dishwasher headache - cured

Carol Reed

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Coolidge, AZ
Finally done with all the Easter service preparations, now on to other issues.

So a couple of days ago the dishwasher fails to drain completely. I try it again today making sure I begin at the very beginning of the cycle. No joy. Dishes are dirty. Stinky water in the bottom of the dishwasher, but not enough to spill on the floor when opening the door.

Here is the kicker, or two. I only run it a couple of times a week as I am single and live alone. Well, I rarely wash the cat's dish!

A couple of weeks ago I put in a disposal. The dishwasher drain hose enters the top of the disposal. I have run the disposal so there is no blockage there.

Before the disposal install, I had no problems. Can I reroute the drain hose and block the inlet to the disposal to fix the problem, or is it something else? Anywhere I can look on-line for help? Plumbers are $85 an hour. Don't want to go there. I have this long, expensive road trip coming up. ;)

One more thought FWIW. In the left front bottom corner there is a mushroom shaped protrusion with holes in the top. The water seems to be just below those holes. Some kind of filter or strainer?

What does the collective brain trust say?
 
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Carol,
You probably already know about this, but just in case, There is a knock out in the drain (connector) of the disposer where the dishwasher hooks up. you have to take a screwdriver or something to knock it out. Its there in case you don't have a dishwasher hooked up.

Dan
 
Something else. Did you install an air gap? This prevents dirty water from back flowing into the unit and provides an escape for the water over the top of the counter into the sink if the disposal backs up.

19934d1242773580-how-do-go-double-drain-sink-single-drain-sink-air-gap-dishwasher.gif


Air gap in action.

ar124593382384475.jpg
 
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Dan, Dan and Dan brought up all the points I can think of. Clogged filter, knockout plug, and air gap are the issues that come to mind.






As an aside, I think this forum needs more guys named Dan. :D
 
I'd offer some advice if I had any... we've lived in this house for 4 1/2 years and I still don't know if the DW even works... if I can talk LOML into it, I want to pull it out, take it to my shop and make a drying kiln from it.... would fit under my work bench perfectly and would make good use of it....
 
Not a plumber, or named Dan, but I have a couple questions. Did it work ok when the disposer was first installed? Sounds like a plumber installed this? so I'm guessing the plug was knocked out. If not, I'm guessing it would have overflowed.
When you start it, does it sound normal? Does it sound like it's running? Does it get to a point that it sounds like it quits running? Do you have your owner's manual? It probably has a section on problems and probable solutions in the back...maybe this is one of them.
Ok, lots of questions and no answers.:rolleyes: If it's not overflowing, then it sounds like it is draining. Which would make me think it's not running right. Maybe look for an appliance forum and hit them with the make and model number for some professional ideas. Jim.
 
I had one that was clogging from the dry dish washing powder every once in a while, had to remove the plastic strainer at the bottom and vacuum it out with the wet vac. It was a GE Dishwasher.
 
Fixed. Knocked the plug out of the disposal. Mea culpa. I put in the disposal. Thanks for the heads up and saving me the price of a plumber.
 
Hah! That's what happened at our house. We moved in and couldn't use the dishwasher. It was nice to know the dishwasher and disposer were brand new and never used!
 
Glad to see you got it sussed out, Carol. They do tend to drain a lot better when there's somewhere for the water to go, huh?
 
Fixed. Knocked the plug out of the disposal. Mea culpa. I put in the disposal. Thanks for the heads up and saving me the price of a plumber.

what do you mean "a plumber" somebody will pay his helper
glad that you were able to fix it yourself
 
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