Vent seal trouble on the WP PowerClean

[murando531]

I noticed tonight while unloading dishes that had just finished washing and flash drying that yellow water was dripping from the vent. I took the inner door off and removed the vent assembly, and the thin foam strip that is under the vent itself dissentigrated, and was soaking wet. It literally was crumbling with the slightest touch. I went ahead and peeled the old off to wipe everything clean, but now I can't put it back together to operate because of the small gap between the two pieces. The insulation in the door was wet, so I know that running it without that seal would be a huge no no. I found the actual part on RepairClinic, but because of how simple, and also porous, this tiny foam strip is, I may be able to get some thin weather stripping and fashion a higher quality piece. Has anyone else encountered this problem? And what would anyone suggest would be the best material? Many thanks for any help you can give.

 

[arbilab]

Closed-foam weatherstripping seems ideal. That and silicone caulk filling the gaps that result from assembling it to fit.

 

[combo52]

Vent Seal

Just a strip of stick-on weather strip is all you need, this is just a vapor seal, it is not that important.

 

[wayupnorth]

My Whirlpool dishwasher DU840CW started leaking out the vent. I popped off the inside screen and it was full of what looked like wet lint. After cleaning it out, it never leaked since. Mine does not have any seal around it on the inside.

 

[murando531]

I repaired the seal on the vent, and then some!!! I decided to pull the machine out completely and do some super cleaning and upgrading.

I bought some industrial strength weatherstripping, which was cheaper overall than the actual replacement strip from Whirlpool, which would have been terrible in quality. I also decided to apply some along the bottom lip of the tub opening to help muffle some of the noise that escapes from under the door.

In the spirit of sound insulation, I also decided to put the dense denim fiber blanket I had in storage from an old Uhaul move to good use. I bought some spray adhesive, cleaned the inside of the inner door with alcohol, and fashioned cut-to-fit double layers of the blanketing and adhered them tightly to the plastic. I also made small cuts to adhere right at the bottom of the door panel itself to catch even more noise from the unsealed tub rim.

Taking extra care to make sure no connections were disturbed, and that the latch piece in the middle of the door snaps the inner door to the outer panel, as well as making sure the detergent/rinse aid actuators lined up without issue, I bolted everything back together. You can tell it's a bit more of a snug fit, but everything lines up perfectly and the unaware observer would be none the wiser. Until the machine runs...

Man has this made a difference in sound level!! It sounds like a new machine, and I'd dare say that it's now as quiet/quieter than the Maytag I have in storage! I don't think it was loud in the first place, but I always knew it could have a more pleasant sound, because my aunt Robin's has the Quiet Partner II package. I'm confident now that I've brought my PowerClean from Quiet Wash status to at least Quiet Partner II, maybe even QP III level!!

 

[jeff_adelphi]

You may want to check that insulation at the bottom of the inner door panel after running to see if it's wet.  It looks like it's very close to the normal water level of that DW. I would keep any insulation 2" to 3" from the bottom edge.

 

[murando531]

Good advice! I actually did trim it up a bit after the picture was taken. The photo was actually snapped in the middle of the process so that thin strip at the bottom was just laying there. It's probably only an inch wide now, just to absorb some of the white noise that escapes from there.

I did check this morning after the wash from last night. I always prop the door open to let everything flash dry, so today I reached under the door and couldn't feel any moisture, so that's good.