Author Topic: I fixed my dishwasher  (Read 3955 times)

LibrarIan

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I fixed my dishwasher
« on: April 14, 2022, 12:21:19 PM »
We bought our house in 2019 and the prior owners left us money to get a new dishwasher as part of the home sale deal. We installed a GE dishwasher and it was mostly covered by what the prior owners gave us.

Fast forward to last week and the cycles were ending unexpectedly well before they should've. With a little digging online, I figured out how to enter maintenance mode and was able to grab an error code that pointed to the water pressure sensor. The new part + shipping was $30 and I spent an hour one night swapping out the part. It works just fine again.

I mentioned this to some coworkers and their collective reaction was "I would have no idea how to fix that and would have bought a new one." In the face of a little research and $30 versus shelling out hundreds for a new one, they'd pick the latter? Well, okay then.

Anyway, just excited that my research paid off and I was able to repair it!

Papa bear

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Re: I fixed my dishwasher
« Reply #1 on: April 14, 2022, 06:31:15 PM »
It is incredibly satisfying doing that.  Nice work!

I’ve been a fan of repair clinic for their videos.  Also search locally for an appliance parts shop.  They can sometimes be cheaper than online, and the staff and customers usually can walk you through a repair as well.


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shureShote

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Re: I fixed my dishwasher
« Reply #2 on: April 17, 2022, 03:13:16 PM »
Perfect! There’s a lot of troubleshooting modes that have surprised me. Great job doing some research and finding the part.

That satisfaction of this sort of DIY is almost as good as the money savings.

cool7hand

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Re: I fixed my dishwasher
« Reply #3 on: April 18, 2022, 08:15:24 AM »
Impressive. Most impressive.

Syonyk

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Re: I fixed my dishwasher
« Reply #4 on: April 18, 2022, 11:58:31 AM »
Excellent, less waste, more money in your pocket, and new skills developed!  Win-win-win, maybe a few more wins added in there!

Oh, wait, wait... no, no.  But what about the profits of the brand holding companies who missed out on a new sale?  Who will think about their second vacation homes?

I mentioned this to some coworkers and their collective reaction was "I would have no idea how to fix that and would have bought a new one." In the face of a little research and $30 versus shelling out hundreds for a new one, they'd pick the latter? Well, okay then.

You live in a coastal area, I'd guess?  I ran into that sentiment regularly when I was in Seattle, and couldn't stand it.  It extended to random tech repair work too - bad power input pin on a laptop?  Well, solder it up, I mean, you need a higher temp iron to deal with the thermal mass, but those aren't hard to... oh, I guess I'm the only person who has one?  Huh.  Sure, I'll repair it for a price.

I'm radically happier living out in rural farm country in the mountain west now, where people generally work on their own stuff (and I'm working with a few other people to more and more build the weird replacement parts you can't get from the appliance makers).  "I fixed my dishwasher, bad water pressure sensor, ugh..." would, out here, be more than likely met with a good discussion on what other nonsensical cheap parts fail on home appliances and where to find them/troubleshoot them.  It wouldn't be weird at all, and "I bought a new one, dunno what was wrong with the old one..." would be the weird thing.

I've concluded that at least part of it is that knowing how to do things with your hand and tools is considered blue collar among the chattering coastal classes, and of course that's something They Are Not And Will Never Be.  You pay those people to do the things you're proud of not knowing how to do.  It's insane to me, but... whatever.  I don't live out there anymore.  And I fix my own stuff.

I'm just annoyed because it feels like I'm fixing our stuff more often than I ought.  I've replaced, in the past 6 years, one freezer thermostat, one drain pump on the washer, a burner control on our stove, I've cleaned out a few valves that build up a bit of grit, and that's not counting the times I've had to defrost our fridge's idiotic icemaker with a hair dryer.

slugsworth

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Re: I fixed my dishwasher
« Reply #5 on: April 18, 2022, 10:31:48 PM »
Quote from: Syonyk link=topic
[quote author=LibrarIan link=topic=127133.msg3003332#msg3003332 date=1649960479
I mentioned this to some coworkers and their collective reaction was "I would have no idea how to fix that and would have bought a new one." In the face of a little research and $30 versus shelling out hundreds for a new one, they'd pick the latter? Well, okay then.

