I just pulled my bread machine out of the basement shelf it’s been on for the last year. I dumped in the ingredients, set the settings, and pushed start. The lights are on, but it seems nobody is home. Nothing is happening. It’s been sitting there doing nothing for about 5 minutes now. I seem to remember something like this happening last time I used it, over a year ago, and that eventually it did start… but I don’t know how long I should wait before just kneading this by hand (I am only using it for the dough). Anyone know? It’s “The Bread Machine” brand.
Did you pick the right number (the right program) for the sort of bread you are baking?
Have you bashed it a few times to make sure it’s woken up from its long sleep?
Seriously - what’s the current room temperature? Mine won’t operate if it’s too cold.
Depending on the cycle you picked, it could be bringing the ingredients up to a preset temperature before beginning the kneading. The whole-wheat bread cycle, for example, requires that.
There are only three settings: Normal, Light, and Dough. I had it set on “Dough”. I was using it to knead pizza dough so I wouldn’t have to do it by hand.
Please tell me you cleaned out the inside before you put your ingredients in…
Oh, and it’s 79 degrees in here.
I wiped it out, but there wasn’t much to wipe. It’s been closed the whole time, and it was thoroughly washed before being put away last time it was used. There was a little dust on the top of the lid but that was it.
That’s probably OK then
I don’t know much about breadmaking but I do a fair amount of beermaking which I am told has some similarities. I was just concerned that even a small amount of debris left on the inside from last time would provide a substrate for wild yeast or mold or some other microorganism you probably don’t want in your bread.
You may have put it on a timer setting in error.
All right, Opal, come back and tell us if it ever started, dammit! 
And what kind of toppings did you use for the pizza?
There is no timer setting. There is the aforementioned “Normal, Light, and Dough” and then an “On, Wait”. Each of these has an LED next to it. The LED was on next to Dough and On.
I couldn’t wait all night for dinner so I spatula’d out all the ingredients into a bowl and did it by hand.
Mushroom.
Maybe as a test unplug for 10 minutes, chuck in a bit of flour and water and see if it launches at some point. What’s the ‘wait’ setting all about?
I think it’s like a pause