Neff E22 on a dishwasher
Filters are blocked and the machine cannot circulate water properly.
The same code appears on Bosch and Siemens machines — they share the same control platform.
You can fix this yourself
No special tools or qualifications needed
About 40 min to work through
Free to £110
DIY: Up to £40 in parts
What E22 actually means
A close cousin of E24. Where E24 reports that the water would not leave, E22 reports that the filters are restricted enough to stop the machine circulating water as it should. The fix is the same deep clean, and it is almost entirely a maintenance fault rather than a failure.
Before you start
Sharp objects: Check for broken glass in the filter before reaching in.
What causes it, most likely first
Grease-clogged filter mesh
Most likelyLow-temperature eco cycles do not melt fat well, so grease slowly varnishes the mesh. Rinsing under a cold tap does nothing; it needs hot water and a brush.
How to check: Hold the mesh up to a light. You should see light through it evenly.
Debris in the sump under the filter
CommonLabels from jars, seeds, and fragments of crockery settle beneath the filter housing where a routine rinse never reaches.
Blocked spray arm jets
CommonOnce debris passes a damaged filter it lodges in the spray-arm jets, which restricts circulation and leaves dishes dirty at the top of the machine first.
Spray arm£12–£40 for the partDIY
How to fix it, step by step
Remove the filter stack and wash it properly
Twist out the cylindrical filter and lift out the flat mesh. Wash both in hot water with washing-up liquid and a brush until you can see light through the mesh everywhere.
15 minWashing-up brushClean the sump
Wipe out the recess the filters sat in, removing grit and glass. A cloth wrapped round a finger works better than anything else here.
10 minCloth, GlovesClear the spray arms
Unclip both spray arms — usually a quarter turn or a single central nut — and flush them under the tap. Poke any blocked jets clear with a cocktail stick, not a needle, which can enlarge them.
10 minCocktail stickRun a hot maintenance cycle
Refit everything, then run the hottest programme empty with a dishwasher cleaner or a cup of white vinegar in the base. This clears the grease the manual clean could not reach.
5 min
Need an engineer for this E22?
We list 75 dishwasher repair businesses across the UK, 28 of which are Neff-authorised. Diagnostic callouts typically start around £55, and many will put that towards the repair if you go ahead.
- 0800 037 4915London
- 01344 669700BracknellSame day
- 01634 557996Chatham
Parts you might need
Typical UK prices for the part alone, before fitting. Worth knowing before you accept a quote — the part is often a small share of what a repair is priced at.
Spray arm
The rotating arms that fling water at the dishes. Usually just needs the jets clearing rather than replacing.
£12–£40
Worth repairing, or replace it?
At the top of this range the repair costs a significant share of a graded replacement, which typically starts around £190. Worth getting the quote first, then deciding — on a machine under about five years old a repair usually still wins.