Adventures in Plumbing: A Do It Yourself Story by Jess.
Our dishwasher wasn't draining, so I decided to fix it. I did it basically because I absolutely hate washing dishes and I'm not about to go one single day without a dishwasher. End of discussion. Dishwasher good, scrubbing by hand bad. Been there, done that, hated it.
So, how did I possibly fix the dishwasher (and I'm not positive it's fixed yet, I have to run a cycle and we'll see)? Well, first, I went under the sink and removed all the crap. Then, I wiggled the hose that comes from the machine and hooks into the sink. Note: do not under any circumstance pour any water into the side of the sink that the hose is attached to. Lesson learned the hard way, thank you very much. After that, I went in search of a flat head screwdriver so I could loosen the clamps that keeps the hose in place. You can guess what comes next.
Thinking ahead, I also empty out the garbage can because I don't have a pot big enough that would be able to hold all of the "mung" water that was in the bottom of the washer. I losen up the hose, pull it off, cram the end of the screw driver down it, wiggle it around a bit, and then lower the hose so gravity does all of the draining work. Whoo hoo! It works! Water starts draining forth from the hose! I feel like a plumbing god and I want to call anyone and everyone! Unfortunately, no one was home except for Jed and he was half asleep so he wasn't very enthusiastic about my newly found plumbing powers. After about 10 minutes, the tub is drained. It doesn't tell me why the thing didn't drain but after much thought, I'm thinking that the pump may be going out. Possibly, maybe? I am normally pretty good at diagnosing car problems (fixing not so much but I'm a car diagnostic goddess... just ask Casey). So yeah.
If it does this again I may consider replacing the pump and quite possibly the solenoid depending on how much a solenoid for a dishwasher costs. I know for a Buick LeSabre (circa 92?) it costs about $20. So makes me wonder how much it would cost for a dishwasher that looks like it's circa 1980 something.
We'll see. Maybe I'll try calling the 800 number on the machine just to find out. Later, though. Now I must go pick up Lily.
So, how did I possibly fix the dishwasher (and I'm not positive it's fixed yet, I have to run a cycle and we'll see)? Well, first, I went under the sink and removed all the crap. Then, I wiggled the hose that comes from the machine and hooks into the sink. Note: do not under any circumstance pour any water into the side of the sink that the hose is attached to. Lesson learned the hard way, thank you very much. After that, I went in search of a flat head screwdriver so I could loosen the clamps that keeps the hose in place. You can guess what comes next.
Thinking ahead, I also empty out the garbage can because I don't have a pot big enough that would be able to hold all of the "mung" water that was in the bottom of the washer. I losen up the hose, pull it off, cram the end of the screw driver down it, wiggle it around a bit, and then lower the hose so gravity does all of the draining work. Whoo hoo! It works! Water starts draining forth from the hose! I feel like a plumbing god and I want to call anyone and everyone! Unfortunately, no one was home except for Jed and he was half asleep so he wasn't very enthusiastic about my newly found plumbing powers. After about 10 minutes, the tub is drained. It doesn't tell me why the thing didn't drain but after much thought, I'm thinking that the pump may be going out. Possibly, maybe? I am normally pretty good at diagnosing car problems (fixing not so much but I'm a car diagnostic goddess... just ask Casey). So yeah.
If it does this again I may consider replacing the pump and quite possibly the solenoid depending on how much a solenoid for a dishwasher costs. I know for a Buick LeSabre (circa 92?) it costs about $20. So makes me wonder how much it would cost for a dishwasher that looks like it's circa 1980 something.
We'll see. Maybe I'll try calling the 800 number on the machine just to find out. Later, though. Now I must go pick up Lily.
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