What to check yourself
Step 1. Press every button once, deliberately
The fix as often as not, and it takes thirty seconds. Turn the machine off, then press and release each button on the panel in turn, firmly. A key that has stuck down mechanically usually pops back with a single proper press, and you will often feel which one it was.
Step 2. Clean the panel and dry it
Grease, detergent splash and steam sit on a touch panel and read as a finger. Wipe it with a barely damp cloth and dry it properly, paying attention to the seam between the panel and the door.
Step 3. Dry the panel out with warm air
The trick technicians use and manufacturers do not print. Steam gets behind the membrane, particularly on machines that vent into the door, and it takes a while to leave on its own. A hairdryer on a low setting, held moving across the panel for a few minutes, drives it out. Then run a thumb across each key again.
Low heat and keep the dryer moving. A touch panel is plastic and a hot spot will mark it permanently.
Step 4. Cut the power for five minutes
After the above, not before. The reset gives the panel a chance to reread its keys with a clean slate. Doing it first, with the button still stuck or the panel still wet, just repeats the fault.
What a technician will look at
Described so you know what you are paying for, not as steps to repeat.
Replace the panel or the touch board
A key that is physically damaged, or a membrane that has taken water for months, does not come back. The panel assembly is replaced as a unit rather than repaired.
When to call a technician
When the code survives pressing every key, cleaning, drying and a reset, or when a button is visibly damaged or dead to the touch. Everything before that is worth trying yourself, because it is free and it works often.
What the repair costs
| Repair | Part only | Fitted by a technician |
|---|---|---|
| Pressing the keys and drying the panel | - | Free |
| Diagnosis alone | - | $75 to $130 |
| Control panel or touchpad replacement | $60 to $200 | $180 to $400 |
A new machine of the same class runs $500 to $1,500. Once a quote passes about a third of that on an older appliance, the repair stops making sense.
Codes people confuse this with
Questions people ask
- Why would steam get behind the buttons?
- Because the vent that lets hot air out at the end of a cycle is often in the door, a few inches from the panel. Over years, some of it finds its way behind the membrane. It is the reason this code shows up on machines nobody has spilled anything on.
- Is a hairdryer really safe on the panel?
- On a low setting and kept moving, yes. It is the same principle as drying a phone. What damages panels is holding a hot dryer still in one place, so do not do that.
- My LG dishwasher showed bE and it was foam. Which is right?
- Both, for their own machines. LG uses bE for excess suds, Samsung for a stuck button. Check the badge before following any advice, including a video.
Which machines this applies to
Applies to
Samsung dishwashers across the DW80, DW50 and Linear Wash ranges. Written 6E on older machines and bE on newer ones. Worth knowing: on an LG dishwasher bE means excess foam, not a button.
Last checked
2026-08-10