New Whirlpool Dishwasher Questions

[trappn]

A Damn Good Dishwasher.......

.....these days, this seems to be Whirlpool's strong suit.

If our GE Profile Triton ever decides to fail, we would be willing to go back to one of the Whirlpool variants. The Triton is still going strong since 2002. Only replaced 2 sumps over nearly 20 years.

Outside of the warranty period, no repairperson is allowed in our house.

 

[littlegreeny]

Not filling with enough water

The frequency of the wash pump was always changing, like it was cavitating. Today I decided to add a few cups of water and the sound stopped. It was finally washing with no strange frequency changes.

Now, are WP dishwashers known to cavitate? Should I be concerned? Wondering if perhaps I should check the inlet screen at the fill valve or maybe the fill valve needs replacing? It cavitates during all wash/rinse periods.

 

[combo52]

New whirlpool dishwasher?

As always, it would be very helpful to have a model number when you’re asking questions about a machine.

In general, you could have a bad inlet valve, the likelihood of the screen being blocked is about Neil unless you’re having extreme problems with blocky just throughout your house on things that use hot water, showerhead, faucets, etc.

I don’t think the dishwasher should be making a cavitating or surging sound when running.

John

 

[littlegreeny]

Thanks John.

The model number was listed further up the thread; it's #WDT730PAHZ0.

Obviously it's not new anymore, I've had it 3.5 years. It's made this sound for as long as I can remember. I was near it last night tidying up and on a whim decided to add more water.

I'm just not sure what I should do. It cleans really well with the little water it uses. I just don't want its lifespan to be shorter because the wash pump is struggling from lack of water unless it's operating as designed???

 

[henene4]

The parts diagram and list I found says it's a single phase wash pump, so probably single speed.

If it's always done it, and it cleans, I would say it works as designed.

Given a replacement wash pump isn't even 70$, tearing into something and trying to fix something that might not even be an issue, seems just like not worth the hazzle.

 

[littlegreeny]

Thanks Henrik

You bring up good points that perhaps it's not worth it. But I do find the noise it makes annoying. I guess it's not full on cavitating but you can tell it's pulling in some air as it's running, which changes the frequency or cadence of the sound the wash motor makes. I thought maybe the filter was the cause and keep it pretty spotless so it's not because of that if anyone was wondering. It's definitely a low water level in the tub.

I'm curious if anyone else who has a fairly new Whirlpool-made dishwasher noticed a different cadence from the wash pump?

 

[combo52]

Possible possible low fill on a new whirlpool dishwasher

Hi David, the sound would probably bug me too. I can get you the part number of an inlet valve that has a slightly higher flow rate from a slightly older whirlpool model if you like, and of course, you may just have a bad inlet valve.

 

[littlegreeny]

Thanks John!

Yes, I'd very much appreciate if you'd provide me the part number.

By the way, I'm running the one hour wash cycle now and it's not making that sound. It must use more water per fill. I don't typically use this cycle unless I'm doing a lot of cooking. I should probably use it more often.

 

[appnut]

David, on my last Kenmore Elite (KA dishwasher), it used more water for the 1 hour cycle.

 

[lakewebsterkid]

cavitation

Does this just happen during the main wash, or does it occur during prewash and rinses?

 

[gelaundry4ever]

cavitation

I've only had cavitation happen during the start of prewash.

 

[littlegreeny]

It happens during all portions of the cycle, but only seems to occur when the lower wash arm is running.

 

[littlegreeny]

Brief, poor quality video

Here is a brief video I took in the dark last night of it running during the main wash. Wear earbuds to hear the sounds I'm describing, especially evident near the end.

 

[appnut]

David, the video is marked private and cannot access it.

 

[littlegreeny]

Bob,

It should work now. Thanks!

 

[neptuneguy27]

Cavitating pump

When you hear this cavitation, do you ever open the door and see if the bottom is full of suds? When I had my Kitchen Aid, some dishwasher pods, in particular Cascade Platinum, would cause a fair amount sudsing to occur and as a result, the pump would cavitate. Generally by the final rinse the suds would be cleared out and it would be running normally. In another instance where I would notice it cavitate is when the machine was packed full. Though it would seem to sense this an add more water in small increments, until the pressure remained constant.

All the best,
Chris

 

[appnut]

David, thank you.

 

[littlegreeny]

Suds

I have checked a few times and there's never been any suds. I'm currently using Finish powder which is very low sudsing.

 

[gelaundry4ever]

wash system

Is this Whirlpool's latest wash system? Maybe they finally added the new micro clean wash system to their own dishwashers.