A mouse ate my dishwasher

[Biggles]

(Posted in case someone else has the same problem).

2 Year old Bosch Exxcel dishwasher suddenly stopped working - stuck on pumping out. Checked all the obvious stuff such as blocked inlet and outlet pipes, filters etc. Suspecting a control panel fault, I called the engineer, he took the side off and said "you've got a mouse". The mouse had eaten most of the polystyrene float which is part of an anti-flood prevention mechanism (hence machine stuck on pumping out).

34p for the float, £35 for labour plus VAT.

Later the same day, chomping noise from dishwasher confirmed mouse still there. Got the little bugger before he could eat enough to do real damage though.

Biggles

p.s. If you are thinking "hang on, if it's a *float*, then eating it would make it *less* likely to float and hence less likely to cause those symptoms" then you're not alone. However, replacing the remains with a new float fixed the fault. I would welcome a rational explanation though.

Remove packaging from my e-mail before replying

[Huge]

The one who got stuck in my Bosch d/w died before he could do any damage.

He wasn't the fault, though.

[meow2222]

Maybe there was some weight on the other side of the pivot too, so removing the weight of the float caused it to tip?

NT

[Biggles]

From what I can see, the float is attached half way along a lever with pivot at one end and the switch at the other, so as the float rises, the switch is tripped. And when I lifted the lever, the dishwasher did go into pumping only mode. I *must* be missing something though, and you are probably on the right lines, but instead of a weight perhaps there's a hidden spring somewhere and with the float removed the lever rises in the same way as water would cause the float to rise - must go and have another fiddle with it!

Looking at all the pipes and switches which control the input water, does anyone else think that dishwashers are designed by Heath Robinson?

Biggles

[Dave Fawthrop]

My house and other places I have responsibility for are *permanently* baited for mice. For long term use I prefer Mouse boxes. Plastic boxes with a hole for the mouse run through when placed *against the wall*, with solid bait set in a small side area. B&Q and Rentokil both sell versions of this, possibly other suppliers a well. A bit expensive but safe for pets and children also the bait does not get scattered around.

The house has bait set under the upstairs floor, under a floorboard I take up on occasions.