How To Unlock Frigidaire Dishwasher: A Simple And Easy Guide

A dishwasher is one of the essential household appliances. It saves you a lot of time and effort cleaning your utensils and dishes. 

Frigidaire dishwashers are of excellent quality; their products are reliable and durable. They’re also affordable, so they can be a good purchase if you want to save money while getting a high-quality appliance. 

If you want some tips on how to operate your Frigidaire Dishwasher, then keep reading. We will cover how to unlock your dishwasher and many other controls you’ll need to know before operating the machine.

How To Unlock Frigidaire Dishwasher?

To unlock the Frigidaire Dishwasher, you need to hold the NO HEAT DRY pad or the RINSE ONLY pad until the indicator light goes out (do this for 3 seconds).

If the “LOCK” indicator remains on, unplug the machine or toggle the home circuit breaker to the off position to reset it. It is critical to wait around 10 minutes before turning on the dishwasher.

If it doesn’t work, your display control board has probably shorted out for some reason, and you’ll need to order and replace the display board to fix the problem.

What Is The CONTROL LOCK, And What Is Its Purpose?

Specific models of Frigidaire dishwashers come equipped with a control lock feature. This feature safeguards the dishwasher from unauthorized use, significantly reducing the risk of injury and property damage.

The position of the control lock function on most dishwashers is on the heat/dry button. It may be used whether or not the dishwasher is running.

• Its function is to keep the buttons from being pressed accidentally. 
• It’s helpful if you have young children or guests in your home who might play with the controls and make changes without meaning to. 
• It can also help prevent accidental programming changes when the dishwasher is used frequently by multiple household members.

What Is A Cycle?

A cycle is a period that a dishwasher uses to perform several operations. It typically consists of four parts: wash, heat, dry, and rinse. 

When you select a cycle on your machine, it activates a combination of these four processes. Each cycle has its specific wash, heat, and dry settings. Run hot water before starting a cycle to clear cooled water from the pipe. 

Wash

The main component of any cycle is the wash operation. The wash cycle removes food particles from dishes by spraying them with water. 

The spray is delivered through the detergent dispenser and into the dishwasher tub via nozzles.

Heat 

The heat cycle increases the temperature of the water to an optimal level for washing. This allows the detergent to remove dirt and grease from dishes effectively.

Dry 

The dry cycle evaporates the water from dishes to prevent them from becoming mildewed. It also removes excess moisture that could cause spotting or staining on glasses and china.

Sanitize

 The sanitizing cycle uses a combination of heat and chemicals to eradicate 99.9percent of germs, including E. coli and salmonella, and listeria. 

Some dishwashers have a separate sanitizing setting that adds additional chemicals to boost the sanitizing effect.

How To Cancel A Cycle In A Frigidaire Dishwasher 

You can cancel a cycle at any moment throughout its duration by pressing on the “Start/Cancel.” The dishwasher will automatically begin a drain time of 1.5 minutes. Select the preferred cycle after the drain.

Status Indicator Lights

When you first turn on a dishwasher, there’s a lot of important information that the user needs to know.

Is the water warm enough? Where are we in the wash cycle? When is this thing going to finish? 

Using the product indicator lights on your dishwasher is easy to ensure that you get the most out of your machine. 

These lights intend to inform the user of the progress of the dishwasher cycle so that they can be a little confusing at first. 

Here is a breakdown of what these indicators mean:

• WASHING Light

When your dishwasher starts washing dishes, the WASHING light will be on. The light will stay on until the cycle is complete.

• SENSING Light

The SENSING light turns on at the start of the cycles, including the smart sensor, and stays on until the sensing sequence is completed. 

Please remember that the time left may abruptly rise or decrease by a few minutes. The Smart Sensor is a device that monitors soil moisture levels and determines whether more water fills are required.

• SANITIZED Light

When you select SANITIZE, the light will be lit until you open the dishwasher door. If the dishwasher does not adequately disinfect the dishes, this might happen if the cycle is disrupted. 

• CLEAN Light

At the end of the cycle, the “Clean” light will turn on and remain lit until you open the door.

• DRYING Light

The DRYING light shows that the cycle is drying. If you select the “Dry” option, the light will turn on.

• RINSE AGENT LOW

When the rinse agent reservoir is low, the RINSING AGENT LOW indicator will show up at the end of a cleaning cycle. This is normal for some models. The light will stay on until you refill the reservoir. 

• 1H-24H

The number of hours in the cycle that you had purposely delayed. It will count down the final hour in minutes. 

• CL

This sign means you should close the dishwasher’s door. 

• ‘Ho”

This flashing signifies a delay in the heating of the water.

• “Minutes”

The icon indicates the number of minutes remaining in the cycle. If somehow the cycle should last longer than 99 minutes, little light will flash in the lower right-hand corner and remain lighted until the timer reaches 99.

• PF

The appearance of this sign in the window occurs during the first installation of your dishwasher or when there is a power outage/disruption. To remove this sign, press the START/CANCEL button.

What Is The DELAY START Function, And What Is Its Purpose?  

The DELAY START function allows the dishwasher to start at a later time automatically. The feature can be helpful if you want to run the dishwasher when no one is home or if you’d like to run it at a time that doesn’t conflict with other household appliances.

The Delayed Start Function allows you to wash your dishes at off-peak hours so that you can save water and energy. 

It allows you to delay your dishwashing, from 1 hour up to 24 hours, with the touch of a button. Some models will delay for 1-10 hours. 

How Do You LOCK The Frigidaire Dishwasher?

For Plastic Tub Dishwashers

The Delay Start feature lets you start the oven at any time within 24 hours.

To use this feature, hold down the “Delay Start” button for 3 seconds until the indicator light comes on and stays on when you release the button. You’ve now locked the controls out of the OFF position. 

You may not make additional selections until you deactivate them by pressing Delay Start for three continuous seconds.

Dishwashers Made of Stainless Steel 

Hold down the Delay Start pad until the display window says “loc.” To unlock the controls, press “Delay Start” until the word “loc” is no longer shown in the display status box.

Resetting The Dishwasher 

There are two main reasons why a dishwasher would not complete its cycle and need resetting:

1. You pressed the start button more than once 
2. The door lock is dirty

If a cycle is canceled because of an interruption, the machine will not clean the dishes adequately. You will have to cancel the current cycle and restart it to fix this problem.

To fix it; 

• Press the “Cancel” pad on the far-right side of the control panel. Hold this button down for 3 seconds or until the LED display vanishes or changes.
• Please wait 5 minutes to give ample time to reset the dishwasher before turning it on. You’ll press the “Start” pad for 2 seconds to turn the dishwasher on. The error should be gone, and the operation has been successful.

• If the problem persists, reset (reboot) the dishwasher by unplugging it from the home circuit breaker/fuse box for 30 seconds. Restore electricity, and the dishwasher should resume regular operation.

Cleaning Your Frigidaire Dishwasher

During typical cycles, Frigidaire dishwashers clean themselves automatically. Empty the dishwasher of all dishes. Then, on the bottom rack of the dishwasher, insert a cup filled with white vinegar. 

Start the dishwasher on the most extended cycle possible. Your dishwasher is now clean.

Conclusion

You have now learned how to unlock your Frigidaire dishwasher. As you can see, unlocking the Frigidaire dishwasher is not all that hard to do. While it may be a little different from what we are used to, there is nothing tricky about the process. 

If your dishwasher has locked up on you or wants to know how the buttons work, give this guide a read and see if it helps!