You live in a coastal area, I'd guess?  I ran into that sentiment regularly when I was in Seattle, and couldn't stand it.
[/quote]

You should have hit up the MMM meet-up! I could have regaled you with stories of replacing the 'cpu' equivalent in my dishwasher.

LibrarIan

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Re: I fixed my dishwasher
« Reply #6 on: April 22, 2022, 10:44:17 AM »
I do not live in a coastal area. I live near Cincinnati, OH.

sonofsven

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Re: I fixed my dishwasher
« Reply #7 on: April 24, 2022, 01:59:16 PM »
That's great! I think I've had to fix mine three times (ordering parts online is a dream compared to the 'old days'!), it's a 2006 Asko.

Just Joe

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Re: I fixed my dishwasher
« Reply #8 on: August 15, 2022, 12:26:30 PM »
Think of all the stuff just going into the waste stream that could probably be repaired for cheap! I'm all for stimulating the economy but...

gooki

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Re: I fixed my dishwasher
« Reply #9 on: August 19, 2022, 01:25:48 AM »
Congratulations. I count fixing appliances yourself as a big win.

Sanitary Stache

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Re: I fixed my dishwasher
« Reply #10 on: August 19, 2022, 07:11:55 AM »
I do not live in a coastal area. I live near Cincinnati, OH.

Nice @LibrarIan !  Fixing dishwashers and ignorant stereotypes!

I am looking into this maintenance mode now.  I just listened to the dishwasher and decided it was the turbidity sensor that needed replacement. So part is on order.  But now I'll try to get into this maintenance mode and see if it can tell me what is wrong. 

The repair videos on Youtube have turned the dishwasher black box into a not so complicated box with a handful of electric and mechanical parts.

JupiterGreen

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Re: I fixed my dishwasher
« Reply #11 on: August 19, 2022, 01:12:52 PM »
Excellent bravo/a! I fix something on my car last month with a $19 part (I know very little about cars so I felt very proud of that small accomplishment). It's amazing how many resources are out there (thank you youtube) if one is willing to put in a little time and effort.

jinga nation

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Re: I fixed my dishwasher
« Reply #12 on: August 20, 2022, 07:08:28 AM »
High five!
I replaced a little arm thingy in an old mechanical-control dishwasher once, got a few more years out of it until we renovated.
Also, opened clothes washer twice to remove baby socks from coin/object trap. The solution was in the product manual. Thanks Electrolux!
We've just moved into a new-to-us house (a bit clownish) and the water softener system wasn't working.
I was going to replace the resin, had directions how to do it from youtube and forums. But when I opened the softener cover assembly to get to the innards, saw right behind was a cone/funnel shaped weird thing. Dusted off and saw in faint letters "push to bypass". Set it to not bypass, and a manual cycle ran fine. Looks like it is working now.
Got to love Youtube and forums for researching problems and DIY. The satisfaction is a relief and brings a confidence boost.

BC_Goldman

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Re: I fixed my dishwasher
« Reply #13 on: August 20, 2022, 09:22:47 AM »
Repairing instead of replacing feels good! I repaired my previous washer twice (thrust bearing and then water pump). Third time, it overflowed so ended up buying a new one that was HE. Probably just had something blocking the tube that monitors water level. Unfortunately, the drain for the overflow pan was plugged - probably since construction - so it didn't do its job and I flooded my hall and caused water damage for my downstairs neighbors.

My garbage disposal didn't work when I moved in. Did without for years and just turned it by hand when water would back up. Eventually found out there was a reset button and then I had a functional disposal for a couple of years until it started leaking water through the bottom. Replaced it myself.

SnipTheDog

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Re: I fixed my dishwasher
« Reply #14 on: August 20, 2022, 10:04:24 AM »
Worked with my brother to figure out why his dishwasher wasn't draining.  Turned out, there was a woman's fake fingernail stuck in one of the valves.  Removed it, and the the dishwasher worked for a long time after.

