Water backing up in dishwasher

[lenona321]

I admit, I only use my Whirlpool dishwasher about once every 12 days because I live alone and large things, like pots, are too frequently needed, so I do those by hand. (Besides, the washer doesn't clean deep objects well.) I also never put dishes in that are visibly dirty from, say, 15 feet away. Yesterday, I heard a steady noise (the washer is almost full, so I was going to run it today) and I saw dirty water spreading over the bottom. It was there this morning as well. Last I checked, the garbage disposal was draining properly. I'm tempted simply to run the dishwasher and see what happens. (Oddly, all my manual says about this is "is the cycle done?")

Would this be a foolish risk?

Lenona.

[dnoyeB]

Its foolish but not too risky. You will just waste water and dishes will be dirty. Look at the bottom near the drain. Probably a screen filter of some sort that needs cleaning. I used to have to do this twice a week until I finally got my wife to start rinsing the dishes before putting them in the washer..

[lenona321]

OK, I'll look for blockage - though why the water should start backing up more than 10 days after I last used it, I can't guess.

Also, is it OK to use Drano - or something less toxic?

Lenona.

[Just Joshin]

I've heard of this happening if the drain line doesn't have an 'air break' or the line isn't routed high then low. Might want to check there.

tom @

[trader4]

Exactly. If there is an air break, the water will back up and come out of the air break, instead of going into the dishwasher. And if it has a high loop that goes up as high as the underside of the countertop, the water would have to back up in the sink higher than that for it to get into the dishwasher.

For this to have happened, water is backing up in the sink drain, which is the other major problem that needs to be addressed.

[mm]

I wouldn't use Drano. Someone who lived one floor up from my mother used Drano or something like it, and it backed up into my mother's sink and ate away a large part of the bottom of her Dutch oven, a cast iron pot with a lid that she had used for 60 years with no problems.

Ruined it.

[mm]

I don't think the washer drain hose is clogged. Because something else is backing up. Like you say the washer hasn't been used. The problem is in the main drain after the garbage disposal or the garbage disposal is cloogged.

Try running the garbage disposal to remove the clog or at least to see if the clog is there or elsewhere. It may back up a little more in the dishwasher, but you have to check and that's not so bad.

No. See prior post.