Nothing exciting here, just a note for Future Dave if/when it happens again.
Last night, with a completely full dishwasher (of course) after a dinner party, our Bosch dishwasher refused to work, complaining of a "Watertap" problem on the control panel.
A quick look through the instruction booklet revealed nothing (thanks, Bosch!), but some quick Googling found various references to a problem with the water input not detecting sufficient water pressure. Which would make perfect sense if we had been doing anything with the water in the house, or anything near the feed line to the dishwasher, or anything like that.
So today, before calling Bosch, I did what any good computer tech would do: I cycled the power (unplugged and replugged the dishwasher). That didn't solve it on its own, but pressing the "START (hold 3 seconds to reset)" button for three seconds … made the message go away.
And now the dishwasher is running fine, huzzah.
(On reflection, yesterday before the dinner party I inadvertently opened the dishwasher mid-cycle. I closed it and it finished, but I wonder if that made something in its tiny computer brain get confused. So, Future Dave, don't do that again. Or, if you do, here's how to fix the problem that ensues.)
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Thank you so much!! I was going to call a plumber but it is Sunday so I decided to google.
After reading your comment I remembered my teenager opened the dishwasher the other day and I found it had not finished its cycle.
You just saved me some bucks:)
Thank You! I reset the dishwasher first before reading your post. I learned how to do that with another issue a few weeks ago. And yes, I did open the door to add a coffee cup during the cycle.
How do you like it otherwise? We're looking at getting a Bosch.
We hate our Bosch. Doesn’t clean very well.
Told our friends not to buy one and they did anyway. They hate theirs too.
I have a Bosch dishwasher. I’ve had mine for 5 years and I have hated it since the first cycle. Doesn’t clean well. Sticky film on dishes. I rewatch by hand to remove residual film. I rinse dishes before and often almost completely wash before putting in dishwasher because it does very little for removing any food specs. It’s basically a storage area for dishes I don’t want to hand wash at the time. I am replacing with a Miele. I hate my Bosch dishwasher as well.
Sorry you’ve had that experience, Kathy. After seven years with mine, I would buy another Bosch in a heartbeat.
We love our Bosch dishwasher It holds lots of dishes and cleans perfectly.
This is where I bring in my regular Miele evangelism. Expensive, but OMG so awesome. We have a G 6997 SCVi XXL K2O fully integrated dishwasher (catchy name!) and DO NOT GET BETWEEN ME AND MY PRECIOUS.
+Colm Buckley We have a Miele steam-convection oven that my wife loves, so I can generally recommend the brand.
+Kee Hinckley It's the one appliance that I got to pick out in the new kitchen (well, we collaborated on the hood and the fridge), and I have no regrets. Runs quietly and has been (until this odd incident) very reliable. And, conveniently, it does a great job cleaning the dishes.
+Dave Hill When we remodeled our kitchen late last year (almost finished!) I did a lot of appliance research and eventually went all-Miele (two ovens, microwave, warmer, hood, induction range (❤❤❤), freezer, giant fridge, dishwasher, plus backup fridge, washer and dryer in the utility room). Life is now so much better in myriad little ways. The range communicates wirelessly with the hood to adjust fan speed HOW COOL IS THAT…
+Colm Buckley Okay, I'll admit, that's pretty cool.
+Margie Kleerup had a whole series of different things that she wanted in the kitchen, appliance-wise, so we decided early on not to go all with one brand — we've a mixture of GE (range, convection-microwave, fridge — all different sub-lines), Miele (steam-convection), Bosch (dishwasher), and Perlick (beverage fridge), with a Zephyr hood that was relatively inexpensive but an suck up small poodles if they stray too near.
So far, no complaints.
We did get a cheap new fridge for the garage (which makes two out there — we use for overflow), and our washer and dryer (LG) will hopefully last a few years longer.
We love it. Have had it 2 years, first time it will not start, but will try the above tips.
Great suggestion and thanks.
Thanks! This helped me fix my dishwasher today.
Yes I have a habit of forgetting things and opening the dw after it’s started. Did that today and got the water tap warning. Called Bosch with no help. So I left it on and it started working fine. Will try not to stop it after it starts in the future.
Thank you for the obvious solution. I had been cleaning out the detergent compartment and accidentally pushed a random selection of buttons. When I pressed start, it went through its starting cycle, then alarmed with that watertap error. Turning it off and on did the trick! You just saved my husband hours of wasted time. Thank you.
I just wanted to say THANK YOU! I was googling and everyone was saying pull it out and unplug it….um. No. Resetting it worked!
Future Dave,
It can also be caused by a clogged drain screen. In our case, our teenage daughter thought putting dirty dishes in the washer without rinsing was a good idea. The clogged screen prevents the pump from evacuating the wash water, and trips the error. Fix was, clean screen, power cycle and reset (hold start button for 3 seconds). Thanks for the blog.
