Error code
Dishwasher: Control lock
LG dishwasher — reported by blinking lights rather than by a code. The child lock disables the buttons so a cycle cannot be started or changed by accident, and on this make it announces itself with CL on the display.
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What we can confirm
Signal CL, from the manufacturer's own documentation
This code has no number, because this equipment has no display to put one on. The appliance signals it instead — an alarm, a symbol or a pattern of lights — and what it means is recorded in the documentation that ships with it.
The signal
CL
The child lock disables the buttons so a cycle cannot be started or changed by accident, and on this make it announces itself with CL on the display. People meet it after cleaning the front of the machine with a cloth, which is exactly the gesture that holds two buttons down for three seconds. Nothing is wrong and nothing needs booking.
or call (305) 419-0291
What it narrows down to
Not an error — the panel has been locked
Diagnostic
From $95, credited to the repair
On the same appliance
What else belongs to the dishwashers
On this make a code belongs to the appliance rather than to a product line. These are the other conditions this machine can display, and the models that can show this one — a display often has more than one thing to say, and the model number decides what any of it costs to put right.
Other codes this appliance can display
The machine has found water where it should not be, and is protecting the floor
Not enough water is arriving, or it is arriving too slowly
The water that went in has not come out
The machine cannot tell how hot the water is
The water is not getting hot, or is getting hot in the wrong way
The motor that drives the spray arms is overloaded or stalled
The machine cannot agree with itself about how much water is in the tub
There is far more foam in the tub than the machine can wash through
The pump that switches the water between the spray levels is not responding
The fan in the drying system has stopped
The drying system cannot reach or hold its temperature
The door that should open itself at the end of the cycle has not
The same digits mean different things on different equipment. Search the full code list
In more detail
About Dishwasher: Control lock
What the appliance is actually reporting
The child lock disables the buttons so a cycle cannot be started or changed by accident, and on this make it announces itself with CL on the display. People meet it after cleaning the front of the machine with a cloth, which is exactly the gesture that holds two buttons down for three seconds. Nothing is wrong and nothing needs booking.
The other light combinations that mean this
CL · cL · C L
LG publishes what the indicator lights mean on the washers and dryers that have no numeric display. They are grouped here by what they mean rather than split into near-identical pages, and every pattern the maker names is printed above.
Where this appears, and why not to clear it
On the indicator lights, on a laundry machine with no numeric display. LG publishes what the patterns mean, and on those models the pattern is the entire diagnosis — it disappears the moment the power is cut. Write it down or photograph the panel before switching anything off, and count a full sequence rather than a single flash: the lights also blink to show cycle status, so treat it as an error only if the machine is misbehaving as well.
What to do about it
- Find the two buttons marked for the lock and hold them together for about three seconds.
- Listen for the chime that confirms it has released.
- On some models it is a single dedicated button held instead.
- If the panel is still dead with the lock off, that is a different problem and worth a call.
Where this goes next
The job this usually becomes is diagnostic visit, and that page carries a starting figure and the reasons that move it. If it turns out to be nothing — and on this make a real share of these are modes, reminders and settings rather than problems — the visit ends there and you pay the diagnostic and nothing else, or call (305) 419-0291 and describe what the panel is doing before booking anything.
This article is based on:
- Official manufacturer documentation
- Internal repair procedures
- Technician repair history
- Company quality standards