Dishwasher caught fire

[homealone]

Hi everyone. I can't seem to find answers I need. So I'm coming here for advice. I had a service call because it wouldn't drain. The tech came out and fixed it. No big deal. We pushed the dishwasher back into it's home. And I started a load of dishes to try it out. My dishwasher counts down as it runs, it had 35 minutes left to wash. I smelled smoke. I opened the dishwasher to see if it was coming from the inside. It wasn't. Smoke was coming from around it. I quickly pulled it out from under the counter and the back of the insulation was on fire. Thankfully I was able to put the fire out. I cut power to the dishwasher. After inspecting what happened, the fire started at the wires at the wall. Not the wiring under the washer. There are no exposed wires, they are properly capped. Now I don't know what to do next. Should I put a cover on the wire box? Since it doesn't have one. Should I put insulation around it? The washer was fine, with no problems up till now. I've had it for years with no fire. Do I just put it back in without insulation? Could we have just pushed it back to far? and that's why it happened? Sorry it's a long story....Any ideas, suggestions, anything would be appreciated. Thanks

 

[oldognewtrick]

I would suggest not using it untill someone qualified had a look at it. Things like this are not suppose to start smoking.

Oh, and to House Repair Talk!

 

[JoeD]

The wire box should have had a cover on it. If the wire caught fire you need a thorough inspection of the supply wires to make sure they have not been burnt inside the wall. some picture would help determine what to suggest.
If you are inclined to make a claim your insurance might cover this although it probably won't meet the deductible.

 

[user 4883]

The insulation around the dishwasher is for noise suppression. They typically don't touch the back wall when installed. For a fire to occur, the insulation would have been pressed into the J-box and come in contact with exposed wires. Further investigation of the reason for the fire is definitely in order.

 

[nealtw]

Call the tech back and ask him what he wants to do about this.