The short answer
The first question on a Black+Decker BCD dishwasher that will not begin is whether it has power: a completely dark panel and a lit panel that ignores the start button are two different faults with two different lists. This page splits them at the first step, because everything after that depends on the answer. The BCD key covers more than one build, and for this fault the difference shows in whether your unit has a filter that twists out of the tub floor.
What the owner actually sees
- The panel is completely dark — Check whether anything else on that circuit has also gone.
- The panel responds but the cycle never begins — Power is there; something is refusing the cycle — the latch, a lock, or a delay.
- A tone, then back to idle — Push the door firmly closed and try again.
- A cycle that begins and then quits — Note whether it had taken any water first.
- It runs but never takes any water — Supply valve, inlet or a float being held — the machine is running dry and will stop itself.
- NEAR MISS — it runs but leaves the dishes dirty — Nothing here applies once a cycle runs to the end.
Causes, ranked for the BCD build
- The door is not latching, or the latch is out of alignment — It leads because the interlock is absolute: the machine will not run with the door a millimetre open, and a latch that has drifted gives no clue on the panel. Look for wear on the hooks and for a strike plate that has moved.
- The water supply valve is closed or the inlet is blocked — It rises to the top after any plumbing work, because the isolating valve is the thing most often left shut.
- Power: the outlet, the breaker or the spur that feeds it — A dishwasher is often on a shared kitchen circuit, so the breaker is worth reading rather than assuming.
- The thermal fuse, the door switch or the control board — Last, because it is the only cause here that needs a technician, and because the four above it explain most complaints.
Check in this order, and why
- Look at the panel: lit or dark? — Dark sends you to the outlet and the breaker; lit sends you to the latch, the lock and the delay.
- Read the display icons carefully — Holding the lock key for a few seconds is the usual release, and a delay simply has to run out or be cancelled.
- Check the breaker and test the outlet — A standard household branch circuit is 15 A or 20 A at 120 V and the kitchen is often shared, so read the panel rather than assume it.
- Make sure water can reach the machine — Turn it fully open rather than partly.
Before you open anything
Safety
Switch the machine off at its breaker before reaching behind the kick plate or the door panel — water and mains wiring share the same small space in a dishwasher, and a capacitor can hold a charge after the power is off. Leave the door latch and its switch exactly as they are: the machine is meant to stop the moment the door opens.
Where the owner job ends
Call when the outlet is proved with another appliance and the panel is still dark, or when the latch and the locks are proved and the machine still refuses. That leaves the door switch, the thermal fuse and the control board, all of which sit behind a panel in a wet space. Call immediately if the machine trips the breaker when you restore it rather than simply staying dead.
Other faults covered for the BCD models
Lead Appliance Repair Technician · 12 years experience
Experienced technician with 12 years specializing in washing machine and dryer repairs across all major brands.
