Any appliance repair folks? Dishwasher question!

[Superjag]

Ok, here's the deal. My Whirlpool dishwasher has stopped drying the dishes. It looks to be fairly new (within the last 5 years or so?), but it came with the house, so I don't have any paperwork for it. I did some research online, and my semi-educated guess is that the heating element is bad. I found a couple websites that detail how to test/replace the heating element, and it doesn't look too terribly difficult (never does though, does it?), so I figured I'd give it a shot. My questions are basically:

Anybody ever done this? Is it tricky? Anything special I need to know?

The websites I found say to access the element by removing the front kickplate-thing under the door. The plate is only about 4" high. Not sure I can get my hand very far back through that opening. Can I flip the dishwasher upside down to get at the element, or will I not need to?

Any other advice would be greatly appreciated. Gonna try it when I get home tonight. As always, thanks for your advice.

 

[Ex-Member]

Never wrenched on a dishwasher before.... but...

i'd start by pulling off that bottom plate, as you mentioned. See if you can find the wires going to the heating element. Put a voltmeter across those terminals and turn the washer on where the element should be on.

Also, probably worth checking the settings on the thing... on mine there's an "energy saver" switch that turns off the heater and just air-dries whatever's in there.

 

[Superjag]

Bump

Thanks Mule, I figured I run a volt meter first.

Anyone else got suggestions?

 

[bigbone]

if you take the kick plate off the bottom, there will be a tech sheet there. It will tell you how to put it into test mode If you have a amp meter it will help, just clamp it on the main wire lead coming to the unit. If it draws about 6amp in the power dry mode the heater works.

 

[Long Gone]

If the dishwasher doesn't dry anymore, give her a new towel and tell her to get to work!!! J/K!!!

My wifes favorite joke is "what do you do if the dish washer quits? Slap him!"

I couldn't resist, it looks like you have good response already.

 

[JDKZRT]

Dishwashers are a b!tch to work on through the kick plate.... so unhook the water supply and power cable, pull it out and tip it onto its back side. Easy to do and makes any work much easier because you can get at everything through the open bottom.

 

[HIGHMARK]

totally tasteless joke:

What's the first thing a woman should do when she comes back home from the Battered Woman's Shelter? The fawking dishes if she knows what's good for her!