Can a KitchenAid (KDI16) be saved? Anyone?

[DADoES]

 
There's no float to control the fill level.  Fills are timed (probably two timer increments), with a flow-washer in the water valve to limit the flow rate against various potential household water pressures.

If the 16 series is same as the 17 series, overfill is detected via a pressure switch connected to the pump sump area.

If overfilling is happening, the water level can possibly contact the spray arm which would slosh some out of the door vent.  The normal fill level is to near top of the filter mesh, below the spray arm.

 

[stevet]

Backed into a corner?

Warren,
Does your rack have the small plastic shields clipped to the front corners of the rack? These were put there to prevent water from splashing out of the door and running down the side of the machine that forms the area that the door fits into.
That may be your whole problem.
Also, by now, the door gasket is probably pretty dry and you may want to draw the door in tighter when it latches.
This is a simple task,but involves removing the control panel cover and the dioor handle.

If you do that much, you just have to shim out the latch assembly by putting in thin washers one at a time between the latch and the bracket that holds it to the door and reinstalling the screws. Start with one in each corner of the latch and see if that helps. New door gaskets should still be out there.

And yes, there is a pressure switch that controls for overfilling but sometimes the opening in the sump gets clogged up. It is on the left side so you may want to take a Q-tip and clean it out and see if it works better and the leaking stops.
Don't push too hard as you may cause damage. Pretend you are putting the Q-tip into your ear!

 

[warren]

Yes, it was a google search. I was overjoyed to find people who knew what they were talking about, who were talking about exactly the machine that I was wrestling with. I hope I wasn't too enthusiastic. DADoES mentioned the door vent. I had wondered about that. Does it vent through the bottom of the door? The machine is 2 hours away, so I have to fill my head in one location and then empty it through my hands in another. Thinking that it might be blowing out the vent, I was considering adding a temporary silicone flap to break up slosh toward the bottom of the door. The spray arms seem tight, so I don't thing I'm getting an errant stream shooting right at the door from the hub. I don't think it's filling to the bottom of the spray arm, but the machine is in an otherwise-immaculate kitchen and I'm never left alone with it, so I can't run it with the door open very far to see what's going on, and if I peer through a crack at the top, my glasses fog up too badly. I have (briefly) considered making a fake door out of plexiglass... What I really want to do is show up with a mop sometime when nobody is home. When I open the door mid-cycle, the water is not at the level of the spray arm. I'll check it against the filter. Maybe the flow-rate washer is eaten up? I'll look for what might be a pressure switch in the pump sump. Has anybody else had this kind of problem (water dribbling out the bottom of the door)? I know it's not as interesting as motor bearings and pump seals, but it's all I've got right now. I really do appreciate your experience, you willingness to share it, and your dedication to keeping these machines going. I have access (at the Habitat ReStore) to a dozen dishwashers for $20 or less, but I would rather get this one to stop dripping for a multitude of reasons, not the least of which is that this lovely woman won't have to learn new buttons and dials and sounds. She has been using this machine for 40 years and is familiar and comfortable with it, and is not a big fan of change. But she doesn't want water on her floor. If it were mine, I'd get through Christmas with a dribble cup under each corner, but when I mention that, she gives me that pained 'you've got to be kidding me' look.

 

[danemodsandy]

Mark:

"Why on God's green earth are we resurrecting a 3+ year old thread instead of starting a new one?"

So we can all ask Neptunebob how his resurrection of the KDI16 turned out!

One of the things that I sometimes wish was different around here is that we have a lot of threads just - you should pardon the expression - peter out. We hear of a problem, there are responses offering advice and resources, often the appliance's owner begins work and posts photos of progress, and then - nothing.

This thread is a classic example. After more than 70 posts, we didn't get the end of the story.

So, Bob, how's it shakin'?

 

[warren]

stevet,

these are clips on the front of the bottom dish rack? On the top or the bottom? I don't have it in front of me...

