F:03 on a Bosch dryer means the condensate water isn't being pumped out. It appears on Bosch's compact condenser dryers — the AXXIS and its relatives — the 24-inch units that go where there is no duct to the outside.
The machine condenses moisture out of the clothes into water and pumps it away. When the pump can't, the dryer stops and shows F:03.
How it presents:
"Model AXXIS Bosch dryer and has an error code of F:03 on the screen. The dryer only runs for 1 min or so and shuts down every single time."
One minute and out — the sump already has water in it from the last cycle, so the fault trips almost immediately.
What we found, twice
Job one: drain pump failure. The pump was replaced. Tech note: "Drain pump failure, pump replacement."
Job two is the one worth reading. The customer's own words: "Bosch dryer F:03 dryer issue. Triton replaced the drain pump last year in July." We had fitted a new pump twelve months earlier, and F:03 was back. The tech's finding: "need to clean out drain pump."
The pump hadn't failed again. It had blocked again.
Why F:03 comes back
On a vented dryer, lint that escapes the filter goes outside with the air. On a condenser dryer there is nowhere for it to go: it settles, gets wet, and ends up in the sump and the pump. A pump that is clear today will block again on the same schedule as the lint reaching it.
So there are two repairs hiding in one code:
- The pump — blocked, or genuinely failed.
- Everything upstream of it — the door lint screen, the secondary filter, and the condenser unit behind the lower panel.
Replacing the pump and leaving the filters is how you end up calling again next summer. We say that from our own callback.
Bosch is a brand we handle a lot — 45 Bosch dryer jobs, alongside 369 Bosch dishwashers — so the condenser-dryer quirks are familiar to our techs.
What you can safely check
- Empty the condensate tank if your model collects rather than drains. A full tank alone throws the code.
- Pull and rinse the door lint screen, then the secondary filter underneath it.
- Open the lower panel and take out the condenser block — most Bosch condensers slide out by hand after releasing two clips. Rinse it until the water runs clear through the fins.
- Check the pump filter. On many Bosch models it is accessible behind the same lower panel, with a small screw cap. Expect water to come out — have a towel ready.
- Restart. If F:03 clears and the dryer completes a cycle, the blockage was the whole fault.
Call a tech when F:03 returns after everything is clean, or when the pump makes no sound at all during a cycle — that is an electrical failure rather than a blockage.
The same fault on other brands
- GE dryer E13 — the condensate pump on GE's ventless models.
- Whirlpool dryer F9 E2 — the condensate pump on their heat-pump dryers.
Three brands, three codes, one part. If you have a compact ventless dryer of any make, the filters and the condenser are the maintenance that keeps you out of this page.
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Related pages
- Dryer Repair in the SF Bay Area & Peninsula — our full dryer service
- Dryer Runs But Won't Heat — 464 jobs
- Bosch Dishwasher E24 Error — the Bosch code we see most of all
- Bosch Appliance Repair — every Bosch appliance we service
Frequently asked questions
What does F:03 mean on a Bosch dryer? F:03 is a drain fault on Bosch condenser dryers such as the AXXIS. The dryer condenses moisture out of the clothes into water and pumps it away; F:03 means the pump is not clearing it. The cause is a blocked pump, a failed pump, or a full condensate tank.
Why does my Bosch dryer stop after one minute with F:03? Because there is already water sitting in the sump from the previous cycle. The dryer starts, the control checks the level, and the fault trips almost immediately rather than part way through a load.
Can I fix a Bosch F:03 error myself? Often yes. Empty the condensate tank, rinse the door lint screen and the secondary filter, slide the condenser block out of the lower panel and rinse it until the water runs clear, and check the pump filter behind the same panel — keep a towel handy, water will come out. If F:03 clears after that, the blockage was the fault.
My Bosch dryer had a new drain pump and F:03 came back — why? Because the pump blocked rather than failed. On a condenser dryer, lint that gets past the filters ends up wet in the sump and finds the pump. This happened on one of our own jobs: we fitted a pump one July and the code returned the following year, and the fix that time was cleaning it out. Keeping the filters and condenser clean is what makes the repair last.
Is the Bosch dryer drain pump a model-specific part? Yes. The pump differs across the AXXIS range and its relatives, so it has to be matched to the model number on the sticker inside the door rather than ordered on the fault code.