I Love the Smell of Ozone In the Morning

[rp2813]

My 1985 Thermador THD 3600 dishwasher has developed an ozone smell inside the tub. It seems to be operating normally and there is no smell of ozone while it's running, but open the door the next morning and the odor wafts into the kitchen.

I noticed this the other morning when going to empty it from a regular wash cycle the night before.

Last night I ran a rinse/hold and this morning the odor is even stronger, yet no smell while the machine was operating last night.

I don't see any stray items or debris (meltable or otherwise) anywhere inside the tub.

I get the feeling I'm flirting with disaster (some would probably say I started doing that the day it was installed).

Any ideas or advice out there?

 

[toploader55]

Hmmmmmm.

I'll toss this around. Really Strange. Maybe Google that.

 

[nmassman44]

OK...so what does ozone smell like? Does this smell have a scent like the air has after a thunderstorm? I am curious....

 

[turquoisedude]

I always associate that 'ozone' smell with mixers! An ozone smell after a wash cycle sounds really odd - it might be a short in the wiring in the door. I would try to check as much visible wiring as you could and maybe take the door apart to inspect it.

 

[3beltwesty]

ozones smell and source.

Ozone to me smells like electric train sets, or after a thunderstorm, or one works around stuff with high voltage and something is breakingdown/arcing.

It also smells like my 2 commercial ozone generators I used on my house after Katrina to remove any mold.

Ozone that just appears on a product needs to be searched for the cause. Are there any high voltage driven panel displays, something that might be arcing?

Ones nose is more of an AC device, one in a room with a smell you get use to it. It helps to just enter a room and examine and object, than spend a lot of time there.

 

[rp2813]

Yes, mixers and blenders are famous for that ozone smell.

This is similar, but perhaps being in an enclosed and dank environment the characteristics are different, because it's not the same as a mixer/blender smell.

 

[nmassman44]

Huh...learn something new every day!

 

[alr2903]

ozone, is at the booth at the home shows with the electronic air freshner machine, it has a distinct smell. Usually at the home shows they place ammonia on your hand you pass it in front of the unit and the odor is gone. Just as 3beltwesty posted, we also used a "rainfresh air" unit in our house after katrina.

Amazon.com

 

[circlew]

If I had any doubts about the safety of the machines wiring, I would disconnect it whenever leaving or going to bed.

 

[tolivac]

Ozone smell in the dishwasher?Usually if something electrical is arcing or burning-besides the ozone you smell burnt insulation or burnt metal.That is what I get out here when a transmitter burns up something.Lets see-burned transformers,burned aluminum,burned copper and even burnt Steatite(insulators).Then you get the ozone smell too.Yes my air purifiers can be set to generate ozone-and know the smell.and if its conecentrated-bad for you.Can burn your lungs and sinus.I don't use the ozone function on my units often-but can be effective on bathrooom mildew we get out here.
On some of our transmitters the power tubes use vapor cooling-IE make steam-one of the steam pipes can undone-and that transmitter so remined me of another appliance---a Wallpaper steamer.And yes we get arcs inside the tubes too-very pretty-but lots of work after the show.

 

[qsd-dan]

Damn, that sucks!

Are you sure hubby wasn't *tinkering* while you weren't looking?

 

[rp2813]

All my partner wants from this machine is distance. He'll scoff at me tending to it when I remove the panel.

Here's a picture of the panel from this past January when we were preparing it for installation. I think I can rule out the timer, as it runs through the cycles fine. I think I can also rule out the heating element, as the dishes were dry after the wash cycle.

I'm wondering if one of the temperature sensors shown in the picture could have blown. There's no burnt smell, and the wiring and connections were all in good shape, as you can see.

 

[beekeyknee]

Ozone and Rubber

This doesn't answer you're question, but I've heard that when rubber is constantly exposed to ozone, it will break down. Not good for seals and things that are inside the machine. Do you crack the door open door after the load is done?

