July 31, 2008
Dishwasher Meltdown
Very nearly quite a literal statement.
I turned on the dishwasher earlier today and headed downstairs to my office. After busily typing away for about 20 minutes I realized I had left my glass of water up in the kitchen and headed back up to get it.
I walked in the kitchen and realized... problem... the dishwasher is not running. It had started to fill when I turned it on, but apparently it entered the requisite amount of water, turned on the heater and stopped. Water in, heater on, soap container open - motor not running, water not moving. This is not good.
With memories of the day when I was about 9 years old and we were headed out on vacation, the dishwasher merrily washing the dishes before we left whereupon it suddenly caught fire... I dashed over and opened the door (thus turning off the heater).
Out comes a bit of steam along with that oh so lovely smell of burning rubber. Something somewhere had vastly overheated and started to melt. Mahvelous.
Since I didn't see any flames shooting out, I decided to wash the dishes first and look at the dishwasher later. Not to mention, grabbing a small fan and pointing it at the offending appliance to try and cool it down quicker.
The dishes were all very hot - just as if they had been washed. Luckily I did not burn my fingers and drop any of them on the floor. Although I damn near dropped a couple of plates while trying to dry them - I'm such a klutz.
Eventually all the dishes were washed and put away. Now it was time to figure out how to stop the cycle and turn the damn thing off.
You see, this is a fancy-schmancy dishwasher with lots of cute push buttons. It's some European brand (not Bosch - I don't remember the brand name - it's not on the outside anywhere). I'm sure it cost the former owners a pretty penny when they bought it. Personally I've always hated it. It's the most inefficient use of space I've ever seen in a dishwasher. It's nearly impossible to stack plates and bowls easily - forget anything large at all. It does have a top and bottom arm for moving the water about and an interior light (first time I've ever seen that). BUT - with only 2 of us in the house, I still have to run it every other day which is just ridiculous.
Quite honestly though the buttons on this thing defeat me. Last time I stopped it early (during a dry cycle) I could not figure out how to turn it off. It kept beeping at me telling me the cycle wasn't finished. After 2 hours I gave up and just let it finish the dry cycle while it was empty.
Today I finally managed to get the "clear" button to work. It occurred to me to hold down the particular wash cycle button and hit the clear button at the same time. Ta Da! Success. The stupid thing drained. Apparently whatever melted and caused the smell didn't allow water to leak *whew* I was rather worried about that.
Since neither of us like this thing and it's about 14 years old, we will be looking for a new dishwasher. It's not worth it to have someone come try to fix it. (if I loved it, that would be different) Probably on Sunday. Until then we'll wash them the old fashioned way.
Did I mention I hate washing dishes. Oh well. At least it's not the washing machine or dryer.
I turned on the dishwasher earlier today and headed downstairs to my office. After busily typing away for about 20 minutes I realized I had left my glass of water up in the kitchen and headed back up to get it.
I walked in the kitchen and realized... problem... the dishwasher is not running. It had started to fill when I turned it on, but apparently it entered the requisite amount of water, turned on the heater and stopped. Water in, heater on, soap container open - motor not running, water not moving. This is not good.
With memories of the day when I was about 9 years old and we were headed out on vacation, the dishwasher merrily washing the dishes before we left whereupon it suddenly caught fire... I dashed over and opened the door (thus turning off the heater).
Out comes a bit of steam along with that oh so lovely smell of burning rubber. Something somewhere had vastly overheated and started to melt. Mahvelous.
Since I didn't see any flames shooting out, I decided to wash the dishes first and look at the dishwasher later. Not to mention, grabbing a small fan and pointing it at the offending appliance to try and cool it down quicker.
The dishes were all very hot - just as if they had been washed. Luckily I did not burn my fingers and drop any of them on the floor. Although I damn near dropped a couple of plates while trying to dry them - I'm such a klutz.
Eventually all the dishes were washed and put away. Now it was time to figure out how to stop the cycle and turn the damn thing off.
You see, this is a fancy-schmancy dishwasher with lots of cute push buttons. It's some European brand (not Bosch - I don't remember the brand name - it's not on the outside anywhere). I'm sure it cost the former owners a pretty penny when they bought it. Personally I've always hated it. It's the most inefficient use of space I've ever seen in a dishwasher. It's nearly impossible to stack plates and bowls easily - forget anything large at all. It does have a top and bottom arm for moving the water about and an interior light (first time I've ever seen that). BUT - with only 2 of us in the house, I still have to run it every other day which is just ridiculous.
Quite honestly though the buttons on this thing defeat me. Last time I stopped it early (during a dry cycle) I could not figure out how to turn it off. It kept beeping at me telling me the cycle wasn't finished. After 2 hours I gave up and just let it finish the dry cycle while it was empty.
Today I finally managed to get the "clear" button to work. It occurred to me to hold down the particular wash cycle button and hit the clear button at the same time. Ta Da! Success. The stupid thing drained. Apparently whatever melted and caused the smell didn't allow water to leak *whew* I was rather worried about that.
Since neither of us like this thing and it's about 14 years old, we will be looking for a new dishwasher. It's not worth it to have someone come try to fix it. (if I loved it, that would be different) Probably on Sunday. Until then we'll wash them the old fashioned way.
Did I mention I hate washing dishes. Oh well. At least it's not the washing machine or dryer.
Posted by: Teresa in
Ho-Hum
at
10:14 PM
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Post contains 607 words, total size 4 kb.
1
And....there was no flooding!
What an adventure! But you're right, at least you can get one you actually LIKE!
Posted by: Tammi at August 01, 2008 07:00 AM (pWX3U)
2
Yeah, this is cause for celebration... or as near to it as I'll come today. 
Posted by: pam at August 01, 2008 07:12 AM (l6NIn)
3
Buy a new, new one. I bought some of those alleged scratched and dented items, that look like new, and both needed repair in the first 3 years. One a Kitchen Aid stove (within 6 months) and the other...my crappy GE refrigerator. I think they were both really lemons that the factory "refurbished".
Posted by: jihadgene at August 01, 2008 03:41 PM (no8nn)
4
Appliances can be evil and sneaky and dangerous, spontaneously combusting when you're momentarily distracted. It's just wrong. But glad you caught in in time. We have a HUGE pile of "the nice" Chinet paper plates on our kitchen counter at all times; that's how much I despise all things kitchen-y. Not that anyone asked.
Posted by: dogette at August 03, 2008 08:02 AM (q/UVc)
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