How To Troubleshoot Dishwasher When It’s Not Working

If your dishwasher isn’t starting at all, or at least not working properly, then you can use any of the below-mentioned steps to do dishwasher repair. Remember to unplug the appliance before troubleshooting it.

Plug It In

This step is necessary if the dishwasher isn’t starting at all. There might be some problem with the circuit or just the main power supply of the dishwasher due to any reason, so, plug the appliance in to see if it starts. If it still won’t start, check if the circuit is working before reaching any conclusions.

It Might Be A Security Feature

If you’ve bought a new dishwasher and it isn’t standing, it might be so because you don’t yet know how to use it properly. Some of the dishwashers have built-in child locks to enhance the safety of your children. So, before calling an appliance repair expert to inspect a new dishwasher, make sure that you check the manufacturer’s manual and see if there is any child lock in place which is preventing you from turning the thing on.

Try Resetting

Another thing that you can try to resolve any problems in working if your dishwasher is that you reset it. How? You’ll have to press the start button once to start the dishwasher, and for the second time to reset it. After you do this, your dishwasher will start a drain cycle for around 90 seconds or so

Wait for that cycle to end before continuing to use the dishwasher. This can help you with a lot of things.

Check If the Switch Is Okay

All of the dishwashers have a switch built into their door. This switch allows the internal components of the appliance to receive power and start working as soon as you properly close the door. The switch won’t signal the dishwasher and it’ll remain off if you don’t properly close the door.

So, if the dishwasher won’t start even after closing the door properly, you should check the switch and see if it’s working properly. Usually, people use a multimeter to check if the switch is working properly. Turn off the power when checking with a multimeter. This would easily let you see whether the power supply is continuous or not.

Check the Timer

If everything else in your dishwasher seems to work properly, then it might be a problem with your timer or electronic control. These two components of your dishwasher are responsible for the amount of electricity going to each one of the other components inside your dishwasher. If there is a problem with the timer and/ or control, all of the parts of your dishwasher won’t get the required amount of electricity to work properly. You can check for any faults in these two parts by first turning off and plugging out the dishwasher, and then using a multimeter to run the diagnostic test.

Check the Thermal Fuse

If the thermal fuse breaks down due to any reason, it’ll cause the control board to stop receiving any power. And consequently, your dishwasher won’t turn on. So, if you think that there might be a problem with the thermal fuse, you can open the access door panel and find the thermal fuse located on the circuit board. Check the wires attached to the fuse with the help of a multimeter and see if it’s getting the electricity continuously. Usually, you’ll find the thermal fuse broken if it had an issue, in which case it’ll require you to replace thermal fuse of your dishwasher.

Is the Selector Switch Working Fine?

As the name suggests, a selector switch allows you to select between different modes in a dishwasher. You can usually select between washing, heating and drying options in each cycle according to your needs. A broken or incorrectly installed selector switch might also be the reason for your dishwasher refusing to start. You can find the selector switch on the control panel and see if it is stuck between different settings, as this is one of the main problems that it might encounter due to incorrect use. You can either try to correct this by yourself or hire an expert to do the job.

If you can’t figure the problem or if the dishwasher solutions are not working, get the help of an appliance repair Fairfax service.

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