If you own a home with more than one appliance, you know how important it is to use space and keep your house clean efficiently. For this reason, most homes come equipped with dishwashers.
These appliances are designed to make the process of washing dishes easier and faster than manually doing it by hand. With that being said, not all dishwashers are created equal. Some may have minor issues that you can fix yourself.
Others might require professional help to get them working again. If your dishwasher is having issues or if you’re not quite sure how to fix it, read on for helpful information on what could be causing your dishwasher to malfunction and simple Kenmore dishwasher troubleshooting steps that you can take right away:
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Determine what’s causing your dishwasher to malfunction
First, let’s try to figure out what might be causing your dishwasher to break down. Is it the water pressure? The temperature? The type of detergent? To do this, we’ll need to do a little investigation. Below, you’ll find information on how to do some simple checks to determine what’s causing your dishwasher to malfunction.
Check the washing cycle settings.
If your dishwasher is having issues, start by checking the settings on the dishwasher. Make sure that your dishwasher is set to the proper cycle for your particular dishwasher.
If it is not, this could be causing your dishwasher to break down. For example, if you own a three-place set of stainless steel dishes and a glass-top hibachi, you’ll need to use a specialized setting on your dishwasher that is made for glass.
In this case, you’ll also want to ensure that the dishwasher is set to the heated drying setting. Most dishwashers are labeled with the washing cycle settings. If yours is not, it is likely labeled with the settings for a standard household setting. Depending on your dishwasher, it might be listed as “normal,” “heavy,” or some other setting.
Is the water leaking?
A water leak could be causing your dishwasher to malfunction. If your dishwasher is leaking water, close the door, wait 30 minutes, and then re-open it.
If the leak persists, call a professional repair person immediately. Leaks can be caused by several things, including a worn-out seal or gasket, a loose water supply hose, or a broken inner door gasket.
To determine the cause of the leak, you’ll need to inspect the dishwasher for any leaks. To do this, open the door and look underneath the dishwasher to see if water is dripping from any of the panels.
If so, this will be the source of the leak. Once you have located the source of the leak, you can decide what to do about it. If it is a seal that needs replacing, you can do so by getting a seal kit from your local hardware store. You’ll need to call a professional for assistance if it is a loose hose or a broken inner door gasket.
Is there a bad control board?
If your dishwasher is not heating or draining properly, this could be due to a bad control board. If there is no water coming out of the drain, this may indicate that the control board is not working properly.
If you look at your control panel, you’ll notice that they are labeled “H-W-A.” This code is used to tell the dishwasher exactly which cycle to run and what settings it should have. If your dishwasher is not running correctly, it could be due to a bad control board.
To fix this, you’ll need to take the dishwasher to the appliance repair person. Depending on the dishwasher you own, they may be able to replace the control board in the dishwasher themselves, or they may have to send the dishwasher out to get repaired.
Is there a bad filter?
Depending on the dishwasher you own, it could also be a bad filter causing your dishwasher to malfunction. To determine this, you’ll need to do a little bit of investigation. First, you’ll want to take a look at your filter.
Depending on the dishwasher you own, the filter could be located inside the dishwasher, on the back of the dishwasher, or in the garden hose.
Next, you’ll want to do some investigative work to determine the cause of the malfunction. Depending on the dishwasher you own, you might need to turn off the water to the house and turn on the hot water to the dishwasher.
This will allow you to determine whether the filter is inside the house. If so, you should be able to determine this by looking at the water pressure from the hose.
If pressure is coming from the hose, but the dishwasher is not running, it could be the filter. Once you have located the problem, you can decide what to do about it. Depending on the model of dishwasher you own, you can replace the filter with a replacement filter.
You can find this at your local hardware store. You’ll need to contact a professional for assistance if the filter is located outside.
Conclusion
Dishwashers are essential appliances in any home. They can come in handy if you need to clean plates after a meal quickly or if someone in your family has a disability that makes them unable to clean their dishes by hand.
However, if your dishwasher is not running properly, it can cause several issues. These include leaks, broken controls, and a bad filter. If you notice any of these, you can take a few quick steps to make your dishwasher work again.