Sanitary Stache

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Re: I fixed my dishwasher
« Reply #15 on: August 22, 2022, 06:18:23 AM »
The part I ordered came in (it was actually the float valve) so I replaced it even though I found the maintenance status mode and have a thermistor error message.  I am under the impression that the thermistor keeps the heater from getting too hot, but I haven't figured out yet where the thermistor is.

When I replaced the float valve I found the old float valve full of slime guck.  I also thoroughly cleaned the rest of the parts that I usually don't get close to.  I cleaned out the old float valve and it looks fine, so I probably just needed to clean everything as DW suggested.  I am keeping the old one in case I Think I need to switch them out again.

Thanks for the boost of inspiration and confidence.  This is keeping up with the Jones's on the best scale.

dcheesi

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Re: I fixed my dishwasher
« Reply #16 on: August 22, 2022, 08:37:58 AM »
I fixed our Samsung (ugh) a couple of times. Of course, the second "fix" was correcting a mistake I'd made in putting it back together the first time...

After several more problems, we eventually decided that the darn thing was just too failure-prone, and replaced it with a more reliable make/model.

Of course then ice dispenser on our Samsung fridge immediately broke. Appliance brand solidarity?

midweststache

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Re: I fixed my dishwasher
« Reply #17 on: August 22, 2022, 11:58:29 AM »
I fixed our Samsung (ugh) a couple of times. Of course, the second "fix" was correcting a mistake I'd made in putting it back together the first time...

After several more problems, we eventually decided that the darn thing was just too failure-prone, and replaced it with a more reliable make/model.

Of course then ice dispenser on our Samsung fridge immediately broke. Appliance brand solidarity?

This was DH and his dad recently - in January, they anchored our DW to our cabinets. (Apparently not something the former homeowners thought was important - we bought in 2021 - but we have two small kids who would see a tipping DW as a challenge.) However, when they anchored the DW, it threw off the door alignment, so eventually it stopped latching. In July, they fixed that issue. So after two at-home fixes, we have an anchored, working DW.

zolotiyeruki

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Re: I fixed my dishwasher
« Reply #18 on: August 24, 2022, 09:07:44 AM »
I fixed our Samsung (ugh) a couple of times. Of course, the second "fix" was correcting a mistake I'd made in putting it back together the first time...

After several more problems, we eventually decided that the darn thing was just too failure-prone, and replaced it with a more reliable make/model.

Of course then ice dispenser on our Samsung fridge immediately broke. Appliance brand solidarity?
From what I've heard, Samsung has a pretty poor reputation for reliability and repairability.

LiveLean

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Re: I fixed my dishwasher
« Reply #19 on: August 25, 2022, 04:08:36 PM »
I've ordered many parts for fridge, dishwasher, and range for both our home and a second home/rental property that takes a beating from summer tenants. These appliances were all made in 2006-2014 but parts are still available. I'm not a handyman by any means, but most repairs are pretty minor and doable with YouTube help.

dcheesi

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Re: I fixed my dishwasher
« Reply #20 on: September 12, 2022, 06:36:11 AM »
I fixed our Samsung (ugh) a couple of times. Of course, the second "fix" was correcting a mistake I'd made in putting it back together the first time...

After several more problems, we eventually decided that the darn thing was just too failure-prone, and replaced it with a more reliable make/model.

Of course then ice dispenser on our Samsung fridge immediately broke. Appliance brand solidarity?

This was DH and his dad recently - in January, they anchored our DW to our cabinets. (Apparently not something the former homeowners thought was important - we bought in 2021 - but we have two small kids who would see a tipping DW as a challenge.) However, when they anchored the DW, it threw off the door alignment, so eventually it stopped latching. In July, they fixed that issue. So after two at-home fixes, we have an anchored, working DW.
Yeah, one of the things I broke in my first repair was the anchors to our countertop. So from then until we replaced it, we had to be careful not to open both drawers at once when it was full.

