Hard Wired Dishwasher Help

[AqueousEcho]

We recently moved into our first home, which had a dishwasher still hooked up. We tried it out and unfortunately the dishwasher did not work; I knew that it was receiving power, however, because I could hear a hum from the motor. (Turns out it had a bad pump, etc.) Just tonight, then, we bought another dishwasher (used, so no warranty) and tried to install it. We got the hoses all hooked up, then when it came time to hook up the hard wires, my husband said it was shocking him (and I believed him cause he kept saying OW). I know you will suggest I turn off the damn breaker at this point, but I of course turned it off earlier for taking out the old dishwasher. We weren't sure what to do from here. My husband was down on the floor looking at the dishwasher's wires, when the tip of his screwdriver touched the tips of the exposed wires. It sparked and actually damaged the screwdriver! After that we double checked that breaker was off (which I knew it was, because it also controls two outlets with plugged in coffee pot and micro, and both were off). We tested the wires with our volt meters and got a zero reading, and they were no longer shocking my husband. We attached the wires to the dishwasher and then turned on the breaker. The microwave and coffee pot turned on, but not the dishwasher. We tested the wires for the dishwasher and they have no power at all. Please help!!

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[mm]

Impressive isn't it.

Which breaker is "that breaker". You had turned off the wrong breaker.

That's because you tripped the breaker with the screwdriver.

That's because you are still looking at the wrong breaker.

Have you looked at the other breakers in the breaker box?

Do you have a second box?

[mm]

BTW, I figured you had no voltmeter, but you do. Next time either of you does anything, as soon as you get the wire nuts off the wires, check each wire against each other and against a ground to make sure they're all dead. You need direct evidence and not a logical deduction, because everyone makes mistakes in logic.

(Sometimes a digital meter will still show 20 volts or so (or more?) If that happens put a 110volt light bulb across 110 volt wires and measure the vottage again.)

In cases like this, you should also have turned the dishwasher or whatever on after turning off the breaker and before disconnecting the wires. You would have still heard the hum.

You each have your own voltmeter? That's sweet. Or competitive. :)

[mm]

Just to be clear, you DIDN'T know the breaker was off because the outlets were off. You were still thinking they were on the same circuit as the DW, but they're not. The correct breaker was off because your husband touched the tips of the wires with the tip of the screwdriver.

[RBM]

** It sounds like the cable for the dishwasher is incorrectly connected to wiring from the counter outlets. The dishwasher needs a dedicated circuit, or the breaker will trip if you try to use it simultaneously with the micro or coffee pot. Depending upon the age of the house, it's entirely possible that there is a dedicated circuit which was miswired, possibly if the seller replaced the counter outlets nearby the dishwasher, before the sale. What you really need to find, is the junction box, (probably one of the counter outlets), where the cable to the dishwasher is coming from. This is where the problem is likely to be found

[HeyBub]

One thing you should do is change out the "hard wired" business to a plug and socket.

[Fat-Dumb and Happy]

One ... the old dishwasher might have worked had you poured some water in it and turned the motor a bit by prying on the cooling fins on the motor... Two buy life insurance for your old man... Three... use a test light or multimeter to test the circuit Four... probably ought to bump number Two up to number One

[RBM]

[Bob Villa]

"That's because you tripped the breaker with the screwdriver."

mm is making total sense here!

Check for another tripped breaker.

[Doug Miller]

So obviously you turned off the wrong breaker.

Of course. When he shorted out the wires with the screwdriver, he tripped the breaker that you failed to shut off.

And there won't be any power until you find the breaker that tripped, and reset it. Make sure you label that breaker properly.

[Doug Miller]

No, it doesn't, on two counts.

First, don't look for complicated explanations where a simple one will suffice. The simple and obvious explanation is that the OP was simply mistaken about which breaker controlled the dishwasher, failed to shut it off, and tripped it by shorting the wires with the screwdriver.

Second, if the dishwasher was "incorrectly connected to the wiring from the counter outlets", what explains the fact that it had power *before* the wires were shorted by the screwdriver, and doesn't have power *now*?

[RBM]

** I totally agree, upon re-reading the post, it seemed more apparent that the OP mis-read his multimeter, and never killed the DW circuit, until the shorted screwdriver incident >

[bob haller]

e

Just to be safe after confirming any circuit I am working on is OFF I intentionally short it. Its better safe than sorry, and years ago I found a ba breaker that way, dead short no trip:( Every now and then I find I shut the wrong breaker off:(

the OP thought the sink outlets were tied to the dishwaher on the same breaker they are NOT.

The dishwasher is properly on its own dedicated breaker so that you can do dishes whilen using the microwave:) If the dishwasher and outlets were all on one breaker tripped breakers would be common:(

Just label the dishwasher breaker properly, and better yet go all around the house and ake a chart of what breaker powers what outlet. This can be invaluable if you have a problem some day. Put the chart in a safe easy to locate place like a bag tied to main breaker area

[hrhofmann]

age

quoted text -

I have my breaker map on the inside of the door of the breaker box so it is always right there.

[Twayne]

It sounds to me like you should get a licensed electrician in to check out what you have if you cannot find A breaker that supports the DW power. Everydoby's right that you'd pop breakers if the DW/pot/uWave were even on at the same time. Then you'll know for sure what's wrong plus bring it up to code, which it may well not be. Also convert to a plug/receptace while you're at it. You won't regret it. You also might consider installing a GFCI or three while you're at it. Technically, there should be three separate lines there: One for the pot, one for the uWave, and one for the DW. Be EXTREMELY careful about touching any metal of those pieces and say the sink faucets at the same time! It could be lethal. If it were me, I'd move them away from the sink!

HTH,

Twayne`

[bob haller]

ssage

de quoted text -

OP should turn EVERY BREAKER off then on, thus resetting them all. might make a list of locations while doing it

I think its a good idea to exercise breakers now and then after finding one that felt funny, it must of been going bad, shortly thereafter it acted flakey, so i replaced it, got it apart out of curosity the inside was toasted...

[bob haller]

if everyone who ever got shocked or made a dumb mistakes quit doing home repairs not only would the DIYers be unable to fix stuff but so would most or all pros:(

The learning curve can be brutal.

Stomin If someone had given You that advice years ago you wouldnt be here either....

[DD_BobK]

Dear AE-

Your posts will be more easily understood with more white space & fewer pronouns.

Best guess...... shorting the screwdriver pulled enough of a surge to fry a wire nutted connection upstream of the dishwasher . This caused a loss of continuity between the dishwasher connection and the breaker / neutral bus. Do your best to trace the wires back to the breaker & check the connections in boxes along the way.

cheers Bob