LG Dishwasher lights “fritzing” when on, making erratic noises

Hello,

This is moisture getting into the control panel. This is a known LG issue, if it happens again call LG Customer Service even out of warranty and speak to a supervisor. They will install and ship a new control board with better moisture barrier.

I work on these things every day for a living and I can tell you with 100% certainty that to resolve the issue you have to replace the control panel/user interface. Replacing the main PCB does nothing. According to LG this is caused from moisture getting in the control panel. I’m not sure if I buy that due to the fact that the electronic board(s) under the buttons are all covered with a 1/8” thick clear rubber coating to prevent moisture from getting to the panel. I normally just order the control panel assembly. It’s much easier to change than trying to change out the little boards underneath the user interface. It’s also cheaper. On this model, LDF5545ST, the part number from the dishwasher control panel assembly is: AGL 75172601. Basically you take the bolts out of the top part of the door and the panel assembly will come right out. Make sure the power is off when you do. Most of them there is only one plug.

The control panel (panel containing the buttons and lights) seems to be very susceptible to moisture, steam especially....clearly a design failure.

I removed the six screws holding the control panel in place and unplugged the multi-wire plug from the back of the board to free it from the machine.

I let it dry face down in the sunlight for a day, laid it in front of a heater vent at night, etc. to really dry it out well.

Before replacing it, I stretched a long piece of plastic food wrap across the opening where the panel is placed, snaked the wire and plug under the wrap, plugged in the panel, installed it with the 6 screws, then trimmed off all of the excess plastic wrap from around the edges carefully with a razor blade.

This prevents moisture from getting to the board.

Lastly, I open the door as soon as the "END" light is illuminated.

I switched to the "Turbo" cycle (59 minutes) to use the dish washer for the shortest period possible thus minimizing panel exposure to steam.

This seems to fix the issues!

Probably moisture in the electronics at top of door. Let dishwasher thoroughly air dry by leaving door open for several days. Then try a short cycle. When it completes do not let door stay closed, especially overnight. I believe there's a design defect or seal failure but once I understood what's going on and don't let it sit closed overnight, it works perfectly.

You might want to also detach the top panel and carefully reseat the plug connector(,s). IMPORTANT: Turn the circuit breaker off when doing this.

I love that I found this fix-it page. Same problem. It was wild with the lights and noises. Reminded me of a Pink Floyd laser light show in the planetarium! Ah, those were the days.

The take-apart and let it dry solution worked!

Thanks all for sharing your experience and wisdom.

I understand there is a lawsuit against LG in California because of this known defect and failure to repair.

I had mine replaced and then about a year later it started doing it again,I opened it back up and found a loose connection on one of the plugs. I pushed the plug back in place and it’s working again.

I’ve found that running the dishwasher on a short “turbo” cycle gets my dishes clean and avoids the hours long cleaning process. After the cycle I immediately open the door to let the steam out. Occasionally I will use the “normal” cycle but still open the door to let the steam escape when finished.

I took off the control panel and looked at the backside of all the mode select  push buttons.   I noticed that the power button connection had three points where it was soldered to the control panel.  One of the connections appeared to look kinda rusty.  I took a soldering iron and carefully heated up the old rusty solder, wiping it away with a toothpick.  Then, I refilled the joint with some fresh electronics solder.  I don't have much soldering experience at all, so it wasn't pretty.  But it was easy enough.  And now it has fixed the issue.  I am thinking of taking some hot glue or silicone and covering the solder points to protect them from the moisture.

In my situation my display was turning on and off very rapidly and most of the buttons were unusable.

I took off the front door, unplugged and inspected the jackplug and wiring to the display board and didn’t find anything damaged.

I also didn’t find any moisture behind the silicone sealant.

After reconnecting the jackplug the dishwasher ran through a complete cycle. There may have been some corrosion or buildup on the jackplug that was dislodged when I removed it.

If the moisture claim is true it may be that this jackplug not being protected is the culprit. I’m hesitant to put any protection over the wiring harness though. As it would make removing it a pain in the ass.

We have a LG LDFN4542B - after about 8 months, the control panel went nuts and we had moisture developing on the underside of the counter. Under warranty, a service tech replaced the entire control panel assy, latch, and duct. 6 months later, we have the problem again. I'm convinced the problem is that steam vents into the inside of the door, either out of the impeller motor itself or the hole in the side of the vent tube. Eventually this steam will damage the control panel, period. I covered up the vent hole and thought it had fixed it... apparently not. This is the closest discussion to what my symptoms are, so thank you all.

Our new LG dishwasher runs for about an hour, then a bunch of lights in the panel start flashing, it plays its tune a few times then within a minute it quits. If we start it again to finish the fishes it will only run for a few minutes then quit. We never get an error code.

It has only done a full cycle twice in 3 weeks so I feel like taking it back to Costco but I would rather fix it. Too much trouble pulling it out.

Called LG and they say we should get an electrician. I hate to spend more money if the problem is the dishwasher.

Same issue here! LG dishwasher LDFN343. The panel blinks like Christmas lights and beeps as well. I took it apart after tripping the brake on the panel. Seal the void with tape, I drilled a few small holes for ventilation on the bottom of the panel. Now there is a vapor barrier between the electronic board and the interior of the door. I also sprayed 40WD inside the control board and connector to keep it moisture-free. It works now...time will tell.

Thanks for all your comments and advice!