2008 GE Standard Tub Dishwashers
That is correct Jerome, the motor stopped when draining was complete and while the machine was filling with water. This was when GE incorporated a self cleaning fine filter into their bottom of the the line dishwashers.
Why the motor pause? GE eliminated one of the drain reset spring on their flapper mechanism. This caused the drain flapper to remain in drain mode even when the drain solenoid was de-energized. This was due to the residual water pressure in the pump. So the motor had to shut off to remove this pressure. Second reason in turning off the motor was that the new design incorporated a check ball in the sump that would seal off the fine filter port when draining. In order for the ball to reset, that is in order for the ball to fall back and rest in the sump chamber, the motor had to be shut off. This was taken a step further in that during some fill periods and before the dry period, the drain solenoid would briefly energize while the motor was shut off. This was all in an effort to equalize water pressure through out the pump, sump, and drain hose so each component could "reset" and return to its circulation wash state.
GE adding a fine filter to their 1970s BOL design was perhaps the best thing GE ever did by far in automatic dishwashing. Unlike Whirlpool's awful Dura wash, GE mechanism actually captured for particles, held them, and then flashed them down the drain without anything clogging. And it worked really, really well. I know this because I once put a quarter of a cup of coffee grounds in my 2008 BOL GE dishwasher. Doing so would be unconscionable in a BOL GE, however in this machine they were all gone by the end of the cycle. No black specs anywhere in the machine or on the dishware. In the prior BOL GE it was a nightmare, once coffee ground got in they would not leave no matter how many cycles you ran.
Dishwashers without fine filtration should be illegal in my book.
Another advantage of my 2008 GE dishwasher was that it had a default 56 minute wash. 56 minutes helped remove backed on soils really well. Can you imagine a Whirlpool Power Clean filter module with a 56 minute main wash? One can wish.