ETA: I have add, the usual Dear-* acronym convention used on this forum (and others) gets confusing when the conversation turns to dishwashers, lol
« Last Edit: September 12, 2022, 06:39:14 AM by dcheesi »

Metalcat

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Re: I fixed my dishwasher
« Reply #21 on: September 12, 2022, 08:16:26 AM »
Excellent, less waste, more money in your pocket, and new skills developed!  Win-win-win, maybe a few more wins added in there!

Oh, wait, wait... no, no.  But what about the profits of the brand holding companies who missed out on a new sale?  Who will think about their second vacation homes?

I mentioned this to some coworkers and their collective reaction was "I would have no idea how to fix that and would have bought a new one." In the face of a little research and $30 versus shelling out hundreds for a new one, they'd pick the latter? Well, okay then.

You live in a coastal area, I'd guess?  I ran into that sentiment regularly when I was in Seattle, and couldn't stand it.  It extended to random tech repair work too - bad power input pin on a laptop?  Well, solder it up, I mean, you need a higher temp iron to deal with the thermal mass, but those aren't hard to... oh, I guess I'm the only person who has one?  Huh.  Sure, I'll repair it for a price.

I'm radically happier living out in rural farm country in the mountain west now, where people generally work on their own stuff (and I'm working with a few other people to more and more build the weird replacement parts you can't get from the appliance makers).  "I fixed my dishwasher, bad water pressure sensor, ugh..." would, out here, be more than likely met with a good discussion on what other nonsensical cheap parts fail on home appliances and where to find them/troubleshoot them.  It wouldn't be weird at all, and "I bought a new one, dunno what was wrong with the old one..." would be the weird thing.

I've concluded that at least part of it is that knowing how to do things with your hand and tools is considered blue collar among the chattering coastal classes, and of course that's something They Are Not And Will Never Be.  You pay those people to do the things you're proud of not knowing how to do.  It's insane to me, but... whatever.  I don't live out there anymore.  And I fix my own stuff.

I'm just annoyed because it feels like I'm fixing our stuff more often than I ought.  I've replaced, in the past 6 years, one freezer thermostat, one drain pump on the washer, a burner control on our stove, I've cleaned out a few valves that build up a bit of grit, and that's not counting the times I've had to defrost our fridge's idiotic icemaker with a hair dryer.

Unfortunately, so many people have been conditioned to fear doing any kind of work like this. I can't tell you how many times I've heard the "advice" to never touch anything plumbing or electrical. For years I thought it was just prudent to never, ever touch either. I even had an electrician friend who fixed a few poorly installed light fixtures in my house rail against people doing DIY and made me promise to never do it myself.

As a woman, in particular, I can't tell you how many times I've been firmly told not to ever touch these things myself. I recently had an older man at Home Depot tell me I was "just asking for a house fire" when I needed to find supplies for a ridiculously simple electrical job. Thankfully there was a retired female electrician in the same department who overheard him and stepped in to actually help me, and reassured me that yes, the kit for this very job does exist, it does contain everything I need, and it is safe to use, but she did recommend a higher quality electrical tape than I had in my cart, and showed me

Like, this is a job so commonly done that there's a $13 kit for it:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Whirlpool-3-Prong-Dishwasher-Power-Supply-Kit-W10278923RP/202204764

Even then, the dude made me feel reckless for even considering doing the job.

So I think there are just a lot of people out there who listen to "wise advice" from people who "know better," so they never feel confident to even try and tackle these kinds of DIY projects.

Heckler

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Re: I fixed my dishwasher
« Reply #22 on: September 12, 2022, 05:52:44 PM »
dammit, my dishwasher has been sitting pulled out for three weeks, watching us wash by hand.  This is the third time in 4 years the Drain fault code came up, the last two were easily fixed by removing the cherry pit lodged in the drain.  No such luck this time.

OK, I'll try again...

