hotpoint are quickly going down the pan in my opinion. Anyway I found these codes somewhere within the site and hope they will be of some use to you.

Newer Hotpoint, Creda, Ariston and Indesit Dishwashers:

AL01 - Anti flood switch operated
AL02 - Valve or connections
AL03 - Time out - drain
AL04 - Thermistor (module)
AL05 - Circulation pump
AL06 - Time out - fill
AL07 - Not used
AL08 - Time out - heat
AL09 - Software recogntion error
AL10 - Heating circuit
AL99 - Communications error - connectors, cables etc.
H20 - Time out - fill (taps)

Please let me know how expensive this is if you sort it before me.

Regards

Neil

Neil, October 2007