Dish washer puddle below screen smells bad.

Aug 04, 2008 11 Replies

A friend has a GE Nautilus dishwasher about 7 years old, model



6Sd2616F00AA.

The water in the bottom stinks. Should it.



He's removed the plastic screen that catches silverware and chunks of solid stuff and the the little plastic thing under that, and there is a pool of stinky water under that. It's not so bad that one can smell it just by sticking his head in the washer, without getting down close to the water.



To drain the water, he has a 3 foot piece of hose that goes up close to the top of the sink, is tied in place up there, and comes back down to the drain entrance just above his garbage disposal. He and I think he followed the installation instructinos, which we reread today.



Shoule it be this stinky? Thanks.


On Sun 03 Aug 2008 10:49:51p, mm told us...

The installation seems correct.

No, it shouldn't, especially if everything has been cleaned out of the sump. Try running a cup of bleach through the main wash cycle and recheck.

Its probably mold growing somewhere in the machine, I agree with bleach, but since its 96-99% water anyway and a cycle uses alot of water I think it will take alot more than a cup of bleach, maybe a gallon, but who knows.

On Mon 04 Aug 2008 04:32:32a, ransley told us...

I agree, it might take more. A gallon at one time seems like a lot, though to put in all at once. Most GE dishwashers only use 3-4 gallons of water for the entire cycle. Possibly adding 1-2 cups to each fill up of water during an entire cycle might do it. Also, an hour or two before running a cycle, pouring a cup or two down into the sump and letting it stand might help.

A little bleach goes a long way. Might try baking soda to kill odors.

Hide quoted text -

just leave less food waste on your plates , you moron, let the dog lick it out - if you have one - before putting it in dishwasher or simply rinse it out in the sink and run godddamn waste disposer......

It should not stink and it should not even be there. The last three DW's I've had never left water behind. Dishwashing detergent is rather caustic and there should be nothing left after a cycle that would make odors. IMO, there is some other root cause, not the puddle itself.

On Mon 04 Aug 2008 07:11:30p, Edwin Pawlowski told us...

Ed, some models to have a sump that retains some water, however, there's no normal reason why it should stink, espeically if the machine is used regularly.

Seems rather unsanitary to have water sitting inside a machine. Seems as though it would help breed anything that gets in there from the next batch to be done.

wELL, THAnks to all of you and thanks to Wayne for the answer in the next thread.

I've forwarded all of this to my friend, and he sends his thanks back.

On Mon 04 Aug 2008 07:51:27p, Edwin Pawlowski told us...

I can't disagree with that, but I do know that several manufacturers make machines with sumps that retain a small amount of water.

On Mon 04 Aug 2008 08:06:45p, mm told us...

You're welcome...

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