In short
Most of what goes wrong with a dishwasher is a filter, a latch, a hose or a supply condition rather than a failed machine. The classes below name each one and point at the page that covers it. Mass-market hardware fails honestly: what does not work usually does not work for a reason you can see, hear or feel. Nearly all of this is free to check and needs no tool at all.
Symptoms and the page that covers each
- Nothing happens when you press start — A door, supply or lock condition. See the page on a machine that will not start.
- Burning smell, a tripping breaker or scorching at the plug — An electrical warning sign. Isolate the circuit and see the electrical-safety page.
- Water left in the bottom at the end of a cycle — A drain, filter or hose problem.
- Dishes coming out gritty, filmed or still dirty — A wash-performance problem: spray arms, filters, water temperature and loading.
The causes in order of likelihood
- Start and door-condition faults — The one to suspect first. The start group leads because a machine that refuses to run generates more calls than every other class combined. Latches that hold without confirming, control locks, delayed starts and supply problems. The largest single class of complaint.
- Drain and filter faults — The second suspect. Blocked filters, trapped debris and kinked or badly routed drain hoses.
- Wash performance — Third, and less common. Blocked spray arms, overloading, incorrect detergent and water that never reaches temperature.
- Leaks — Fourth, and less common again. Door seals, hose fittings and overfilling. Cheap to fix and expensive to leave under a fitted floor.
- Body: What follows is a frequency ordering without a denominator behind it. It says which class comes up most on this brand and appliance, not how much of the total any class represents.
The classes, ranked — Qualitative ordering only. No component-share dataset with a published denominator covers Black+Decker dishwashers, so no share, count or percentage is stated here; the rank column is the field ordering used on this page and nothing more. — Ranked, not measured: the ordering below repeats the ranking above in table form and carries no numbers because no fact bundle supports any.
General guidance| Rank | Problem class | What it looks like from the kitchen |
|---|---|---|
| First | Start and door-condition faults | Latches that hold without confirming, control locks, delayed starts and supply problems. |
| Second | Drain and filter faults | Blocked filters, trapped debris and kinked or badly routed drain hoses. |
| Third | Wash performance | Blocked spray arms, overloading, incorrect detergent and water that never reaches temperature. |
| Fourth | Leaks | Door seals, hose fittings and overfilling. |
Safety first
Safety
Unplug the appliance or switch off its breaker before removing any panel; a capacitor can hold a charge after the power is off. Never defeat the door latch to run a cycle with the door open, and never keep using a machine that smells hot, buzzes or trips its breaker.
When this becomes a service call
Electrical warning signs are a service call from the moment you notice them, and so is any leak that reaches a fitted floor. Filters, spray arms, loading, drain hoses, door latches and lock settings are all owner work, and between them they account for most of the complaints above. Mention any recent work in the room: taps, cables and hoses are the usual casualties.
Pages of the same class
What this page does not cover
This page is generalized across every Black+Decker dishwasher family and model line. Where a more specific page exists for the problem you actually have, it is linked below and it is the better answer: go there rather than working from this one.
Links: - [BLACK+DECKER Dishwasher: Electrical, Fire or Gas Hazard](/blog/black-decker-dishwasher-electrical-safety) - [BLACK+DECKER Dishwasher: Will Not Start or No Power](/blog/black-decker-dishwasher-wont-start)
Lead Appliance Repair Technician · 12 years experience
Experienced technician with 12 years specializing in washing machine and dryer repairs across all major brands.
