Dishwasher help needed

[D_Wreck11]

We dont run our diswasher too often, and when we do it works fine, but I've been finding water at the bottom of the drain later....like a couple of days after washing a load. I took off the tube to the disposal, cleaned out some gunk and ran vinegar through, but no luck. Any tips on the next step or whom to call for help?

 

[Dead Horse]

Does your sink usually back up?

Is it a lot of water or just a little bit? It could be a few things:

1) clogged lateral line that needs to be snaked
2) If there is an air gap (located in the sink, near the faucet), check to see if it is clogged. Unscrew the top cap and see if there is anything blocking inside
3) Drain impeller inside pump is bad
4) drain solenoid is stuck
5) motor is stuck

Some water is normal, but 1/2'' or so is not. I would look up the model, brand info on the net and start there.

 

[Summerof79]

PROBABLY you are having food partially black the disposal. So your sink is draining but slowly. So what happens is the water runs back down the drain line from the dishwasher via gravity.

Try running the disposal really well and see if you still have the problem with backwash

 

[Aces_Full]

How do you clear the line from the dishwasher to the disposal if you do have some blockage due to the garbage disposal? I think I have the same issue, standing water (maybe caused by blockage from disposal which is very old).

 

[Summerof79]

Usually it's either buildup in the line (P trap) that is causing water come back into the dishwasher. Lots of folks let stuff accumlate down in the disposal and then run it later. That stuff causes slow drain through disposal and the water level rises to where it natually siphons back into the dishwasher.

You can try opening up the dishwasher and running a bunch of water into the drain and see if it backs up into the sink. If that isn't the problem there may be somethink blocking the valve that closes off the water that is pumped out. Try removing the bottom basket of the dishwasher and make sure that any debris or food isn't accumlating near the drain in the dishwasher tub.

Good luck!

You can also remove the P trap and see if it has a lot of buildup in it. Put a pail underneath it to catch the water though! This is if the water doesn't drain and you know the disposal has been run and is clear.

Lots of times if the disposal clogging is the vculprit the backwash will have a lot more food and gunk in it that you would have after a second rinse of a dishwasher. IF the water is clear it may be a valve getting jammed open with debris, if it's nasty food water it's probably related to the drain line backing up enough to siphon into the dishwasher.

 

[NickDanger]

I've never seen a dishwasher that was higher than a sink. That's the only way you could fill up a dishwahser and have it back up into the sink before it just ran out onto the floor. If the sink drain was clogged, you could run the washer and have it pump water into a sink having the sink back up.