Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
acertain

Gaggenau combi-steam fault f62

acertain
11 years ago

I'm mostly posting this in the hope that I might save somebody else some trouble in the future. I bought one of the discontinued ED220 combi-steam ovens for our new kitchen, and when we installed it, calibration failed with fault F62. Googling around yielded a little information, that it meant "Too much heat or too little steam" and suggested that either the heating fan was stuck on or there wasn't enough water. There was clearly plenty of water (and a stuck on fan seemed unlikely), so we were nervous that we might have spent a lot of money on an expensive piece of design art.

I called the person we bought it from and he was very responsive. He put me in touch with their repair department, who sent me a troubleshooting and repair manual for the oven. The manual listed a common cause for F62 from a defective part, but the serial numbers impacted were all earlier than mine. We ran through all the diagnostics from the manual and everything seemed fine. So they called Gaggenau for me, who said that sometimes that fault code can come if you don't have a loop in the waste line.

We had a loop in the waste line, but as I was looking at the installation diagram, I saw the 4" requirement from top of loop to bottom of oven (or to something - it's a little hard to see). While the top of the loop in our installation was 4" below, it was just barely 4", and the install diagram shows it going far below that. So we tried lowering the loop, and everything worked great.

So if anybody else runs into this problem, make sure that the loop in the waste line is low enough. It might save you a week of stress.

If you're interested in picking one of these up while they last, Amazon has three listings as of today, for left hinge aluminum, right hinge aluminum and left hinge stainless. Search for "Gaggenau combi steam" to find them. As a side note, we needed right hinge, so we got the aluminum one, and even my wife, who is super sensitive to colors, thinks it looks great under a stainless microwave and next to a stainless fridge. I put the link to the one we bought below (note they are all sold by the same seller - a builder ordered a bunch right before the crash and they were stuck with them).

Anyway, hope this helps.

Andrew

Here is a link that might be useful: Combi-steam oven

Comments (20)

  • barryv_gw
    11 years ago

    Andrew, thanks for the post, I looked at the Gaggenau, but needed something a little smaller, so I bought a Viking VSCO244 and have just started using it. Have you started cooking in it yet? I have downloaded the cooking recipes from Miele, Wolf, Thermador, and Gaggenau. I was hoping to find a cookbook dealing with combi ovens, but no such luck, though I have found a few cookbooks for steamers, and have used some of those recipes.

  • acertain
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    I haven't done much in it yet. Mostly experimenting with reheating foods at various temp/humidity levels. You may want to start a different thread with your question.

    Andrew

  • eleena
    11 years ago

    I posted a follow-up - or so I thought - but it disappeared.

    Andrew, I have been looking at those ovens on Amazon "forever" (due to other house repairs taking a large chunk out of the kitchen remodel budget) but I was concerned about the "no warranty" thing.

    If I understand you correctly, that is a reliable and trustworthy seller?

  • acertain
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    I was also concerned, so I had some communication with the seller beforehand. He was able to give me a convincing story as to why they still had some, and since I was buying before my construction was completed, he was willing to extend the warranty (they do offer a 30-day warranty) until 30 days after my construction was complete.

    The feedback for the seller was also very good, and I knew that if it was a total disaster, Amazon would most likely cover it through their A-to-Z guarantee process (disclaimer: I work for Amazon, though not in the retail space).

    But my experience was really good. I think that they were prepared to ship me another one if this one had ended up being defective. Obviously, your mileage may vary, but my perception was that they were an honest organization that wanted to do the right thing.

    Andrew

  • lalithar
    11 years ago

    Hi andrew,

    Can you post a picture of the loop in the waste line? Much appreciated. Not sure if I follow.

    Lalitha

  • acertain
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    I don't have a picture of mine (the line is tucked up behind some cabinetry), but here's one from Gaggenau. The top of the outlet (the LHS of the loop - or in this case, just a U) needs to be at least 4" below the drain.

    Andrew

  • andrewfu
    11 years ago

    Hi Andrew-

    I purchased an ED221 second hand. I installed the oven without issue but I keep getting the F62 when calibrating. I've double checked the drain loop is 4" below the drain and there is water coming in. I was wondering if during the calibration, you are supposed to see steam coming from the fan port? Mine does not. After the calibration fails, if I hit the condensation button, I do get water flowing so I know at least that part is working. I was wondering if you could perhaps tell me part that was prone to failing or even better, send me a copy of the troubleshooting guide? (pretty please!).

    Thanks!
    Andrew

  • cheri127
    11 years ago

    We had the same problem when we installed our discontinued Gaggenau steam over about 3 years ago. The problem was solved when we made sure the drain line was low enough. Before we bought ours on ebay, I called Gaggenau to ask them about the warranty and they told me that the warranty began on the date of install. Mind you, the oven had only been discontinued for a few months at this point. Nevertheless, we did ran into a minor issue which was covered by the warranty so you may be covered too. You should give them a call.

  • andrewfu
    11 years ago

    cheri127 -
    Thanks for the reply! Exactly how low are we talking about? I have the back of the oven exposed. The grey flex hose comes down about 20" from the bottom of the oven and and then loops. Can you confirm whether or not I should see steam coming out where the fan/heating coil are during calibration?