-Yesterday Ryan
@Ryan Ah. Good to know. We’ve not had that particular aspect of the problem yet, but the added info could come in handy. Thanks!
Just the 3 second hold was enough? Tried that and also power cycling it and were still stuck with “watertap” error. It’s been installed less than 24 hours, not what I was hoping for with a higher end machine.
@Michael – Sorry to hear you’re having problems. Within the first 24 hours … yeah, that’s the burn-in period. FWIW, if you get past the first few days of use with pretty much any piece of equipment, it will behave well for some time to come. Hope you’re able to get service.
Dave
Thanks for the great suggestion! This reset worked and now the dishwasher is cleaning again.
Thank you for your help! Bosch sucks 2 contractors told me the dishwashers suck I did not listen. Buyer beware.
We’ve actually overall enjoyed our Bosch, with the exception of this one issue.
omg…thank you! I didn’t want to have to call anyone and i’ve been struggling figuring out what was wrong. This fixed it. hug to you!
Tried reset. No luck. Tried unplug and plug back in. No luck. Wife asked whether it might be related to problems with reverse osmosis system that’s been making noise. Took a look. Quarter-turn Bosch water supply valve was right next to R/O supply. I’d turned it off. Oh, that’s what watertap means this time! Thanks for the posts.
I’ve had my Bosch DW for 4 years. I get the watertap error about 85% of the time. It occurs about 2 minutes after starting the DW. It started doing this maybe 10 months into owning the DW and I had a repair guy come out and he showed me how to clear it and at the time he didn’t see any problems. Of course when he was here the DW worked perfectly.
When this error happens I press the reset button (far right) for 3 seconds and then I turn off the DW using the on/off button, then back on. I keep the filter screen clean and I rinse my dishes. If I try and use the kitchen faucet before using the DW that will sometimes trip it, but then other times when I haven’t used the kitchen faucet I’ll still get a watertap error. It’s a pain in the arse. Fortunately the DW works after doing the watertap/reset dance, but I cannot start the DW when I’m not there to babysit it and reset it 3 min later.
Thanks, holding the start button for 3 seconds turned the “watertap” light off. Still not sure why it came on but it got me to clean the filters..
Thanks so much. I was down there sucking out the water, rinsing things totally gross stuff to no avail. Such a simple solution and saved me $$!
Love our Bosch.. son installed a new kitchen faucet and I thought this was problem. Looked at all the valves and connectors… couldn’t find a problem. Decided to google before calling the plumber.. it worked!! Thank you… first problem with BOSCH and have had for 3 years…. best cleaning ,best quiet machine ever!
I agree watertap error about 85% of the time too. Here seems to be an even easier fix- found by acident…I was not available at the moment to babysit, my husband heard the beeps but could not get to it either… so the program continued, beeping stopped, dfishes got washed, this is the third time now that I am ignoring the beeping cycle continues… problem solved it seems.We tried all that other stuff before, including the constant, off and on again dance….
Really? Ignored it? How long before it resumed the wash cycle?
Just wanted to say “Thank You” for the great tip!
It worked and so happy I don’t have to call a repair guy!
Thank you so much!! Saved me from calling a repair guy and having to handwash! 🙂
We love our Bosch dishwasher and although we have opened it several times to add a forgotten cup or dish we have never had the watertap light come on. It’s working perfectly now – thanks again!
Dude!
You wrote, “Nothing exciting here”
I contest that statement!
I turned mine off and on, turned the electric off and on, I even jiggled the whole thing, didn’t even think of the reset button!!!
Thanks dude!
Happily having my dishes washed now 🙂
I must confess to a certain amount of joy that this post has been so useful to so many people.
We live in Minnesota and get the Watertap thing every time it gets really cold, like zero or below and it doesn’t start working again until it warms up. We have tried all the suggested fixes and nothing works. It is installed on an outside wall, but we have good insulation so it is a mystery. Other than that, it cleans very well and is nearly silent.
Thank you, the instructions never said water tap, customer service wanted to give me an appointment in a month but because of your blog, it was fixed in 3 seconds and for free. I am forever grateful.
Thanks Dave!! I was getting watertap and everything says check the hoses and then see if something is caught in the filter. Did all that and watertap would not go away. After 2 days found your post and it worked. My wife is happy now!!!
Thanks for this. I cleaned the filters which was disgusting – 5 years worth of gunk, but TAP error persisted until I tried your “reset” trick. Everything seems good now.
Thank you! Needed to hold start for 3 seconds and then turn off and on again. Huzzah the dishwasher works!
Thanks. Power cycle worked for me.
Okay, Future Dave reporting in just over nine years later.
Same error, same (more or less) way to save it.
Thanks, Past Dave!