DIYbanter - View Single Post - GE Dishwasher pumps out, but no internal circulation/washing

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hr(bob) wrote:
My son-in-law just called me and said their dishwasher is acting up.
It is a GE "Quiet Power 3", about 3 years old. It will fill, go thru
the washing cycle without any noise from the pump, and then pump out
the water at the appropriate time. So it seems that the pump is ok,
just not getting electricity for the wash cycle. I believe there are
two schemes for dishwashers, in one the pump reverses direction to
internally circulate/wash or to pump out. In the other, the pump runs
the same direction, just a valve directs the water to circulate/wash
or to pump out. I will be going down to their house tonight, with a
voltmeter to check if the pump is getting power, but was hoping
someone here would know which type of circulate/drain the GE
dishwashers use, and if there is a most likely type of failure for
which GE dishwashers are known. I believe the "timer" is electronic
rather than mechanical. I prefer the mechanical, they are much easier
to trouble-shoot, so that means it is probably electronic.

I have just fixed my (Turkish made) Beko dishwasher: the pump was
not receiving power to circulate, so the wash-cycle was stuck. My own
dishwasher has a main circulation pump and a separate drain pump. The
problem in my case was nothing to do with the dishwasher per se -- the
inlet faucet had become very clogged up and reduced the pressure to a
trickle.

However, in fixing the problem, I discovered that their are many
downloadable service manuals available for Bosch, GE, etc. I could not
find a Beko service manual, so they were extremely useful for getting a
feel for fixing my own Beko. I'm saying it's well worth the effort,
searching on the web for a GE dishwasher service manual. Also, in the
US, there's an intriguing looking book "Cheap & Easy Dishwasher Repair"
by Douglas Emley. Could be worth taking a look at a Douglas Emley book
(fixing appliances) in a bookshop and seeing if he's as good as the
cover promises.

Best wishes,

Sandy