When my kitchen was replaced a few years ago, part of the deal was a new dishwasher. As I have written on here before I am keen on high quality appliances and unfortunately because of the deal I didn’t get my preferred choice. Normally I’d go for Miele or Siemens, but to my dismay I ended up being given an AEG. This is one of those brands which used to be good but has ended up be absorbed by a much bigger group and in doing so has lost its way. The same thing seems to have happened to other once-great brands such as Zanussi and Hoover. Still I was hoping for the best…
The model I have ended up with is a Favorit ComfortLift FSK63800P, rather like the one shown in this video:
Unfortunately, unlike my old Miele dishwasher which worked almost faultlessly for a decade I’ve already had a fair amount of trouble with this and I’m less than impressed. However I have been able so far to remedy most of it which I’ll explain here in case anyone else encounters the same thing.
The first problem I’ve had is with the much-vaunted ‘ComfortLift’. This is a hydraulic mechanism which allows the lower basket to lift up as you pull it out. The idea is that it makes it easier to load. No doubt this is true, but the price you pay is that the mechanism is unreliable and prone to getting stuck. The system is quite an interesting feat of engineering and as you pull the basket out some metal pegs engage in a track on the side of the basket which are attached to the metal ‘swing’ arms. I’ve now had a few occasions where the basket has got stuck half-way or fully up.
This is a major headache, because it means you can’t use the dishwasher at all because you can’t close the door. It happened so so often that I got AEG out to replace the whole mechanism under warranty, but it’s now happened with the new one as well. After a lot of fiddling around it seems that the main reason is that the pegs somehow jump out of their tracks and so the whole thing is misaligned and won’t budge. The solution to this is to pull the ‘arm’ on each side outwards to take the pressure off the pegs, and try to guide them back into the tracks. It’s hard to explain this in words but this approach has saved my bacon several times now. I think the deisgn is fundamentally flawed though and this will happen sooner or later, and on this alone I couldn’t recommend the ‘ComfortLift’ to anyone.
The second problem is related to the ‘ComfortLift’ but presented in a very odd manner. One day and without warning in the middle of a cycle the dishwasher started beeping, and the display showed an i30 error whilst at the same time the pump was running constantly. The only way to stop it was to turn it off at the mains.
This code indicates that the ‘anti-flood’ device has activated, which basically indicates that the inside of the machine at the bottom is full of water and that in turn means that there is a leak somewhere. I didn’t like the sound of this at all, and was on the point of booking a repair at great expense with AEG when by chance I found this video:
This gave me the confidence to investigate further as it seemed highly likely that I had a similar problem, caused by the internal nuts which secure the ‘ComfortLift’ mechanism working loose and allowing water to leak through and drip down into the undertray. Once again it seems like either bad design or poor quality control that such a thing could even happen… no use of lock nuts or any other measures like that.
I don’t like working on integrated appliances because they are such a pain to work on, and getting it out required unscrewing various brackets and fixings. Then when it was out, there are large metal panels on each side which needed removing. This is shown in the video, but in essence what you have to do is remove the kick plate from the front and then a few other screws, and there are a series of large plastic clips at the back which need pressing in which release the side panels. Be very careful when doing this – the metal is thin and razor sharp and I ended up with a nasty cut on my finger. The trick is to us a stout screwdriver or a pair of pliers to push the clips in, and when you have done this the side panels can be removed and the soundproofing moved out of the way to reveal the mechanism.
The first thing to do was to remove all the floodwater and that was a particularly unpleasant task. I don’t know how long this has been going but the water was filthy and full of bits of old food and grease – ugh. It’s quite difficult to get at as well – best bet is to remove the front kick panel completely and use a syringe or pump to get the worst of it out. I didn’t have it at the time but I’ve since bought a 100ml ‘bladder syringe’ and plastic pipe which would be ideal next time around.
Just as in the video linked above, the problem was immediately apparent:
There are three large nuts on each side which secure the swing arm mechanism to the main body. It’s quite solidly made as it does have to support a lot of weight if it’s full of crockery. All three nuts were extremely loose on both sides, and in several cases had spun a long way up the thread and were well away from the side wall. It was really surprising quite how loose they were and it was quite obvious from all the muck where the water had leaked down into the base. It was a simple matter to tighten them all up again. Ideally I’d have liked to put some sealant on them but I didn’t have any to hand, and I needed to get it all working again. After that it was simply a matter of snapping the side panels back on, putting all the screws back in and reinstalling it. As the flood had been cleared everything worked fine. What I don’t know is whether this will recur, and I may need to revisit this with some sealant to make absolutely sure.
The final (and ongoing) problem I’ve had is with the machine randomly stopping mid-cycle with an i20 error.
This error indicates that the machine isn’t draining properly… but the trouble is that it is draining absolutely fine. The sump is empty and there is no excess water anywhere. So it points to a problem with the sensing mechanism rather than anything wrong with the drain. This is done by a fairly simple pressure switch, which is connected to a short pipe which is part of the sump. On reading around a bit, it appears that the pipe often gets clogged up with gunge which can lead the sensor to give false readings and make the machine think it is full when it isn’t. As a short term fix, I’ve found that filling the sump with white vinegar overnight seems to solve the problem for a few weeks or months, although it recurs after that.
I’m not entirely sure but I think the sensor plugs into the ‘155A’ connector on the diagram above (very handily available on the Electrolux spares site, which is also covered on the inside of the sump by a ‘sump screen’. So I think what I need to do is get the screen out somehow and use the syringe mentioned above to give the pipe a good swill out. An alternative I suppose is to dismantle everything again and remove the sensor from the inside and clean it out that way, but that’s a lot more work and I’m keen to avoid it.
