Dishwashers + toothpicks

[mattl]

Just spent the better part of 2 hours trouble shooting my 18 month old KA dishwasher.  Cycles kept stopping leaving water in the tub.  I'd hear the pump run for a few seconds and then it would stop.  Repeat.  Cleaned out the filter and the sump, no good, still won't drain.

 

Thought the drain line might be blocked, pulled it off the connection and it looked clear.  Tried blowing into it, but there is a back flow preventer so no go.  Ended up pulling the DW out a bit, with my installation it's a bit of a pain.  disconnected the drain from the pump, blew through the line , no issues.   Shined a flash light into the pump -- a toothpick and one of those fine tendon/bones from a turkey leg was jamming it up.  Needle nose pliers solved that issue.

 

Not sure how a toothpick manged to work it's way through the filters and into the pump.  That should not be able to happen.  Guess I'll be more careful and look at the underside of the plates when I load up the unit...

 

[foraloysius]

Another good reason for not picking your teeth at the dinner table. lol

 

[mattl]

True that...  But in all honesty it wasn't at the dinner table.

 

[henene4]

How it made it to the drain pump

Self cleaning filters are designed to allow debris from the fine filter to be backwashed to the drain pump.

So if it makes it through the coarse grates at the top of the filter it can end up there.

That's why Bosch and Miele for example have a removable cap over the drain pump so you can remove items that clogg is yourself.

 

[mattl]

A definite design flay in my book.  The pump just snaps off with a twist, debated about pulling the pump, but the issue was easily resolved with a pair of needle nose pliers.  Will be more observant in the future.

 

[hoovermatic]

Matchstick

Had a similar problem about 18 months ago. Dishwasher wouldn't drain. Cleaned everything, blew up the waste water pipe and nothing. Called a local repair company who, once they identified I had a German built Bosch implored me to get it repaired. They came and took the pump apart to find half a matchstick. I had lit candles at dinner and thrown the spent match into a mug in the kitchen and it got stuck in the bottom of the mug and ended up getting washed and found its way into the pump. They only charged me £10 to fix the problem so was extremely lucky and it just keeps on working!