Is Your LG QuadWash Dishwasher’s Control Panel Blinking? A Class Action Lawsuit Says You’re Not Alone

A proposed class action alleges LG Electronics has knowingly sold QuadWash-enabled dishwashers equipped with defective LED control panels prone to moisture intrusion.

The 56-page case says that although LG has designed the control panels at issue to be “easy to see and use,” each one suffers from an identical defect that allows moisture to penetrate the control panel and damage the sensitive electronics within.

When moisture enters an LG dishwasher’s control panel, its lights may blink or flash, and its buttons may fail to work, which can cause the appliance to stop mid-cycle or fail to re-start after a cycle is complete, the complaint says.

Ultimately, the moisture intrusion problem can render the dishwasher’s control panel completely unresponsive, leaving consumers unable to use their dishwashers as intended, the lawsuit says.

According to the filing, LG has been aware of the control panel defect since at least 2015, when it supposedly received its first batch of consumer complaints about the problem. It took the company roughly three years to acknowledge the defect – and only did so in a service bulletin to authorized repair technicians, the case relays.

Despite its apparent longstanding knowledge of the problem, LG has nevertheless failed to successfully remedy the defect, as the “updated” control panels the company provides suffer from the very same issue, the lawsuit contends.

“Indeed, consumers report that their replacement Control Panels, which LG describes in the Service Bulletin as ‘improvements’ designed to ‘prevent further moisture penetration,’ likewise fail shortly after installation,” the suit states. “Because LG repairs Class Dishwashers using defective Control Panels that are doomed to fail, its warranty offers little in the way of actual relief and fails of its essential purpose.”

Moreover, after the company’s one-year parts-and-labor warranty expires, LG claims that the defect “does not exist” and fails to provide any additional warranty coverage, the case says. Per the complaint, LG requires consumers who are out of warranty to pay out of pocket to get their dishwashers up and running again, even if the company previously fixed the control panel under warranty.

The lawsuit says that LG has ultimately left certain dishwasher owners “between a rock and a hard place” in that once the control panel defect manifests, their options are to either buy a totally new dishwasher or pay out of pocket for multiple repairs to their current one.

Which LG dishwashers are mentioned in the case?

According to the lawsuit, LG dishwashers that bear any of the following model numbers are equipped with a defective control panel:

• LDF5545;
• LDP6797;
• LDT7797;
• LDT5665;
• LDT5678; and
• LDT7808.

The plaintiff, a Bakersfield, California resident, alleges that the control panel in his LG dishwasher failed only six months after it was initially replaced in July 2020. The man claims that his new control panel began “inappropriately powering on and off again during cycles.” Per the lawsuit, the plaintiff was ultimately left with a “defective dishwasher” once his original warranty expired.

LG’s “solution” to the control panel problem “equally ineffective,” case says

According to the lawsuit, LG issued a service bulletin to authorized technicians on November 8, 2018 to help correct the moisture intrusion issue. In the bulletin, the suit says, LG relayed its purported solution to the defect: adding silicone coating on the side of the control panel to prevent further moisture penetration.

The case contends that since this type of service bulletin is issued only after a significant number of complaints have been made and a lengthy investigation has been conducted, “it is clear that LG was aware of the Control Panel Defect in the Class Dishwashers well before November 2018.”

Unfortunately, however, the silicone-coating fix did not, well, fix the issue, the lawsuit claims.

As evidenced by continual consumer complaints, even after repairs using an updated component, Class Dishwashers continue to stop midcycle or completely lose power after a cycle, Control Panel buttons continue to malfunction, and Dishwashers are rendered entirely inoperable. To correct the Control Panel Defect, the Class Dishwashers require Control Panels that are not susceptible to moisture penetration that corrodes internal circuitry.”

Who’s covered by the lawsuit?

The case aims to cover all consumers nationwide who bought one or more LG QuadWash-enabled dishwashers suffering from the control panel issue.

Can you add me to the case?

It’s a common misconception, but when a proposed class action is initially filed, there’s generally nothing you need to do to join, be added to, or be considered part of the lawsuit.

It’s only if the case proceeds and eventually settles (not a guaranteed outcome!) that the people who are “covered” by the case, called “class members,” would need to act. In the event of a settlement, class members would receive notice of the deal with information on their legal rights, instructions on how to file a claim, and more.

That being said, class action lawsuits tend to take some time to work through the legal process, usually toward a settlement, dismissal or arbitration.

For now, LG dishwasher owners, and anyone else looking to stay current on class action lawsuit and settlement news, should sign up for ClassAction.org’s free weekly newsletter.

A PDF of the complaint can be found below.