So overall it’s good news and bad news – had various issues, but so far been able to fix them myself. However, given it’s still quite new I’ve had a lot more trouble than I would have liked and next time round I’ll make sure I get the brand I actually wanted!
Universal Discovery Methodology 
We have the exakt same problem and im super annoyed that they will not take this as a warranty thing since it’s obvious that it’s a bad construction.
Yes I completely agree – I was lucky in that they did honour the warranty but that was only after I got involved in a Facebook discussion with them – might be worth messaging them directly. I’ve definitely learned a lesson… I think there is a reason why every other dishwasher is made differently!
That ComfortLift basket off the tracks mess has recurringly driven us to frustration for years, including several periods of up to a week with the dishwasher door stuck wide open, because that’s how long it took us to get a technician under warranty. We’re strongly regretting having trusted AEG with its moving parts.
In case it helps anyone beyond what you’ve already written, it looks like there’s also an official guide for fixing the problem from the same ComfortLift mechanism in an Electrolux dishwasher (Electrolux owns the AEG brand), optionally in the form of a pdf or a video.
https://www.electrolux.co.uk/support/support-articles/dishwashing/dishwashers/dishwasher-comfort-lift-basket-stuck-in-the-upper-position/
This is fascinating – thanks for sharing. It’s interesting that they seem to acknowledge in this that there is a fundamental design flaw, although on the numerous occasions I’ve had this the pegs have been in all sorts of places and not just stuck in that other hole. Also even knowing what’s wrong I’ve found it much harder to fix than the breezy ‘flick’ shown in the video, it’s usually a struggle pulling the two parts apart at great risk to my fingers before it snaps back into place. Another failure mode which I’ve had lately is that the tray sticks in the runners as you pull it out and tries to lift up before the pegs are in the right place, which again causes it to jam. I think this is because of muck in the runners so I gave it all a good clean and sprayed the runners with a lot of silicone spray and since then it has been a lot better. However, if it gets any worse I’m going to give up on the whole thing and go back to a Miele which is what I had before and was faultless.
Thank you so much for that genial article!
2 days ago my wife reported a leak under the dishwasher. I removed the front low panel and saw that water droplets are coming from somewhere. But to realize where from they come would be impossible for me. It would take me weeks waiting for a technician, he would starting replacing spare parts, one by one, I should run from my to home to let him enter etc. Lot of money would be gone if I hadn’t have the chance to find that article (via a simple google search).
Then, it took me 10 minutes to get to the nuts and tighten them. It was exactly as described – they were totally untightened. So it was a 20 minutes fix!
God bless you!
Thanks for letting me know – really glad the article was useful. I’ve benefitted a lot from other people’s articles on similar subjects, so very glad I can give something back myself. I really need to recheck the nuts on mine, I strongly suspect that over time they will have worked loose again.
Absolute legend gwoudm, and a God send. thanks for the in-depth help and this is exactly what was happening with mine also. We have also had a few issues with the comfort lift getting dislodged and I would not be suruprised if the loose bolts were also attributing to this by allowing it to flex too much. I also notice there was some leakage marks around the various plastic covers which are held by two screws each, so I gave them a nip up and they all seemed just that little bit loose. Its working again and lets hope they all stay tight! thanks again.
Hi,
Do you know how to replace the the lower seal on the door on the comfort lift? Mine is kinked and needs replacing as water coming out off the bottom like a waterfall. I’ve managed to order the replacement part but can’t find any help with how to actually fit.
Thanks in advance!
Thanks so much for letting me know – I’m on a mission now to save the world from this poor design! I definitely need to strip mine down again and check the nuts and bolts to see if they have worked loose again. The lift does still get jammed at intervals, although I’ve found that cleaning up the runner rails and lubricating them with a plumbers silicone spray has also been helpful.
I was about to order this dishwasher and decided ot search for genuine reviews (hard to find apparently). It seems in years AEG has not addressed the issue and on their website for trouble shooting, they fail to acknowledge what is clearly a common problem. It’s clear the product is sub standard so I’ll go with Meile as you recommend. Thanks for taking the time to post this.
The wonder of the internet!!! I was looking at the pumps and drain pipes for a leak,the loose bolts was causing my leak. I ordered some sealant https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0036GEK9W. Loosened all the bolts (4 out of 6 where only hand tight), put some sealant around the base of the thread and slightly on the thread, then tightened them all down. The plastic base/drip tray on the dishwasher was also distorted, the corners with the feet on cracking, which meant the floats not working to trigger the error about the drip tray being full. The plastic base was full of crappy greasy water/gunk. Horrible job.
Had to bodge repair one of the legs which was bent over. Its lasted 6 years to get to this point- next time I’ll probably buy a replacement dishwasher without a lift mechanism!
So pleased it was helpful! I am pretty unimpressed all round with the design and I am definitely not buying another AEG dishwasher. The ComfortLift is just too much of a gimmick and too prone to failure. My last one was a Miele which I was very happy with, so next time this breaks I think I’ll be back to them.
Just a quick update- the leak fix is going strong. The plastic base where the screw in feet are attached is knackered up. I tried using epoxy glue to fix it but it didn’t work. The side screw which attach it either side to the cabinets are holding it up strong- so no further repairs (until next time). Thanks gw0udm, I owe you a couple of pints at least!
PS the lift mechanism is generally ok. Just need to remove the basket ~once a year and clean up the sides with hot water.