Automatic dishwasher issue

[Brewdude]

So my dishwasher has apparently stopped the final function of sanitizing on the high heat cycle. All other functions work just fine. The dishes get washed OK during the prior cycles, but the final hot cycle is not working.

The unit is a Gibson of indeterminate age. I "inherited it" when I bought this house in '98. So it may be older than that. And it has served me well in all this time.

I replaced the door seal myself when it started to leak many years ago. But apart from that it''s been reliable. I only run it once/week.

So my question is this - how does one go about determining if the heating element is the factor (which I suspect)?

I'm the kind of guy who likes to troubleshoot and fix something rather than replacing with a modern unit which may have far less life and reliability.


Cheers,

RR

 

[Ozark Wizard]

It should be a simple matter of pulling out the coil. It's rather like an oven element. If it's broken, then find a replacement. If it's not, then there may be an issue with the relay.(yah, due to it's apparent age. They were pretty simple water pumps with a built in 'Insta-hot', back in the day............

 

[DoverPipes]

Super easy and fairly inexpensive fix.
I did one on my GE and it took about 20 minutes.......

 

[Blackhorse]

Ask Google, not us.


That should do it.

 

[riff raff]

I've used this place to trouble-shoot and repair our dishwasher & washer/dryer.
http://www.repairclinic.com/RepairHelp/Dishwasher-Repair-Help

Keeping it pipe related, repairing my own applicances keeps more money in the pipe fund!

 

[Brewdude]

I've used this place to trouble-shoot and repair our dishwasher & washer/dryer.
http://www.repairclinic.com/RepairHelp/Dishwasher-Repair-Help

Thanks Al, that was very helpful. Unfortunately the heating element is no longer available. I also googled the model number and found many repair site stocklists and found the same thing. Looks like due to the age of the unit I'm SOL.

I can try calling around to some local repair shops tomorrow, but I'm not hopeful. Oh well, the unit still washes just fine. It's just that the heating element no longer does the sani cycle. Guess I can live with that for the time being.


Cheers,

RR

 

[Stick]

Bummer, Rande.

The bad news is I doubt that whatever you replace it with will last as long. Shame you can't recondition it much as you did with your chair.

Fingers crossed for you.

 

[Brewdude]

Bummer, Rande.

The bad news is I doubt that whatever you replace it with will last as long.  Shame you can't recondition it much as you did with your chair.

Fingers crossed for you.

Aye mate, sadly they don't make them like they used to (see previous thread title).



Cheers,

RR

 

[George Kaplan]

You're still a bachelor, right Rande? Just do like I used to in my twenties and wash em in the back yard with a garden hose. For the full effect you need to be in a bathrobe and smoking a pipe. My neighbors adored me.

 

[puros_bran]

Sani-cycle schmami-cycle.. You are eating after you. One can not infect oneself with something one already has.. Also, I'm just guessing on this one I'm pretty certain you can't give yourself something you don't have.. (blatant rules violation involving political commentary edited out before posting, and with that final straw on the camels back I think I deserve to be banned )

 

[Stick]

You're still a bachelor, right Rande? Just do like I used to in my twenties and wash em in the back yard with a garden hose. For the full effect you need to be in a bathrobe and smoking a pipe. My neighbors adored me.

That's a great picture you painted there George. I hope you had a beer in the other hand?

 

[ftrplt]

Brew,

You have at least an 18-year-old appliance! According to my young friends in the appliance business, these things are made to last about 7 yrs, then thrown away/replaced :twisted: Get thee to your fav appliance dealer and just buy a new one! They ain't that expensive! How do I know you ask? I'm in the process of replacing my 16-year-old DW!! It runs fine on all cycles, Just doesn't clean as well as it should plus Her Majesty kinda wants a new one!! FWIW :cheers: FTRPLT

 

[George Kaplan]

Re the beer: Quite possible, especially if it was Sunday morning.

 

[Fazby]

No help here. My wife and I have two digital dishwashers.

 

[Dutch]

Sani-cycle schmami-cycle.. You are eating after you. One can not infect oneself with something one already has.. Also, I'm just guessing on this one I'm pretty certain you can't give yourself something you don't have.. (blatant rules violation involving political commentary edited out before posting, and with that final straw on the camels back I think I deserve to be banned )

True, but if Rande's got a bat lodged somewhere in the machine, no telling what he might come in contact with. Hopefully the bat's gave up and found another victim.

 

[RDPipes]

Bummer, Rande.

The bad news is I doubt that whatever you replace it with will last as long.  Shame you can't recondition it much as you did with your chair.

Fingers crossed for you.

Aye mate, sadly they don't make them like they used to (see previous thread title).



Cheers,

RR

DB, I use to repair washer/dryers for a living in the day and deliver the dadburn things on top of it.
I'd say if cleans your dishes just fine, don't worry about it. I've had to wash dishes by hand my whole life without a sanitizing cycle and I'm not dead yet.

 

[Brewdude]

Brew,

You have at least an 18-year-old appliance! According to my young friends in the appliance business, these things are made to last about 7 yrs, then thrown away/replaced :twisted: Get thee to your fav appliance dealer and just buy a new one! They ain't that expensive! How do I know you ask? I'm in the process of replacing my 16-year-old DW!! It runs fine on all cycles, Just doesn't clean as well as it should plus Her Majesty kinda wants a new one!! FWIW :cheers: FTRPLT

Yes, this will be an eventuality. First though, I'd like to explore all avenues to get this one put right even if it is a wild goose chase. Fortunately, I have no SWMBO to dictate what appliance upgrades I must make. They often want new stuff just to have new stuff.

And frankly, I can live without the sani cycle. The rest of the cycles work just fine and get the dishes clean. After all, if they were hand washed and air dried in a rack there would be no sani cycle. And that is still what many folks do and get along OK.

I'm also apprehensive about your report from your young friends in the appliance biz. 7 years and then throw away and replace? That doesn't inspire me with confidence, and yet while I've heard this kind of claim before I don't hold to it. That this Gibson has given me 18+ yrs speaks volumes about its reliability, and once again "they don't make them like they used to" rings true here.


Cheers,

RR

 

[George Kaplan]

Garden hoses are cheap and durable. Just sayin'.

 

[Brewdude]

Bummer, Rande.

The bad news is I doubt that whatever you replace it with will last as long.  Shame you can't recondition it much as you did with your chair.

Fingers crossed for you.

Aye mate, sadly they don't make them like they used to (see previous thread title).



Cheers,

RR

DB, I use to repair washer/dryers for a living in the day and deliver the dadburn things on top of it.
I'd say if cleans your dishes just fine, don't worry about it. I've had to wash dishes by hand my whole life without a sanitizing cycle and I'm not dead yet.

Exactomundo Ron!

Garden hoses are cheap and durable. Just sayin'.

Ja ja, alvays mit ta chokes.........

:drunken:



Cheers,

RR

 

[Brewdude]

Sani-cycle schmami-cycle.. You are eating after you. One can not infect oneself with something one already has.. Also, I'm just guessing on this one I'm pretty certain you can't give yourself something you don't have.. (blatant rules violation involving political commentary edited out before posting, and with that final straw on the camels back I think I deserve to be banned )

True, but if Rande's got a bat lodged somewhere in the machine, no telling what he might come in contact with. Hopefully the bat's gave up and found another victim.

No bats here Chris, lately at least. But I do now own a med sized fish net I can use to scoop them out of the air as they fly round and round the room with a view towards depositing them outside instead of killing them with a broom.

I don't hate bats, just don't want them in my house.



Cheers,

RR