What this usually is on these models
An Almison ASDW dishwasher that will not start splits into two complaints at the first glance: a machine that is completely dark, and a machine that lights up and refuses to run. The codes in this family carry a wildcard block the record does not expand, so two machines can share the code printed here and still differ in trim.
What the owner actually sees
- Nothing at all when the door is closed and a button is pressed — No light, no sound. The machine has no power, or the control does not know the door is shut.
- The panel lights but the cycle never begins — Power is present, so the fault is a lock, a delay or the door signal.
- It starts only if the door is pressed hard — The latch is catching without seating — a mechanical fault with an electrical symptom.
- NEAR MISS — it runs but leaves the dishes wet or dirty — That is a wash or dry complaint and belongs on a different page.
What it usually turns out to be, in order
- The door latch, and the switch behind it — First. A dishwasher will not run with the door unlatched, and the latch does two jobs: it holds the door and it tells the control the door is held. A latch that catches without seating, or a door that has dropped on its hinges, gives a machine that is completely dead to the touch with nothing else wrong. The same check covers everything from ASDW12F**A5A to ASDW12T**A5A; the record gives no reason to treat those codes differently here.
- Power at the machine — Second. A standard US household branch circuit is 15 A or 20 A, and a dishwasher usually shares its circuit with something else in the kitchen. A tripped breaker, a switched spur left off, or a junction-box connection disturbed during a kitchen job all present as a machine with no life at all.
- A thermal fuse or a control that has cut out — Last. Where a control cuts power on a protective fault, the symptom is a machine that was fine yesterday and is dead today, often after a cycle that ran hot or long. It is not an owner-replaceable part on most machines, and the fuse is usually the messenger rather than the message.
- Body: Two codes stand behind this page, each with a block the record leaves unexpanded. The latch is the one part of the starting chain that is both mechanical and in constant use, and it is the cause a machine is most often condemned for having when the machine is fine, so it leads here.
Check in this order, and why
- Push the door firmly shut and listen for the latch — Then press it closed with a hand while starting a cycle. A machine that starts when the door is held has a latch fault, not an electrical one. Identical on every code from ASDW12F**A5A to ASDW12T**A5A.
- Check the breaker and any switch that feeds it — Look for a spur switch under the counter or beside the sink — on a fitted kitchen it is the single most commonly overlooked cause of a dead machine.
- Body: Work these in order rather than picking the one that sounds most likely. Each check below removes a whole branch of the list above, and none of them needs a panel off or a tool in hand.
Safety first
Safety
Switch the circuit off at the breaker before removing the toe panel or touching any connection — a capacitor can hold a charge after the power is off. A standard US household branch circuit is 15 A or 20 A, which is more than enough to be lethal at the connections behind the machine. Leave the junction box to an electrician unless the circuit is off and proved dead, and never defeat the door latch to make a machine run: it is an interlock, and it exists so the machine cannot spray hot water into the room.
Models this page covers — The two model codes recorded for this family; the record carries no column separating them.
Reference| Model number | Family key |
|---|---|
| ASDW12F**A5A | almison:dishwasher:asdw |
| ASDW12T**A5A | almison:dishwasher:asdw |
When to call a technician
The panel, the breaker, the spur switch and the door latch are owner checks and they end most of these calls. Call when the machine has proved power at its circuit, the latch seats properly and it is still dead, because the next steps are inside the control housing. Call an electrician rather than an appliance technician when the breaker trips again as soon as it is reset, or when the connection block behind the machine is discoloured or smells hot.
The rest of this family
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Experienced technician with 12 years specializing in washing machine and dryer repairs across all major brands.
