Whirlpool Dishwasher Fill Valve Failed

[mixfinder]

Stuck in the Outlet

Kill the power for the microwave and then one old house wife's trick it to stick a potato agaisnt the remnants of the base and unscrew it.  It never worked for me.  I catch the edge of the tin with a needle nose and then like the tin around a can of Spam keep pulling and unrolling the threads until the base comes free.  An old electrcian's trick is to rub the base of the new bulb on each side of your nose which is always oily, before re inserting the new bulb.  The amount of oil is said to keep the bulb from sticking.

 

[frigilux]

Andrew-- I completely understand your desire to move on to a new machine. I had a wonderful TOL Maytag dishwasher that cleaned like a champ, but after an electrical failure in it filled my kitchen with smoke, I had it repaired (the machine had a recall on it), then promptly sold it and got a TOL LG, which is the best dishwasher I've ever owned. Unfortunately, unlike new LG washers, their dishwashers are notoriously unreliable. Mine has had 2-1/2 years of very hard use, and so far no problems, knock wood.

Anyway, I simply didn't trust the Maytag, anymore. (This was a pre-Whirlpool Maytag).

Your new Whirlpool looks great. I've always liked machines that offer an alternative to putting the silverware in the bottom rack. My LG has a cutlery/silverware rack, which leaves all that cavernous space open in the bottom rack. I had a portable Whirlpool from 1986-89 with the silverware rack in the door. It was a good dishwasher, but I didn't like the tower in the center of the bottom rack.

Let us know how you like it, and post photos when the newbie arrives. I recently steered some friends to a new Whirlpool and they love it.

 

[pierreandreply4]

well for me it my 5 year with my kenmore diswasher and i can say that i am very satisfy with this model and when it go i would buy the same model and my brother bought for him and is girlfriend the whirlpool dishwasher you bough and i can say he is very satisfy with it as well. Sorry if the picture is a bit blurry

 

[mark_wpduet]

At least you're upgrading to the stainless interior

My next DW will have two things that my current one doesn't

1) Stainless interior
2) Fold down tines

As for hard water stains showing on the stainless interior. I think you can use Lemishine (citric acid) or white vinegar to get rid of it. But you're getting a water softener so I guess that won't be an issue

I've never had a water softener anywhere I've ever lived. Perhaps our water isn't as hard here as I think, but it is hard. I can't use tap water with my ultrasonic humidifier.....White dust EVERYWHERE.......And if I use the heated humidifier with one use there is caked on white crud on the metal part that heats the water........I honestly don't think I've ever been to anyone's house here in Lexington that has a water softener.........I wonder why? I guess they are for extreme hard water conditions only?

Oh wait. I take that back. I remember being in Greenville OH with a friend and we went to their aunt's house, she had a huge basement and she was a total HOARDER....It looked like a grocery store down there, and I remember seeing a water softener among the thousands of products.

 

[vacfanatic]

I'm excited for the new one to come. I'm going to be picking out a Water Softener this week as well. Need to do some research on them. Will probably be using potasium vs salt though.

 

[vacfanatic]

Softener Installed - Dishwasher Reordered

Well I got the water softener in, and yesterday I left work to take delivery of the dishwasher. Apparently something smashed into the front of it and tore the box open and dented / abraded the paint on the door. The delivery driver apparently is blind and thought I wouldn't notice. I refused delivery and called AJ Madison and requested a replacement ASAP, with expedited shipping.

Just my luck!

Anyway, here is to soft water - and showers are fun now, and so is washing hands!

It is made by Ecodyne, but is branded Whirlpool. 30,000 grain capacity for just under $400.

 

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[vacfanatic]

I called AJ Madison yesterday and they shipped out a replacement Dishwasher - I hope YRC doesn't trash this one or I will be seriously pissed.

Anyway, the water softener is working perfectly and what a huge difference it has made. I just have to finish putting in the whole house sediment filter today and that part of the project is a wrap.

I have an extremely stressful and mind torturing job as a project manager, so I generally only work on this stuff on the weekends. My basement finishing project has been in progress for a year and a half or better now, but I'm just about finished.

Will post pics of the Whirlpool Dishwasher unboxing when it gets here, hopefully late this coming week.

 

[aegokocarat]

@mark_wpduet

ive got an ultrasonic humidifier qnd i uset normal tap water, the tank scales up but i dont have the legendery lime scae dust issue

 

[frigilux]

Andrew, you're going to love having softened water---for bathing, laundry, and automatic dishwshing. One side effect of mechanically softened water: Laundry detergents don't rinse out as well as they do in hard water. I've learned to live with a bit of suds in the final rinse. But that minor trade-off is well worth all the positives!

