What E15 Means
E15 means the base-pan safety float switch has detected water where it shouldn't be, and the dishwasher has shut off the water inlet to prevent flooding.
Common Causes of E15
- A genuine leak from a hose, seal, or pump
- A stuck or overly sensitive base-pan float switch (even a small amount of residual water can keep it triggered)
- Condensation collecting in the base pan over time
🔧 One Safe Check You Can Try
Turn off the water supply to the dishwasher at the shutoff valve immediately. Do not attempt to reset and rerun the cycle until the source is identified.
⚠ Why You Shouldn't Go Further Than That
- Disabling or resetting the float switch to get the dishwasher running again removes the exact safety feature keeping water off your kitchen floor.
- A leak that isn't fully diagnosed and stopped can travel under cabinetry for days before it becomes visible, causing far more damage than the original fault.
- The base pan sits directly beneath live electrical connections — checking for standing water without shutting off the breaker first is a shock risk.
- Tilting or moving a built-in unit to inspect the base pan can shift or damage water-line connections that were previously fine.
- Even after toweling the base dry, the float switch is sensitive enough that a small residual amount can keep it tripped — most homeowners can't reliably fully dry the pan without a wet-dry vacuum and won't know if a real leak is still present.
- Continuing to run cycles while chasing this fault yourself risks water damage that most homeowners insurance treats as a maintenance issue, not a covered loss.