Bosch dishwasher powder compartment problem

I have a problem with our Bosch SHV4313GB/17 dishwasher that I was wondering if anybody knows how to fix please. It's 7 years old and up until now has always worked well. The problem is with the sliding door of the powder/tablet compartment. Like many Bosch and similar models, this is spring loaded and is supposed to spring open at the appropriate point in the cleaning cycle (presumably due to the hot water expanding the plastic and releasing the catch?). Only now it's stopped doing so and doesn't open at all during the cycle. I cleaned around the door removing what little powder gunge there was, but it's still not opening. Any ideas how to fix please?

TIA...Nick.

Reply to
Nick Challoner
Loading thread data ...

In message , Nick Challoner writes

Not hi-jacking but adding to the thread, I also have a Bosch dishwasher powder compartment problem but in my case the sliding door is increasingly unwilling to stay closed & frequently opens as the main door clicks shut and throws the tablet onto the floor of the dishwasher underneath the lower basket.

I've assumed so far that the answer will be to replace the mechanism (presumably involves taking the front of the door off - is replacement possible/easy?) but it hasn't got to the point where I need to fix it yet.

Is this mechanism really necessary? Could the tablet not just be left sitting on top of something in the top basket?

Reply to
Si

I've had intermittent problems with our, and concluded it was the way we shut the cover! But if yours doesn't work at all, I suspect the solenoid has stuck or failed.

You need to (having unplugged from mains) remove the inner side of the door. All will be exposed to view, and you can check/test/clean as appropriate.

Reply to
Bob Eager

If your Bosch is anything like ours, the "appropriate point in the cleaning cycle" is right at the beginning. I wouldn't bother fixing that problem, I'd just leave the compartment open. You could try it and see if it makes any difference to the cleaning performance.

Reply to
Mike Barnes

"Nick Challoner" wrote in was, but it's

not based on heat mine fills, ejects tab, starts just chuck it in the bottom and forget the little door

Reply to
Vass

I repaced the powder tray on ours. Take the front cover off and the tray clips through the inner shell - it's obvious once you've got the cover off. Get the right tray; there are vented and unvented types - again it's obvious which one you need once you've got the cover off.

Reply to
Huge

Can you open it manually (with the little sliding catch at one end) or is that stuck too?

S'funny - I have the identical model, and just this week the soap dispenser has also given up the ghost - only with a different failure mode: instead of sliding, the cover tends to just fall off forwards because the two lugs which locate in the groove have become worn.

Haven't dared check what a replacement will cost; plus it looks like it will be a pig of a job to change. (Maybe we should come to a deal over spare components of our faulty dispensers! :-) )

David

Reply to
Lobster

having just bought a bosch dishwasher I was interested to note that the mechanism to release the powder/tablet is identical to the one in our 10 year old hotpoint (dead), this one was replaced under warranty after 4 years FOC (hotpoint man had to call to sort out our new washer/dryer) so no call out charge, 3 years later it started playing up again(as the door was shut) and for the last 3 years we put the tablet on the corner the cutlery tray - this seemed to work quite well, I assume that the water spray knocked it in to the base where it was meant to go

Reply to
Ageless

Try spraying a bit of WD40 in the crack by the arrow and ribbing on the door. It's probably got crap on the sliding mechanism from the modern all-in-one tablets.

Reply to
EricP

Dunno about that - on ours you can hear the clunk of it opening about 5 mins after you switch on. Not sure what goes on during that time - prewash/preheat or something? Does it drain (and take out soapy water if the soap has been discharged?)

The compartment/cover is quite a complex bit of gubbins - would they really have fitted it if it was totally superfluous?

I wouldn't bother fixing that

Gotta be worth a go!

David

Reply to
Lobster

I always thought it did a pre-rinse first, then pumped and refilled, then dropped the powder in.

We don't use tablets as they're expensive and unnecessary IMO. Salt is cheap in bulk, and powder is too (in bulk from CPC!)

Reply to
Bob Eager

On Fri, 5 Oct 2007 18:25:37 +0100, Si wrote (in article ):

I think on my Bosch, it does a cold rinse first (presumably to get rid of all the water-soluble gunk) and then the hot cycle when the powder compartment opens. So I think if you just placed the tablet in the main wash area most of it would get washed away in the first cycle.

Reply to
Mike Lane

I'd be surprised if it is not opened by a big resistor heating up a bi-metallic strip which bends after a suitable delay and releases the catch. If it's stopped either the resistor has gone O/C, or it's not getting energised, or there's a mechanical problem.

Can't you just chuck the tablet(s) in the bottom of the dishwasher nowadays?

DG

Reply to
Derek Geldard

It was invented in the days when dishwasher dertergents were powders and if the powder was just put into to the wash compartment it would have gone down the drain before the main wash started if the machine did a pre-wash or rinse.

The first machine we had had a compartment for detergent for the main wash, but the detergent for the pre-wash was just put in a pile on the inside of the door near the bottom.

I believe today the tablets we have dissolve at a controlled rate so they can do pre-wash, main wash, and rinse all in one tablet. Whilst softening the water at the same time. :-)

DG

Reply to
Derek Geldard

In message , Derek Geldard writes

That accords with my experience. I accidentally let the machine run a Pre-Wash having put a tablet in. The tablet had been released and was sitting on the bottom, minimally corroded.

Reply to
Si

But they don't leave the Mrs' hands as soft as her face like mild green fairly liquid does.

Owain

Reply to
Owain

I'd be surprised if it were. As I recall, it's a solenoid. It's marked as a small rectangular 'box' called 'actuator' in the spares list - about 8 quid. The entire dispenser is about 40 quid. This is for my Bosch - 7 years old - YMMV.

Reply to
Bob Eager

Ahh, ok I'll try dismantling the door. I've had success fixing washing machines and tumble dryers in the past, but the dishwasher looks quite tricky to get into (especially as it's a build-in model with matching kitchen door and draw-front attached to the front of it :-|

Thanks for all the replies and suggestions, this is such a good group.

I do want to fix it, because rightly or wrongly I like to use seperate powder, rinse-aid and salt rather than tablets (rightly I'm sure in the case of the salt, less so perhaps for the powder and rinse aid). I did think of just bunging the powder in at the start, but the two programs I use most (the 65deg C ones) have a pre-wash first which obviously drains before the wash cycle, so obviously most of the powder would disappear at that point. Interesting to hear the tablets would survive the pre-wash, but I don't mind trying to fix it (or even getting a pro in if not) because other than this it's been trouble free for 7 years and I expect it to carry on for a good few years yet.

...Nick.

PS Lobster I'll be in touch if there's anything salvageable!

Reply to
Nick Challoner

that's what you chose to do.

Usual warning - mains unplugged and off, and don't do this if you are not confidant with disconnecting/reconnecting internal mains connections in the machine.

Remove all the (mostly torx) screws around the edge of the door - looking out for the less obvious ones around the hinge. The outside of the door is now detached - watch for cabling, and disconnect as appropriate.. The inner door with the weight of the outer removed is not now balanced, and is quite flimsy, and waves in the breeze....

The dispenser is held in by a stainless clip device at the rear of the inner door - replacement is via the same, and take care with the gasket to get a good seal. Getting the clip back on was the hardest part of the exercise. Replace the electrical connections, and outer door - all done.

Prices for the complete dispenser seem to vary a lot - between £40 and £80 a couple of years ago, so look around first. I could not find separate parts for the mechanism, so replacing the whole unit seems the only real option.

Charles F

Reply to
CJF

~GBP50 IIRC.

Reply to
Huge

HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.