Heckler

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Re: I fixed my dishwasher
« Reply #23 on: September 12, 2022, 05:54:49 PM »
for the record though, I have replaced the Spider Arm on my samsung washing machine, as well as the electronics on the door.   Fun stuff, but check this next level fix out...  (not my video, but the one I followed)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTXoKMHHpLs&t=1248s


Pro Tip - Run the clean cycle on your front loader washing machine much more often than you think!  Ours was less than two years old, cracked due to soap corrosion, just as you see in the video.
« Last Edit: September 12, 2022, 05:56:36 PM by Heckler »

dcheesi

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Re: I fixed my dishwasher
« Reply #24 on: September 13, 2022, 07:24:09 AM »
dammit, my dishwasher has been sitting pulled out for three weeks, watching us wash by hand.  This is the third time in 4 years the Drain fault code came up, the last two were easily fixed by removing the cherry pit lodged in the drain.  No such luck this time.

OK, I'll try again...
Ours was mostly drainage issues as well. The Samsung had a flooding sensor that got clogged up the first time; then the second time it was a piece that had come loose because I didn't tighten it properly the first time (it felt like it had gone as far as it would go, but...). The third time was a broken chopper blade, and resulting gunk buildup.

By the fourth time, I couldn't find an obvious issue, and I was tired of fooling with the darn thing...

snic

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Re: I fixed my dishwasher
« Reply #25 on: September 17, 2022, 12:56:15 PM »
The latest dishwasher gremlin I fixed was a leak. Whirlpool uses very cheap hose clamps that eventually stop, well, clamping. So I replaced the clamp around the rubber hose where I could see it leaking. It kept springing leaks in other areas, so I replaced all the hose clamps. I must have taken that DW out and replaced hoses and clamps 4 times until I got them all - and it still leaked. It turns out that there are various places with seals (e.g., the pump and the drain pan), and with all the turning the DW on its side and then turning it back upright, those parts would shift a bit, and bits of crud got caught between the seal and the part, causing leaks. Eventually I managed to find all these spots and clean all those areas. Now it's leak-free, but it did take a couple of weeks of removing and replacing the DW.

jinga nation

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Re: I fixed my dishwasher
« Reply #26 on: October 11, 2022, 07:11:55 PM »
Not dishwasher, but fixed the water pump in a fountain ($1500 model that came with recent home we bought). Replacement pump would have cost $30+, but would also require a couple more pairs of hands to move heavy cast iron sections to remove and replace existing pump wiring.

Searched online for the fountain, found the manufacturer, found the pump part, found the pump manual and maintenance video.
Emptied the fountain, let dry for a few days, opened up pump, removed impeller and cleaned it out. Reassembled pump, plugged in, works fine.
Will clean out fountain using bleach solution tomorrow and rain next couple of days should fill it up. Next step is to set it on a timer, and use silicone to replace the old withered drain plugs in each tier.

Sanitary Stache

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Re: I fixed my dishwasher
« Reply #27 on: October 23, 2022, 10:19:27 AM »
I am sitting here hoping the taking apart and put back together I did on my combo washer drying results in a functioning machine.

So far so good.

I decided there was an issue with the cold water valve because it would t stop filling. So I took out the valve. But all seemed fine. It was closing and opening. Just not when it should. So I decided something must control the valve. This is an air pressure sensor.

So I disconnected the air pressure sensor. Then, not having another sensor, I reconnected it. I lost a screw in the process.

Now I am running a cycle. Nine minutes in. So far so good. The water turned on and off for the first fill of the cycle. I hope it works. 20 more minutes of sitting here.

HenryDavid

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Re: I fixed my dishwasher
« Reply #28 on: December 02, 2022, 09:40:08 AM »
The thing is . . . anytime we “take the risk” of a diy repair—carefully, safely, with some guidance from online or printed sources—the Plan B always remains. By that I mean everybody else’s Plan A: take it to the shop or replace it.

For me this first became clear from working on bikes. I mean, if I can’t fix it, I can just take it in for repair, right? So that’s the safety net. But it’s never been necessary. Same with small electrical stuff, door locks, vintage hifi, guitars . . . If we give ourselves a chance we can all do a lot more than “they” believe.