Dishwasher repair

[FINate]

We recently noticed the GE dishwasher that came with our house wasn't getting the job done. Dishes would get sorta clean, but had a weird film, and when we opened it after a cycle it felt cool. From what we could tell, the water wasn't getting heated and sure enough, when we enabled the dry function that also didn't work.

Looked at new dishwashers online, but would rather save some money and avoid unnecessary waste, so why not spend some time investigating repair.

Found the model and serial number on the inside of the door, then looked up how to decode the serial number to find the age. Hmm, only 8 years old, should have plenty of life left.

So spent some time with Google asking about why my dishwasher might not be heating. Apparently it's very common for the float valve to go out on this unit, which (rather annoyingly) doesn't throw an error, but instead just quietly disables the heating element.

Found float valve for my specific model on Amazon and watched some short videos on how to replace. Very easy repair.

The part was $50 w/ shipping and took all of 15 minutes to replace. Dishwasher heats and functions as expected again. Well worth the minor expense and a couple hours of time.

[fireready]

Nice work!  Not only did you save money, but you kept your old unit out of the landfill and used less resources not buying a new one.

[uniwelder]

WooHoo! I wouldn't have expected the one to cause a problem with the other, but I always learn something new on this forum.

[FINate]

Nice work!  Not only did you save money, but you kept your old unit out of the landfill and used less resources not buying a new one.

And I didn't have to wait around half a day for delivery :)

[FINate]

WooHoo! I wouldn't have expected the one to cause a problem with the other, but I always learn something new on this forum.

Yeah, not the most sensible design. It seems like a float valve sensor should throw a code and shut things down.

In any case, it's a good reminder that, unlike small counter appliances, installed appliances can generally be repaired. Sure, it's not like olden days when it was common to replace individual components like a resistor. Now they're built almost like PCs, modular design networked via data busses and whatnot. This means replacing complete assemblies, which is still far more efficient than replacing the unit. In my case, the float value came as module connected via a wire harness. Very plug and play.

[SpaceCow]

Nice! I just installed a used Bosch unit after being disappointed by a more modern Frigidaire. The way these newer designs are packed full of digital gizmos seems to have made them much less reliable than older units. My Frigidaire didn't even have a float switch--it had an optical water level sensor that seems designed to be clogged with food particles on a yearly basis.

[CurledMoss]

or better yet don't use a dishwasher.

[GuitarStv]

or better yet don't use a dishwasher.

Washing by hand is fine, but is usually* more wasteful of water.  Dishwashers also run at higher temperatures than hand washing which will sanitize dishes better, so people in the house get sick less often.  That coupled with the time savings (and wear and tear on your hands if they're dry/prone to cracking in the cold winter) seems like a pretty good reason to go with one.




* I think it's possible to make hand washing at least as efficient using hot soapy water on one side and hot clean water on the other to rinse off), but the overwhelming majority of people don't.  Also the efficiency of running a dishwasher kinda drops off a cliff if you're running it 1/3 full or something stupid.

[CurledMoss]

or better yet don't use a dishwasher.

Washing by hand is fine, but is usually* more wasteful of water.  Dishwashers also run at higher temperatures than hand washing which will sanitize dishes better, so people in the house get sick less often.  That coupled with the time savings (and wear and tear on your hands if they're dry/prone to cracking in the cold winter) seems like a pretty good reason to go with one.




* I think it's possible to make hand washing at least as efficient using hot soapy water on one side and hot clean water on the other to rinse off), but the overwhelming majority of people don't.  Also the efficiency of running a dishwasher kinda drops off a cliff if you're running it 1/3 full or something stupid.

I beg to differ. People tend to still rinse off dishes before dishwasher or it gets smelly. You gotta fill it up or it's a waste. Then what I want is in the dishwasher unless I have multiples of everything. Enjoy minimalism. Takes me like 30 seconds to do dishes, do them while the food is cooking, cook 2 meals a day, never sick don't even have health insurance. Think ate out twice this year. Everything is always put away and ready for use. And I have a dishwasher too.

[GuitarStv]

People tend to still rinse off dishes before dishwasher or it gets smelly.

This is a bad idea and usually makes your dishwasher work worse (it messes with their turbidity sensors).  If you wash dishes wrong, you'll be more inefficient too.  :P

You gotta fill it up or it's a waste. Then what I want is in the dishwasher unless I have multiples of everything. Enjoy minimalism.

I lived for four years in university with just a spork, knife, plate, and cup.  No problems with minimalism.  And it only took me 30 seconds to do dishes.  As an adult with a kid and someone who often entertains friends/family, minimalism of this sort isn't really possible or desirable anymore though.

Takes me like 30 seconds to do dishes, do them while the food is cooking, cook 2 meals a day, never sick don't even have health insurance. Think ate out twice this year. Everything is always put away and ready for use. And I have a dishwasher too.

Sounds like you're better off not using a dishwasher then.

[FINate]

or better yet don't use a dishwasher.

Go for it, you do you! But our family of four is going to keep using a dishwasher. We typically do one load per day. Modern models use around 4 gallons of water per load. Which means we're using around 1 gallon of water per person per day. It would be very difficult to beat this washing by hand.

Per cycle, depending on what features we use, energy usage is around 1-2 kWh. Here in Idaho most of our power is from renewables, and our cost is around $0.08 per kWh.

So no thank you, I'm not going to stop using a dishwasher over 1 gallon per person per day, or to save 16 cents per day on the electricity bill. In software engineering this is what's referred to as "premature optimization" - i.e. wasting time/effort optimizing something very minor relative to total runtime.

[slackmax]

Commendable save, FINate !

[FINate]

Well, the dishwasher started having issues again. Heated fine, but had intermittent issues draining. Was worth trying the repair since it was cheap, and we got another 5-ish months out of it. You win some and lose some, I guess.

On a positive note, the home appliance market has apparently slowed and we got around 30% off a prior year model Bosch 800 series. So quiet, uses less energy and water, and cleans/dries extremely well.

[eyesonthehorizon]

Well, the dishwasher started having issues again. Heated fine, but had intermittent issues draining. Was worth trying the repair since it was cheap, and we got another 5-ish months out of it. You win some and lose some, I guess.

On a positive note, the home appliance market has apparently slowed and we got around 30% off a prior year model Bosch 800 series. So quiet, uses less energy and water, and cleans/dries extremely well.

I was just thinking this when you mentioned your discount. This is a great time of year to need to replace it, so your repair probably saved you money in the long run too!