How to Fix a Nonfunctional Dishwasher

Seven years might seem like a very long time. But one should consider that number from a different perspective. If someone told most people that they’d have to start washing dishes by hand in seven years they’d probably be rather upset. However, the average dishwasher will only last for about seven to twelve years. So the idea of needing to wash dishes by hand in a handful of years really is a pressing issue for people. Especially when one considers how often a dishwasher is given or lent rather than purchased new.

Thankfully a broken dishwasher isn’t as hard to fix as many would assume. And finding local appliance parts to fix the damage can be fairly simple as well. It’s not even all that uncommon for the issue to simply come down to changing usage patterns. For example, sometimes people assume that a dishwasher isn’t supplying as much power to a cycle as it once did. But the actual problem ends up simply coming down to an increase in the load over time. People often just buy a new dish or two over time. Or they start having guests over more often. Even a small change is enough to have a major impact on one’s dishwasher.

Next, there’s another side to having too much in one’s dishwasher. There’s also an issue with a stray piece of cutlery or silverware clogging up a component. The most common example comes from utensils restricting the spray arms from moving. Those are the angular blades above the dishwasher’s drain. They’re vitally important to overall performance. As such, if they’re blocked then a dishwasher won’t be able to function correctly.

While one is checking the blades it’s also good to examine the drain. The drain, also known as a stained screen, can become clogged with food waste. There’s a delicate balancing act to scraping food off a plate before putting it into the washer. Put too much work into it and the luxury of a dishwasher becomes somewhat pointless. But put too little work into scraping off a plate and it’ll clog the dishwasher’s drain. This is another one of the more common problem areas for a nonfunctional dishwasher. In that case, one simply needs to clear the drain.

If one’s problem is a white residue on glasses than it’s easy to assume soap isn’t being cleaned off. But in fact, this is usually a symptom of hard water. The dishwasher is only making it more evident due to the way it works. A water softener or detergent in the dishwasher will usually clear up that problem.

Finally, one will often see leaking water and assume it’s something disastrous. But this is usually just caused by a problem with the seal between the door and door gasket. The worst-case scenario is that one would need to buy local appliance parts to fix the damaged door gasket.

This too is often caused by stray food from a plate. It can become caught on the edge of the door, dry, and prevent a proper seal from forming. In that case on simply needs to clean the sealant area with a disinfectant. Afterward one should start a new cycle without any dishes in the dishwasher. Then while the cycle runs the owner should look for leaks and note where they appear. They would then want to repeat the process of cleaning that specific area with more disinfectant.

If this doesn’t work then the issue might be due to a faulty float switch. This is the mechanism that determines a dishwasher’s water level. To fix this one would simply clean the float switch, remove any impediments which might have stuck to it, and then put it back into place. One would then do a clean test run of the dishwasher to see if this fixed the problem.