GE Dishwasher not draining problem

[Licensed to Quill]

Yes, I have the same problem with my profile dishwasher. It works properly but doesn't drain either properly or completely. RESULT the dishes are always cleaned with somewhat dirty water and the unit is left with a full tub

I have called GE in the past and they told me to push the ON switch, wait 5 seconds and push that same ON switch again. They say this will drain the unit without putting any more water in it

I have been doing this for about four years when occasionally the unit doesnt drain but suddenly this tactic has stopped working. GE just tells me to call out a repairman (TRANSLATION: Pay us more than the unit is worth to repair it) I am a bit reluctant.

Does anyone know how to get this unit to drain please or do I have to undo all the screws in the back, laboriously take the basket off and laboriously try to clean all gunge out of the place where GE didnt bother to put a filter? (I should add that I Have TRIED not putting anything in which would clog up that basket so I suspect that isnt the problem)

[Julie]

"Licensed to Quill" wrote

I'm going to cross-thread bigtime here.

I posted a similar? issue a bit back, on a dishwasher I'd bought used (yes, mistake #1).

After jeff was the only miracle worker out of many who identified which part I was missing (a boost pump), mine ran, but didn't drain all the way.

In the meantime, I put down engineered hardwood floors in my kitchen (cross-thread #1). I put them under all appliances, but since my kitchen will never change its configuration, left the cabinets the heck! alone).

Then I took the dishwasher out to the porch and had my way with it. Unscrewed anything I could find, poked around, and found two things - one small (1 cm) shard of glass, and one small piece of paper towel across a tube connection. The piece of paper towel was potentially blocking a waterway, so I had hope yet that I might have made a difference.

Screwed it all back together, brought it back in the kitchen. Plugged it in, but left it out of the cabinet, so I could watch it. Good thing ... I had attached one side of the two 90-degree tubes at the wrong port? on the main pump, and got blasted in the face with hot water. Like a good scout, I had plenty of towels and a bucket at the ready, but of course some water soaked into my NEW WOOD FLOOR!!! Not to mention a few other little leaks from underneath the unit, where I'd probably not cranked down on clamps hard enough.

Quite pissed at myself, tucked the tail between the legs, went to the Big Box, and paid up for a new one. That is the outcome of my dishwasher saga (cross-thread #2). I hope it's been entertaining, at least ...

JSH

and like a stoopid consumer, the new one is another GE Profile. It had a good rebate on it and promised to be Quiet, which it is. But now I'll have to cross my fingers on the draining issue ...

[Mary Shafer]

I too have a brand new GE dishwasher, although mine is a Triton. This is the first really quiet dishwasher I've ever owned and I just love it. We have tile floors, so the house is a bit echo-y and sound really travels, but we can hardly tell that the dishwasher is running.

I'm now ready for the 15-year-old dishwasher in my other house to break, because I've been spoiled now and dislike the noise this old dishwasher makes.

My double oven unit is a GE Profile, by the way, and seems to work very well, but we've only been in the house for a month, so it's early days yet. The builder, Del Webb/Pulte, has some sort of sweetheart deal with GE, so my choices were limited.

Mary

[Licensed to Quill]

I sometimes wonder why GE doesnt bother with proper filters in their dishwashers as all these problems seem to be casued by something which should have been caught in a filter while the cycle is running finding its way into an area where it can cause damage. Like an impeller in a drain pump or an exit hose of some type. And their policies on repair costs are prohibitive at the moment.

Living in New York has its upsides and downsides. The downside is that no one really wants to come out to repair anything without ripping you off (yes, it'll cost $90 call out charge and then 45.5 cents per minute plus any parts we can find we need plus the call out charge again when we see that we forgot to bring the part you told us was most likely in need of replacement plus tax etc plus the furtther per-minute charge to take it apart again etc etc) while on the upside there are always LOTS of people who are replacing whole kitchens with perfectly serviceable units in them from which one can take the dishwasher). I suppose if I cant repair this one I will replace it with the next Miele or possibly Bosch I FIND.

I do find it slightly suspicious that GE dishwwashers work properly for a while, then diminish in effectiveness after a year or so, then stop working completely. When I managed to call out aservice agent under warranty, he said that in places like New York with slightly dirty water, the drain hose becomes blocked every time anyone does work on pipes in the neighborhood and anything flushes into the water line in any way. Isnt that just a sign that they KNOW that they need a proper filter?

[Chuck]

Check the drain hose, and the vacuum breaker for partial blockage. This can put enough back pressure on the pump that it is unable to fully drain the dishwasher during the cycle time.

--Chuck

[Bennett Price]

[Julie]

PS - I'm sorry, jeff, I feel like I've let you down, giving up on the d/w after all of your kind help. I really do appreciate it!

JSH

[jeff]

No worries ;)

jeff. Appliance Repair Aid

[Licensed to Quill]

Yes, it's pretty definitely the same problem I have been having for four years, only worse: Despite that impeller NOT being blocked, something has got through and is preventing the drain from draining properly. Not sure what a vacuum breaker is but I should probably take the lower front panel off and get the drain hose off. This isn't easy, is it?

BTW the washing machine drains through to the same place under the sink and yesteday it stopped draining as well so it must be a MAJOR blockage in the drain hose or (a kink suddenly appearing at) the place where it drains into the central drain under the sink?

Licensed to Quill

[JoeA]

GE, Whirlpool, Maytag and every other company make appliances foe the MASS MARKET. If certain parts of the country, ie NY, have ,say, hard water which causes problems in washers and dishwashers, They are not, nor should they be held responsible for pipes cloging and etc, There is no filter made that can stand up to very hard water conditions. The only thing you can do is install a water treatment system in your house. If these companies could add a filter, they would have to charge more for units installed in that area of the country, Then people would be complaining that they were being "profiled" because of the area they live in. Eventually, causing the price to go up to satisify the minority. When bottom line is the most important thing these companies think of, you can see, your S.O.L.