Area Man Survives Battle with Dishwasher

[errantember]

Our dishwasher wasn't draining anymore, and in a house with five people (only one of them female), that's Bad Fucking News. I spent about four or five hours fucking with it today. Praise the Buddy Christ that the previous owners were psycho record keepers, because not only was the user manual for the appliance available, but so was the maintenance guide, including circuit diagrams and diagnostic procedures.
I eventually narrowed it down to the output coil of the pump (there's only one pump, with one stage for recirculating water and one for draining it.) The drain stage had only about 90 volts instead of 120, and the resistance was twice what it was supposed to be. It also had that Bad Electrical Smell when I tried to manually make it go by applying 120 volts directly to the inputs.

Another Wonderful thing about the dishwasher is that it isn't in a waterproof appliance pan, and it directly abuts the wonderful bamboo flooring that now dominates the center of the house. If it flooded, it would definitely significantly fuck up the floor, and I don't have enough replacement bamboo to fix a problem that large. By using a combination of towels, small trays, and the shop vac, I was able to remove the lowermost connection where the drain house comes out of the pump, significantly watering the electrical bits in the process. Lo and behold, there was a clog consisting of small metal washer (which I kept) and a bunch of string bits of paper and glue from food jars some idiot keeps putting into the washer. Once cleared and re-assembled, the washer now appears to function normally. We've only gone through one cycle so far, though, so the jury is still out. I'm glad I was able to find the clog, because a new pump is $350, and it's not possible to remove the dishwasher to replace it with another one without having to saw through the fantastic Corian countertop in two places, or destroying the floor.

Finally, the drain line is currently hooked up to the half of the sink that doesn't include the garbage disposal. This explains the frequent and persistent drain clogs we've been seeing. I'm not sure it's quite long enough to reach the disposal side, but if it's not, I'll either add an extension or replace it. Running all of that chunky garbage through the disposal before it goes down the sink should largely eliminate the clogging problem.

Comments

[ladyjaneinlace.livejournal.com]

Wait, what? "Saw through the Corian, or destroy the bamboo floor"??

The DW has little elevators on the feet which adjust with a wrench; when we pulled mine out (granite on top, finicky laminate on the floor), we used a small wrench to screw the elevators back into the base frame, thus reducing its height. We then unscrewed the unit from the sidewalls (I don't think it was attached at the top).

I have a small entry mat in my front entryway: latex backing on the backside with very short nap carpet on the topside. I simply took it, flipped it over so the nap was against the laminate, and scooted it up flush with the bottom of the washer. We carefully inched the washer forward onto the mat, and used that to scoot it the rest of the way out of the opening until the delivery/install guy could just pick the thing up and carry it out the door. Reverse process for the new install.

It's definitely a two person job, but entirely doable. I'm glad you fixed the one you have, but don't let the floors stop you if the thing just craters later on and you need to replace it.

[errantember.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the info. In my case, the clearance was already supper-close, and the baboo floor is *higher* than the previous floor. The dishwasher sits on the old vinyl flooring, not on the bamboo. I realized when I installed the floor that it might be a predicament someday. It might still be possible to get it out, but I doubt it.

[ladyjaneinlace.livejournal.com]

You'd likely have to saw thru the supports under the washer in that case with a hacksaw, and pull it out that way.

Of course, there's that whole "insert the new washer issue"...

[errantember.livejournal.com]

If it could be done at all, that's probably what would have to happen. Now that I know how to fix it, though, hopefully I can keep it running indefinitely.