    Unfortunately this isn't covered under warranty since I would be the second owner. Can you elaborate on the minor issue you encountered that required warranty service? My last alternative is to get a technician out but it is really expensive, so I'd like to exhaust all options before doing so.

    Thanks!

  • eleena
    11 years ago

    Andrew(s) and other older Gag oven owners,

    I have purchased a floor model (ED231) and it is missing the water inlet hose. It was not a big deal for me as I was going to replace it anyway. It is available from Gaggenau's website for ~$140 (which is sort of expensive for a hose, don't you think?). The website has not specs or description of it.

    I am wondering whether it is just a standard hose I can get from HD or another plumbing supplies store.

    Do you know? Thoughts?

  • andrewfu
    11 years ago

    eleena-

    For my ED221, the hose connection to the water supply is a 3/4" like a standard garden hose. As for the plastic outlet directly on the back of the oven, it LOOKS the same to me. The hose itself has an outside made of metal. I'm sure you could drop by your big box home improvement store and look for something in the plumbing section. My main concern would be finding something very durable since once you put this thing in you want to have the ease of mind that your replacement is durable and won't ever leak (so good quality hose/gaskets).

  • eleena
    11 years ago

    Thank you, Andrew!

    I have been told not to use anything other than their designated hose. I think it'd void the warranty otherwise.

    Not a big deal, the 3 m length would save me $$$ for extending the water pipe line as I can run the hose outside the wall.

    BTW, are you guys happy with your ED models?

    I am having a buyer's remorse thinking that I should have gotten a new model. One of the reasons for buying this one was that DH and I liked the control handle better than the round knobs on the new model. But all of it including is irrelevant when it comes to a long term purchase.

    I am considering getting a matching convection oven but if this one turns out to be problematic, then I should replace it in a little while and then get the other oven to match.

    How is it cooking for you so far?

  • andrewfu
    11 years ago

    eleena-

    Mine is still not functioning (hence my posts to this thread). I got it second hand off Craigslist but refuses to calibrate with an F62 error code every time. There is a inlet valve assembly that I'm going to replace inside as a last ditch effort (its a $50 part, might as well give it a shot). I have the larger 36" Gaggenau convection oven as well as well as an in-counter Gaggenau steamer -- love them both. Hope you enjoy yours!

  • andrewfu
    11 years ago

    Well just in case anyone else out is curious how this turned out, I bought part # 432972 from Gaggenau (around $50), ripped out the old valve assembly, and replaced it with the newer valve. I have the ED221630/01 which is an earlier version. I believe they started fitting newer revisions with this new valve. The new valve is a lot simpler as shown in the picture (left is before, right is after). Anyways, I plugged in all the hoses and wires, and finally a successful calibration!

  • eleena
    11 years ago

    Oh, I am so happy for you, Andrew! Congrats!

    Nice to come back right on time for such good news after being away from this forum for a few weeks. :-)

    BTW, could you tell me more about your Gag 36" oven?

    A local showroom has a floor model but I am very hesitant as I could find only bad reviews online. There were only very few of them, of course, and we all know that unhappy customers are more likely to post than happy ones but still...

    Folks said it was slow to heat, for example. Any truth to that?

  • attofarad
    11 years ago

    Hi Andrew,

    I don't see any pictures of the valves.

    Thanks for following up. How did you figure out the solution?

    I haven't installed mine yet (maybe by end of year?), but I did hook it up to a hose and power in the garage, and it calibrated okay, and I steamed some veggies. Mine is a showroom (never connected) item, and is from the first production year, so I was glad to see it work (so far). It almost certainly has the older valve version.

  • attofarad
    11 years ago

    Here's a manual I found a while back, which explains some of the operation, and gives some fault codes an possible solutions. It would be good to have a real "shop manual," but I haven't come across such.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Gaggenau manual

  • pamela928
    11 years ago

    Eleena--I had a 36" Gaggenau two kitchens ago and a 36" Wolf in my last kitchen. I much preferred the Gaggenau, and bought one for my present kitchen (not yet installed). Its heat was most even, it is so well insulated, it was often a little warm many hours later, and the pizza element and stone are usefully large and very hot. No, I didn't notice excessively long heat-up times. Most of the new convection ovens seem to take a bit longer to adequately heat the entire baking surfaces,, and not just the ambiant air in the oven.

  • acertain
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Sorry to have missed out on these questions; somehow my email notification got turned off. Looks like they all got answered.

    Just for completeness, I would say that my loop was probably about 12" below the outlet, so I'm not close to the minimum. And the only diagnostic manual I have is the same one linked by attofarad.

    Andrew

    This post was edited by acertain on Tue, Jun 4, 13 at 18:40

  • attofarad
    10 years ago

    While we are mentioning problems and fixes, I'll point out something I found. Mine initially was okay (on work bench, water from garden hose). When I tried it again, no steam. I followed the test modes in the manual/repair pdf I linked above, and they had me in the right zone, but not really suggesting the actual problem. Then I noticed elsewhere a reference to a 0.6mm orifice, after the valve which controls the water for steam. This turns out to have been plugged up. I cleared it with a tiny wire, and all is good. The orifice is built into the nut on the end of the plastic hose on the output of the regulator/valve (will be obvious if you are ever in there). The setup changed after a couple of years, so newer ones may not be the same.

    Moral of the story: Have a very fine mesh filter in line ahead of the combi, such as the one Gaggenau sells.