Have you recently switched to the "no phosphate", type of detergent? Maybe that could have something to do with it. They've probably put more bleach or something else in it to compensate for the lack of phosphate. My parents have tons of phosphate. They can't mess me up.

 

[rp2813]

I have a stash of phosphated Cascade so it's not a detergent issue.

I think the first attempt should be to examine the temp sensors and see if there's any visual evidence of failure. If not, then I'll need to set it for "Full Steam," "Heavy Steam" and "Sanitize" with a circuit tester on each sensor. That's just a guess. It may not be that simple.

And so my search for a Whisper Quiet KUDS-22 intensifies. It's really the best solution, and will bring peace and quiet to the household in more ways than one.

 

[combo52]

OZONE DISHWASHER

I don't know what you are smelling but it is most unlikely that the DW is producing Ozone gas. There is nothing electrical is inside the tub except the heating element and in order for it to arc enough to produce Ozone it would not function for more than about a minute and just completely burn out as it is exposed to water & detergent.I would try running the machine on the air dry function to see if that makes a difference in the smell. It may be time to find look for the 10-20 year old WP Power-Clean or LKM Ultra-Wash DW. In any case I don't think it is dangerous. The WP KM dishwashers in this era are by far the best cleaning, best drying and most reliable dishwashers made in modern history. The high end models are also very quiet and parts are easy to find 2nd choice for me would be a KDS 23 as they did away with the yucky filter. I should have taken pictures of the filter in my KDSS-20 after washing just four loads of dishes on Saturday after we prepared and served 70 men at out annual holiday car club dinner.

 

[3beltwesty]

Ozone has a very distinctive smell.

Ozone has a very distinctive smell.

A toy train 100 year ago going around a Xmas tree put out ozone.

A DW today is more complex than a toy train, thus to say it is not possible is saying the person cannot detect what ozone is.

A CRT that is failing sometimes puts out ozone. A loose circuit breaker or fuse that has some arcing that puts out ozone. A heater blower motor in a car from 60 years ago with bad brushes puts out ozone.

A switch in a house that is rarely used and has seen corrosion can with certain loads arc a tad and put out ozone. Several wall switches in my house post Katrina did this.

****There really has to be nothing "high tech" in an electrical device to have ozone created. A brush motor with arcing due to a worn armature/brushes in 1890 puts out ozone.

Devices can run all day long and put out ozone if there is arcing, it is not just for one minute.

The switch on my front outside porch light runs a dinky 14 watt CFL bulb. After Katrina just the salt vapor was enough to make the switch have a tad of resistance, the tiny current of the CFL bulb was NOT enough to clean off the switch's contact.

I had two ozone generators running in the flooded house when I left for work, for about 3 months.

After I STOPPED using the ozone generators I would get a woof of ozone when the porch lamp was on and one went outside.

This went one for WEEKS until I found the source, a dumb switch like everybody has in their houses for ones lights.

With a regular Edison bulb with a filament; the inrush current is massive for the first few millaseconds. This cleans off crud on a dirty switch. With a low current load, one can have arcing and the device still working too.

 

[rp2813]

Thanks for the additional information, and for the suggestions for replacement machines.

After checking again today, it appears the smell is actually in the tub, as the openings on the door panel didn't smell like anything.

I'll continue using the machine and try to sniff things out, but at this point I'm all about pursuing replacement. When I'm at my desk upstairs and can hear the Thermador running downstairs, particularly during the rinse cycles, it's pretty ridiculous. I know there are much quieter machines that can get the job done as well or better.

 

[cornutt]

It could be coming from your hot water. Do you smell it if you run hot water at the sink? If you have an electric water heater, it could be that you have an element failing, or the anode rod needs replacing.

 

[qsd-dan]

Maybe give the machine a sniff after each cycle change. It may be hard to catch a whiff of ozone with a tub full of soapy water or even after it has drained, but it's worth a try.