QUESTION FROM kim

QUESTION from kim on 12/28/2009
My dishwasher lights up and pretends it is going through all the cycles, but nothing happens. I hear no sounds and no water comes in. I saw a question where someone said nothing happens and you suggested pouring water in the bottom, that did nothing. Also, I've replaced the control board and it does the same thing still. Any ideas? I've been trying to fix this for 2 months. My dishwasher is only 2 years old and a Frigidaire.

ANSWER FROM HOME-WIZARD

Dear Kim:

If your dishwasher is going through the cycles, but you are not getting any water into the unit, then the problem could be one of the following:

1) water lines are blocked coming to the unit.

2) you have a bad solenoid valve.

3) if your unit has a float inside the unit that cuts off the water, then this could be stuck.

To check if you have blocked water lines coming into the unit, first shut off the source of water to the unit, then put a bucket under the solenoid valve, and then disconnect the piping going into the solenoid valve. Open the water supply for the unit, and see if any water comes out of the pipe that was going into the solenoid. If water does come out, then reconnect the pipe, and then disconnect the pipe on the other side of the solenoid valve, and with a bucket underneath it, turn the unit on and let it cycle to see if water comes out.

And if your unit has a float inside of it (a round plastic device that rises up to shut off the water), you can give this a little tap to see if it gets it to drop down.

Hope this is helpful.
Home-Wizard.com

QUESTION FROM Trevor

QUESTION from "Trevor":

When the dishwasher is turned on, the light comes on, but nothing happens.

ANSWER FROM HOME-WIZARD

Trevor:

Since the light is coming on, it appears that you have power coming to your dishwasher (or power at least to the light).

A simple thing that you can do, which most of the time will solve your problem, is to pour a large pot of regular tap water into the inside bottom of the dishwasher. You then close the door and turn your dishwasher on. Hopefully, your dishwasher should then start and run normally.

The reason that this will work most of the time, is that if you haven’t been using your dishwasher for a little while, the water at the bottom of your dishwasher dries out, and the pump loses its “prime”. When you pour the water into the bottom of your dishwasher, it primes the pump.

When you are done, you might want to pour a little vinegar in the water, which will help act as lubricant to the rubber seal around the pump shaft, to help prevent problems in the future.

If this doesn’t work for you, please let us know, and we can try other things to troubleshoot your problems.

Hope this is helpful.

Home-Wizard.com