Dishwasher will not drain

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LMHmedchem

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Hello,

My Kenmore Ultra Wash QuietGuard Deluxe dishwasher (2007) will not drain after the wash cycle is complete. There have been a few times in the past where it did not drain after a ways, but always did on the next wash. A few days ago, it did not drain for two washes in a row, but then did. Now it will not drain.

I have disconnected the drain hose from the garbage disposal. It is not plugged for as far as I can check on that end. I am not sure what to do next.

Can I run a snake up the hose to see if it is plugged further in?
Can I put draino/liquid plumr or similar in the hose or in the dishwasher? I suspect this would be bad for the pump but I thought I would ask.

Are there any suggestions?

LMHmedchem
 
Set some towels and pans under the door, then open and drain.

There are filters in the bottom of the appliance that may be blocked, and can be cleaned, and should be cleaned regularly.
 
Set some towels and pans under the door, then open and drain.
I had removed most of the water with a sponge. I took the drain hose off of the bottom. It was secured with a spring clip. Some water came out. I don't feel any obstruction there at the drain.

There are filters in the bottom of the appliance that may be blocked, and can be cleaned, and should be cleaned regularly.
I have taken it apart down to where I have exposed the blade from the macerator. There was some junk in the filter, as well as some scale that I had to remove with CLR. The water here is not very hard.

So far I don't see anything significant blocking things up. I will try pouring water down the hose from where I have it disconnected from the disposal to see if it comes out where I disconnected it from the bottom of the dishwasher. I can also pour water in the bottom of the dishwasher and see if it comes out the bottom.

Does that makes sense? Is there something else I should try?

LMHmedchem
 
I don't know if the pump self siphons, usually they do not.

Reconnect the hose to the pump, use a bucket for the disposal end of the hose, and run the appliance and listen for the pump to run. If the pump doesn't activate there may be a solenoid defect, as opposed to a pump failure.

Without knowing the operating voltage of the pump, I would not recommend jumping power directly to the pump.
 
Reconnect the hose to the pump, use a bucket for the disposal end of the hose, and run the appliance and listen for the pump to run. If the pump doesn't activate there may be a solenoid defect, as opposed to a pump failure.
There is water coming out of the hose where it connects to the disposal.The water is relatively dirty, so some of at least was from the previous wash. The water is not coming out quite as fast as I would have expected, but that is just a guess on my part. It does sound like the pump is running.

I will let the cycle finish. Should I try some vinegar and baking soda or do you think that it is working now? I really don't think that I removed enough from the filter for that to have been the problem, but there was a small piece of broken glass in there.

LMHmedchem
 
The channel into the disposal from the fitting where the drain hose connects was somewhat clogged. It did not seem completely cloged and the material came out easily by inserting an old toothbrush into the fitting. It seems like the pump would have moved that on it's own, but it was sitting there, so possibly not. I don't know if that was enough to cause the issue or not.

LMHmedchem
 
There can be products that easily solidify, when left undisturbed, so the frequency of use, as well as how the dishes are prewashed, can affect the appliance performance.

My DIL cleans the dishes to a virtual spotlessness, before washing them, in the DW.
 
Everything seems to be working now. I have run a full cycle and it drained fine. I am running another cycle on the hottest setting with a couple of cups of vinegar. I would like to clean the filter more frequently but it is quite a job to remove. You would think that they would have made the filter removal a one-step process if they want you to do it frequently.

Thanks for all the help,

LMHmedchem
 
DIY is a learning experience.

They love to see homeowners writing cheques to repair folks.
 
We also rinse all food off before we load and run the machine once a day. Everything comes out squeaky clean. Our sister in law loads hers without rinsing and she is constantly having her husband rip into the filter cleaning process or they are calling a repairman or replacing the machine.

My opinion is they are not as good at getting rid of food waste as they claim they are. We don’t have a garbage disposer but have a grinder pump in our holding tank so our rule is if it fits thru the drain screen it can go down anything larger goes to the garden compost bin. :coffee:
 

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