Bosch SHV55M03GB/40 – Please help to diagnose issue

Hi all,

Firstly, can I just say, what a great forum this is.. I’ve read a lot over the last two days and all of it was useful.

I need some help please.
The above Bosch dishwasher is about 9 years old now.. it’s been rock solid except for this current problem.

We put the dishwasher on yesterday, on a 70 degree wash (to put a cleaner through it which we do every couple of weeks).. after about 15 mins.. the RCD for the house tripped. I clicked it back into position and all seemed ok.. except the dishwasher ran for a considerable more time than normal.. the 70 degree wash normally takes around 120mins but nearly 180mins later it was still going.

I was literally on my way to bed and the dishwasher was still going, so I opened the door and it showed 3 on the display. I decided to wait whilst it finished off the cycle so I could switch it off. 10 mins later, it was still going.. so i opened the door and it said 1 on the display. it was at this point i noticed the cleaner bottle hadn’t emptied its contents.. in fact the machine was stone cold. I switched it off.

Today I ran a couple of tests. I ran just a rinse cycle (no heating, i believe) to see if the main board was working. It took about 12 mins and all was normal. During this process I opened the door to look at the level of the water. It covered the bottom of the unit and was about half way up the salt dispenser.

The second test i ran was an auto program.. this just basically did exactly the same as the 70 degree one.. It just kept running.. no heat..

So I’m assuming the heating element may have ceased life.. what do you think?

My last question..
I’m reasonably technical and can handle a few jobs. Is this something I could attempt at repairing myself?
Does anyone have any guides for the process?

Any help and advice would be very welcome..