insulating the dishwasher, anyone tried this?

[vacuumfreeeke]

I read a tip online that sticking pressed fiberglass insulation inside the kick plate of the dishwasher would helpe to make it quieter. Has anyone discovered this to be true? Would this work for a portable dishwasher? I removed the kick plate of my GE Nautilus portable to see if I could hear a rattle that it's been making. It's coming from the motor or pump... but anyway when I took the kick plate off, there were a lot of wires down there. I'd be worried about the insulation catching on fire if there was ever a spark or something.

Thanks!

 

[mattl]

That and more!

When I replaced my older GE DW with a new Tall Tub unit I noticed the great increase in noise level. The old machine was a MOL unit and was basically silent when running, all I heard was the water sloshing by. The new unit is upper MOL.

I pulled the DW and wrapped the cavity the DW goes in with Fiberglas, and I used the blanket from the old machine which was much denser than the new one. I also got a heavy Fernco coupler at Home Depot and cut it up and placed the thick rubber under each foot. Finally I placed fiberglass around under the front of the machine, leaving a little clearance around components to get the noise level very low. The kickplate that came with the machine had several inches of insulation glued to it BTW. I can still hear the motor but it's just a little noisier than the old unit.

I'm not sure how you would accomplish this with a portable machine though.

 

[MrX]

Fibre glass is actually glass fibres it simply cannot go on fire. This is why it is commonly used in home insulation.

What I would be concerned about though is that you are talking about adding insulation where it might block the free-flow of air and could result in overheating components. The insulation won't go on fire, but components of the dishwasher could be damaged or burn thus causing a house fire.

Your dishwasher may rely on a good flow of air to keep the pump(s), electronics and possibly a heating pack from over-heating. So, I wouldn't really advise that anyone makes any major modifications such as adding insulation to that area of the machine.

 

[mattl]

I made sure that there was plenty of circulation around the motor and such, I focused on the vibration and added some insulation along the existing stuff in front. The sides and rear are clear.

 

[rolls_rapide]

UK Hotpoint (Indesit produced) Dishwasher

I had reason to disassemble my parents' machine recently; the door-catch broke its spring.

The door had a pre-formed polystyrene block, wedged across the full width of the door inner, and only a bitumen mat stuck to the lower part of the door inner. No sign of fibre matting, like my Bosch has in its door.

Mother was not impressed when she saw the polystyrene; she thinks it could catch fire!

 

[toggleswitch2]

Added the insulation jacket of my out-going (*yibbles and bits)KA to my new GE. It surely helped cut down the noise. When a warranty replacement was made and the new GE tossed out, the installers threw out my insulation. The replacement machine is, needless to say, now noisier.

 

[charger]

Some years back I added a fiberglass jacket to to the outside, inside door and under door area of a nasty old Whirlpool dish washer and it was STILL a nasty old WP but it got VERY quite after the insulation was added.