LC on a Samsung dishwasher means its leak sensor has found water in the base of the machine. The dishwasher shuts the cycle down and refuses to run, because as far as it knows your kitchen floor is next.
LC appears on 20 jobs in our dishwasher records, and it is getting more common, not less — seven of those were in 2025 and three more in the first half of 2026, out of 86 Samsung dishwasher jobs in total.
How customers describe it:
"It shows flashing light with LC code. I read online this is a leak indicator. I looked around and do not see any external [leak]."
"Error code LC, doesn't drain well, no visible leaks."
Why you can't see the leak
This is the thing worth knowing before you start pulling the machine out: on our LC jobs the water was rarely leaking onto the floor.
Samsung puts a float or a sensor strip in the sealed base tray under the tub. Water that escapes any joint inside the machine runs down into that tray — and stays there. The tray is doing its job. Nothing reaches your floorboards, nothing drips at the door, and the only evidence is two letters on the display.
So "I don't see a leak" is not a reason to doubt the code. It is the normal case.
Our tech's note from one job: "Removed the dishwasher and bottom tray and confirmed there was water." The machine had to come out before anyone could see it.
Where the water actually came from, on our jobs
Almost every one traced back to a seal around the pump, and the records name three different ones:
- The motor shaft seal and the sump gasket. Tech note: "motor gasket needs replacement, sump gasket needs replacement."
- The pump rotor seal. One tech described it exactly as it looks: "Rubber ring on pump was erased." Worn away, not split.
- The drain pump itself leaking, on two separate jobs. One of them was also "making loud draining sounds", which is the pump telling you before the sensor does.
The rest of our LC jobs found:
- The diverter motor gasket, together with a failed leak detector sensor and the door cables
- The water inlet valve — one job replaced the valve, another the whole valve assembly
- The flood switch assembly, along with a control board that was "acting up" and the door gasket
- The detergent dispenser leaking, with the drain pump, the cap outlet and the vent seal
- A broken drain pump hose, on a machine whose "control board doesn't respond to turn on and off, it does it by itself"
The pattern is clear enough to be useful: if your Samsung shows LC, the pump area is where a tech will look first, and the part is more often a rubber seal than an electrical component.
One thing to try before you pay for a part
Two of our LC visits are worth being honest about.
One customer's dishwasher was showing LC, and by the time our tech arrived it had stopped — the job note reads "CANCELED, dishwasher working fine again."
That can happen. If the water in the base tray came from a one-off — an overfilled rinse-aid reservoir, a door left ajar during a cycle, a spill while loading — the sensor will keep the machine locked out until the tray dries, which takes days on its own.
So it is worth doing this first:
- Turn the dishwasher off at the breaker for ten minutes, then back on. Some models clear a latched LC on a power cycle.
- Tilt the machine gently back (two people, carefully) to let anything in the base tray run out, if you can do it without straining the plumbing.
- Leave the door open and give it a couple of days, then try a short cycle.
- Watch the detergent dispenser and the door seal during that cycle. A dispenser that drips is a cheap fix.
If LC comes back on the next wash, the leak is live and it needs a tech — there is water getting out somewhere inside, every cycle.
Be aware it can come back
Two of our LC jobs returned as callbacks, one a few weeks after the first visit and one a few months later. Both times the machine was leaking from a second place.
That is the nature of a ten-year-old dishwasher with a tired set of seals: the sensor can only report that there is water, not which gasket. A tech who replaces the one that is obviously wet and leaves the others is making a reasonable call, but on an older machine it is fair to ask whether the whole pump seal set is worth doing in one visit.
The machines this happens to
Our LC jobs span Samsung's mainstream dishwashers — DW80R5061US, DW80R5060US, DW80R9950US, DW80B7070UG, DW80B7070US, DW80M9960US, DW80CG5020SR and the DW60R2014US. It is not confined to one model year or one series.
Book Samsung dishwasher repair
We repair Samsung dishwashers across the SF Bay Area and Peninsula.
Call (888) 993-5699 or book online.
Related pages
- Samsung Dishwasher 3C Error — the circulation pump code, and how it differs from a drain fault
- Dishwasher Not Draining, Standing Water — when there's water in the tub rather than under it
- Dishwasher Repair in the SF Bay Area & Peninsula — our full dishwasher service
- Samsung Appliance Repair — every Samsung appliance we service
Frequently asked questions
What does LC mean on a Samsung dishwasher? LC stands for leak check. A sensor in the sealed base tray beneath the tub has detected water, so the dishwasher stops the cycle and locks itself out to avoid flooding the kitchen. It tells you water has escaped somewhere inside the machine, not where from.
My Samsung shows LC but I can't see any leak — is the code wrong? Almost certainly not. The base tray is designed to catch escaping water and hold it, so nothing reaches your floor. On our jobs the tech usually had to pull the dishwasher out and remove the bottom tray before the water was visible at all.
What usually causes LC on a Samsung dishwasher? On our 20 LC jobs it was most often a seal around the pump: the motor shaft seal, the sump gasket, or the pump rotor seal, which one tech described as the rubber ring being worn away. Others were a leaking drain pump, the diverter motor gasket, the water inlet valve, the detergent dispenser and a failed leak detector sensor.
Can an LC error clear by itself? Yes, if the water was a one-off. One of our calls was cancelled because the dishwasher started working again before we arrived. Power the machine off at the breaker for ten minutes, leave the door open for a couple of days so the base tray dries, then run a short cycle. If LC returns, the leak is live.
Can I keep using the dishwasher with an LC error? You should not force it. The lockout is flood protection, and the water it has found is real. Running the machine anyway risks the escaped water reaching the electronics under the tub, which turns a seal replacement into a control board replacement.
Which parts have you replaced for LC? Across our LC jobs: the motor shaft seal, the sump gasket, the pump rotor seal, the drain pump assembly, the leak detector sensor, the door cables, the dispenser cap outlet, the vent seal and the water inlet valve. Which one you need depends on where the water is getting out, which is why the machine usually has to come out to be sure.