I think every time I have tested the machine, it has been with the bottom rack sitting on the kitchen table (they have been using it for storage...) That would probably render any clips, even if they are still attached, less effective. I'll look through the photos in this thread and see if I can find what they look like.

The door seals are pretty hard, but I don't know what they are supposed to feel like. They grab a piece of paper, and a layer of duct tape on them didn't seem to help the problem. I chased a bunch of sets on the internet, but they ended up being out of stock. I found one that really existed, but it was kinda' pricey and I didn't want to install it unless I was sure that was the problem.

If I heard this right, the clips may cause the drip?
Are these clips still available?

I'll take a look around.

 

[warren]

clips n drips

stevet,

looking at bob's rack-shot in this thread, I don't see anything that looks anti-splash on the bottom rack. Were you talking about the black clips on the end of the metal mechanism that holds the top rack?

I would love to hear more about these clips, especially if they might be the complete cause of this problem. I could imagine that something like a clip of some kind might have fallen off or broken off at some point, and someone found it at the strainer at some point and wondered briefly what it was and then disposed of it.

My mind doesn't work like that. When I find something mysterious, I have to know where it came from and what it does. I realize that some folks would rather dispense with mysterious items that clutter up the free flow of the known and the comfortable. I think it may be one of those 'two kind of people in the world' things.

I sometimes wonder what it's like to live life filled with the kind of magic that expresses itself like that: 'Oh, look! There's another black plastic thingie in my dishwasher that seems to have appeared from nowhere, or from another dimension or something. I may have a magic dishwasher, or at least a dishwasher with the wormhole generator feature. So what should I do with these oddly-shaped articles that seem to defy logic and physics, or operate with quantum qualities, but at levels well beyond the subatomic? I think I'll toss it them in the trash.'

Does this machine have some things that sit in the bottom front corners by the door, I think I have seen them called 'diverters'.

Thank you (some say y'all down here) for helping me out with this.

warren

 

[warren]

living dangerously

stevet,

q-tip in the ear? so I am supposed to restrict the use of the q-tip to the exterior surface of the sump?

 

[DADoES]

 
Picture of the lower rack clips (front corners) from a newer machine.

 

[warren]

grammar

sorry. I didn't mean to say 'Does this machine have some things that sit in the bottom front corners by the door, I think I have seen them called 'diverters'.

It doesn't.

I meant to say, 'does it 'spose to have them'.

 

[warren]

DADoES' rack clips

Those do appear to be the kind of clips that wouldn't function well when the rack is on the kitchen table. Even if they are present on the rack. Do they run all the way down the corner of the rack? I wonder if they are even present on this machine (2 hours away)? I wonder if I can still get some if they are not? I wonder if I can make some out of the strip of silicone in the trunk of my car? I wonder if the wormhole generator will recognize them as a foreign object and send them off into another dimension? I wonder what some Being somewhere will think when these squishy inert flaps magically appear in her dishwasher?

 

[warren]

downloaded the manual. should be useful, if not just plain interesting. found the clips. they don't run down the whole corner of the rack. now i need to find some clips. or get creative with some silicone or stainless steel or plastic or something. if they don't help, I'll q-tip the pressure ear canal. and then adjust the door. and then install small clear funnels on the corners with tubes that go under the machine and through the floor to the dirt crawl space below..

I once fixed a dripping showerhead with a piece of string that led the drops gently to the plastic shower floor. didn't save any water, but i got some sleep.

 

[yogitunes]

archived threads reactivated.....what can throw you off at first is its comes up as a new un-read thread....and also not paying close attention and catching that this thread is actually 3 years old...one of those things where you start reading before you realize when it was first posted....we all do it, it happens...not to mention these archived threads don't pop up all that often, so your not really looking out for them.....

I haven't tried it yet, but wonder, can we start a new thread for our question, and link the older archive as a reference to an issue we are having?...

and yes, curious, how did Bob make out, and whats the outcome from Warren's investigation.....keep us posted!

 

[bogo]

Unless it's related to a resolved issue I don't see problem in resurrecting old thread.