What STEAM TANK Means
WHICH MACHINES THIS APPLIES TO: the TD75 machines, sold as the T408HD and the T608HX. These have a steam function, and the messages on this page belong to it. Asko prints them in the section of the instructions headed "INFORMATION before, during, and after the program (depending on the model)", which is the manufacturer's own way of saying these are not fault codes.
"STEAM TANK IS EMPTY. PLEASE FILL WATER." - WHAT ASKO PRINTS AS THE ACTION: "Fill the steam tank with distilled water or condensate. Pour the water through the steam tank filter located in the condensate tank housing." Two details in that sentence matter. The water has to be distilled water or the machine's own condensate, not water from the tap, and it goes in through a filter in the condensate tank housing rather than into an opening of its own.
"STEAM TANK FULL." - WHAT ASKO PRINTS AS THE ACTION: "Stop adding condensate or distilled water." The machine is telling you to stop pouring. Nothing has gone wrong.
WHY TAP WATER IS EXCLUDED: a steam system boils the water it is given and leaves behind whatever the water was carrying. Household supply water carries dissolved minerals, and those minerals stay in the tank and on the heating surfaces as scale. Distilled water and the machine's own condensate have had the minerals taken out of them already, which is why Asko names those two and no others.
WHY THE MACHINE USES ITS OWN CONDENSATE: a condensing dryer produces distilled water as a by-product of drying, collected in the condensate container. Asko is pointing at the most suitable water in the house and telling you it is already in the machine.
CLASSIFICATION: normal operation. Both messages are prompts about a consumable, in the same way a fuel gauge is a prompt.
Common Causes of STEAM TANK
- Steam tank genuinely empty and due to be filled
- Steam tank filled to its limit, which is what the full message reports
- Steam function used more often than the tank has been topped up
- Filling too fast for the steam tank filter to pass the water
- Level detection in the tank reporting incorrectly, if the message does not match what is really in the tank
🔧 One Safe Check You Can Try
Both of these are ordinary owner tasks. When the machine asks to be filled, collect the condensate from the machine's own water container, or use distilled water, and pour it through the steam tank filter in the condensate tank housing as the instructions describe. Pour steadily rather than quickly, because the filter sets the rate at which the water goes down and a fast pour simply backs up. Stop when the machine says the tank is full, which is exactly what the second message is for. Do not use water from the tap, softened water or bottled mineral water: all of them leave deposits behind when the water is boiled off, and those deposits collect on the surfaces that make the steam. Do not add anything else to the tank either - no scent, no additive, no fabric treatment - because the tank feeds a boiler rather than a dispenser. If the machine reports the tank empty again very soon after being filled, or reports it full when you know it is not, that is worth a service call rather than more water.
⚠ Why You Shouldn't Go Further Than That
- None - filling the steam tank through its filter is a task Asko describes in the owner instructions and expects the owner to do.
- The restriction that matters is the water itself: tap, softened and mineral water all leave deposits on the boiling surfaces, which is why the manual names distilled water and condensate only.
Opening a panel to inspect or repair something yourself doesn't automatically cancel your manufacturer's warranty — but it can risk accidental damage, and some manufacturers do have specific service conditions. Check your product's warranty terms, or ask us, before deciding.