Sorry to hear about your bashed up dishwasher. Hopefully the next one will arrive unscathed!

 

[vacfanatic]

Eugene,

I already have noticed a huge difference for sure with the soft water. I took the shower head off our main shower and it was all full of green hard water scale - had to descale it with several cleanings with Lime Away, but got it all out. I still need to Lime Away the entire shower but that will be for another day. I will not miss hard water!

I also flushed out the water heater 3 or 4 times today. Also took a peek at the whole house sediment filter while the water was flowing to flush out the water heater out it's drain valve. The there is already sediment and what looks like a piece of plastic bag or maybe teflon that came in from the city supply.

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[laundromat]

convertable

I found two Sears Kenmore (made by Whirlpool ten to fifteen years ago)one black and the other white. The black one was used but in fair condition. When I connected the unicouple, no water entered the cavity but,the solinoid worked. I could here the buzz sound. I disconnected the inlet hose underneath and found this horrific gook that built up and clogged the filter screen. I used a straight screwdriver and an exacto knife to scrub and scrape the residue off. once I did that and reconnected the intake hose, it worked fine. Now, I check the intake on a month to month basis.

 

[mark_wpduet]

I wonder how this stuff builds up in dishwashers with all that extreme hot water and detergent splashing and going through everything?

Interestingly enough (KNOCK ON WOOD) any place I have ever lived the dishwasher has never gone out.

Growing up (GE push to the sink dishwasher)

Grandma Whirlpool 1983 I think.....She passed away 2 years ago and now her home is rented and it's still working

Lived in Knoxville for a year and there was a Magic Chef dishwasher from 1995 to 1996 and I hated that Dishwasher, but it worked

Moved to Lex in 1996 and there was a mid 90s Kenmore, worked great. Rented another house from 1997 to 2000, another Kenmore, worked great. Another apartment from 2002 to 2004, a GE that looked to be from the 80s, worked good, no issues.

My current home a whirlpool (like Andrew's) that is still going.....though it will make a grinding sound while washing periodically, but it always goes away for a few months, then will make that grinding sound again for a bit, then it goes away.

Andrew, has your new DW arrived yet? Hopefully you won't have any issues this time.

 

[combo52]

WP DW WITH PERIODIC GRINDING NOISE

Mark you may have some thing floating around in the grinder area like the small plastic button or foot from a chopping board that came off in the DW. It probably won't hurt anything but if you are really curious you can open it up and check. Just don't take the whole DW apart LOl.

 

[vacfanatic]

Well got the floor fixed as close as it will get for now - eventually might refinish the entire floor once the rest of it needs it. For now, it won't be too noticible unless you look for the patch.

The replacement dishwasher is coming tomorrow - the YRC driver will be a dead man if it's damaged again - I've been without a dishwasher for almost a month, and I don't hand wash dishes. LOL

Will post some unboxing photos soon

Andrew

 

[vacfanatic]

The stain at first would not take, so I rubbed it in harder and then it ended up too dark. Oh well, I knew it wouldn't be a perfect match. At least it looks better than it did. I had to re-poly 6 rows of board out from the cabinet. The poly sheen was a perfect match.

Like I said in the future, I may end up sanding and restaining the entire floor which would give it a more even coverage obviously. It is just too much work right now for such a small area of damage. Most of this damage will be under the toe kick of the dishwasher that is black, so that will also help limit how noticible the repair is.

 

[vacfanatic]

Well here she is Running the first load in it. I'll be honest, I hate washing dishes by hand, so everything you see + about another 1/2 load that won't fit, has been sitting on the counter for the 3+ weeks. Everything was rinsed off, just not clean.

It's way quieter than my old one, and I really like the stainless interior.

1 change I see is that the detergent dispenser, it has 2 slots in it to allow the initial rinse water to get inside and start to disolve the detergent.

 

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[vacfanatic]

Here are the 2 slots on the top side of the dispenser when the door is closed. Allows water to fill the main wash dispenser.

 

[vacfanatic]

Here is the last shot. Floor didn't turn out as well as I wanted, but it looks better than it did. Eventually will strip, sand, and refinish the entire kitchen floor.

 

[magic clean]

Andrew

congrats on your new dishwasher. The slots in the main wash cup of the detergent dispenser; permit water to flush through in the event the lid cannot fully open. This can occur when a "mis-loaded" item blocks the lid. There is a diagram of this in the use and care.

Enjoy!

L.P.

 

[vacfanatic]

Leslie,

Thanks - I do enjoy it - and it seems to wash very well. Also now that I have soft water, it seems as though glasses and dishes are very smooth feeling when they come out - hard to explain I guess, but my water really sucked before!

Here are a few shots of the post wash.

Andrew