Error code
LG-built Kenmore dryer signal [L
[L is an indicator rather than an error. LG publishes it for the dryer this badge covers, and it means: LG's own label is CONTROL LOCK FUNCTION. Not an error. The manual prints `[L`; the help library writes CL.
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What we can confirm
Signal [L, 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
[L
LG's own label is CONTROL LOCK FUNCTION. Not an error. The manual prints `[L`; the help library writes CL.
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What it narrows down to
LG's own label is CONTROL LOCK FUNCTION
Diagnostic
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On the same appliance
What else belongs to the dryers
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
Restricted air flow
A problem with the heater or the heater relays
Low or no line voltage
Whirlpool's wording: five consecutive loads were dried without the
Whirlpool identifies this as an inlet thermistor problem —
Whirlpool's wording: an issue with the control unit or
An issue with the user interface or its wiring
A problem with the main control board, the touchpad,
A problem with the motor, the control, or the wiring between them
A power failure interrupted the drying cycle
The control lock is on
Whirlpool's wording: the door has not been completely closed
The same digits mean different things on different equipment. Search the full code list
In more detail
About LG-built Kenmore dryer signal [L
Whose code this actually is
Kenmore did not write [L, because Kenmore has never built an appliance. This one is LG's, and it appears on the dryer that LG built and Sears sold under the Kenmore badge. Whirlpool, LG and Frigidaire all built dryers for this badge, and all three publish short two-character codes, so a lookup that skips the prefix is a coin toss dressed as an answer.
What the appliance is telling you
LG's own label is CONTROL LOCK FUNCTION. Not an error. The manual prints `[L`; the help library writes CL.
This one is an indicator rather than an error. It is published in the same table as genuine problems, and treating it as one is how a working appliance gets a service call.
Which Kenmore models can raise it
The Kenmore dryer whose model number begins 796 — the three digits before the period on the rating plate. Those digits are LG's, which is why LG's table is the one that applies to [L and no other manufacturer's does.
The other ways it may be written
The same condition is published under more than one label, because it has been carried across generations of the appliance and because a segment display draws some characters oddly: CL. They are the same finding and they lead to the same place.
Worth trying yourself, in this order
- Hold the child lock button for three seconds.
Where this usually goes
The job this most often becomes is diagnostic visit, and that page carries a starting figure and the reasons that move it. A Kenmore dryer in South Florida is almost always on a long horizontal duct carrying humid air, and that duct is behind more heat and airflow codes here than any component inside the machine. Photograph the display before you cut the power: a reset clears [L, and on a Kenmore the characters plus three digits off the plate are most of the diagnosis.
Where this meaning came from
LG's own documentation: LG Owner's Manual — WashTower WKEX200H*A / WKGX201H*A, P/No. MFL71485405. Kenmore publishes none of its own, which is why every entry on this site names the manufacturer's document instead.
This article is based on:
- Official manufacturer documentation
- Internal repair procedures
- Technician repair history
- Company quality standards