How do I read the error code on a Toshiba AC — the timer or operation light is flashing a number?

Read it before you touch anything — that's what saves a wasted call-out. Toshiba flags faults differently from the brands with a screen: instead of an alphanumeric code, most Toshiba splits flash a pattern on the indicator LEDs (timer / operation / ready or the standby light), and the number and combination of flashes IS the code. So step one is to video or photograph the full sequence — which lights, how many flashes, and the gap before it repeats — before you clear anything.

The honest caveat: the flash patterns map differently across Toshiba's RAS series, so the only real authority is your unit's own service manual — match your model number (the side sticker) to the manual via Toshiba's official AC site. Please skip the generic "Toshiba blink code" lists online; they mix series and contradict each other, which is how the wrong part gets thrown at it.

For what you can clear yourself versus what needs a pro, judge by the symptom, not a guess at the count. If it clears on a clean power-cycle (off at the isolator for a few minutes, then back on) and cools normally afterwards, it was most likely a transient protection trip. But if the flashing comes with no cooling, ice on the pipework, the outdoor unit not starting, or it returns the moment you reset it, that is a sensor, pressure, compressor or board fault — stop running it, because pushing a unit through a genuine protection trip is how a compressor dies. Same read-the-code-first logic as the Hitachi and Panasonic threads (both use the same timer-light blink method) and the general error-code guide. If the pattern keeps returning after a clean restart, Al Ghubaiba's AC repair team can put a gauge and meter on it and confirm what is actually tripping. Photograph the sequence before you clear it.