I dont know anything about dishwashers,

I was working on a new on my lanldord got us, Americana brand,

And there is no water going into the machine, checked all the
obvious connections,

And I reached in and my hand brushed the black thing around the
bottom, the heating element I think it is, and my hand was burned
badly,


Should that "thing" have been that hot ?

I had the water on for about 1 minute, I cycled the thing like I was
told to.

Any ideas

Thank You
Craig

"Craig" wrote in message
And there is no water going into the machine, checked all the
obvious connections,

And I reached in and my hand brushed the black thing around the
bottom, the heating element I think it is, and my hand was burned
badly,


Should that "thing" have been that hot ?

I had the water on for about 1 minute, I cycled the thing like I was
told to.

That "thing" is a heating element. Yes, it should be hot, no, your hand
should not be on it. The purpose is to assure that the water is heated hot
enough during one or two cycles to assure proper cleaning and sanitizing.
Some machines will fill, then hold until the water reaches about 180
degrees, then start pumping and washing. It may do it again during the
sani-rinse cycle.

Did you have another question about the water? You said no water was coming
in, but then you said there was water in it. ? ? ? ?

And there is no water going into the machine, checked all the
obvious connections,

Check the float valve..its a cylindrical, usually white, plastic knob about
3" in diameter on the bottom of the inside compartment. When the washer
fills with water, it floats up and shuts the water off. One of the D/W I
installed had a sticking valve and , initially, no water would flow in. I
gave it a tap and it dropped down and away it went.

R

Rudy Sep 15, 10:59 pm show options

Newsgroups: alt.home.repair
From: "Rudy" - Find messages by this author
Date: Fri, 16 Sep 2005 05:59:32 GMT
Local: Thurs, Sep 15 2005 10:59 pm
Subject: Dishwasher question
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And there is no water going into the machine, checked all the
obvious connections,


Check the float valve..its a cylindrical, usually white, plastic knob about
3" in diameter on the bottom of the inside compartment. When the
washer
fills with water, it floats up and shuts the water off. One of the D/W
I
installed had a sticking valve and , initially, no water would flow in.
I
gave it a tap and it dropped down and away it went

Thats what was happening, no water in the machine, and of course I
couldnt hear it draining either into the disposal.
The tech/rep of the new machine said to put hot water into the
machine, by hand and let it sit there for about 15 minutes and then try
it, to un-stick the seal.

That didnt seem to work, I will try it again with your suggestions
about the float valve.


I really didnt think that black element got that hot and when I
burned my hand like that I wondered if anything in the dishwasher
should ever get that hot, It wasnt on for more than a minute or two
when I opened the door to see if any water was in there.

Thanks again,
Craig

"Craig" wrote:
I dont know anything about dishwashers,

I was working on a new on my lanldord got us, Americana brand,
and there is no water going into the machine, checked all the
obvious connections,

I reached in and my hand brushed the black thing around the
bottom, the heating element I think it is, and my hand was burned
badly, Should that "thing" have been that hot ? I had the water on
for about 1 minute, I cycled the thing like I was told to.

Any ideas
Thank You
Craig

First thing that comes to mind - by any chance is this a 'portable unit'
that you hook up to the kitchen faucet? If so, did you remember to turn
on the water at the faucet? I know... that is pretty basic but it has
happened to me with my portable unit at least a couple times. ;}

~~Phil~~

Rudy wrote:
And there is no water going into the machine, checked all the
obvious connections,


Check the float valve..its a cylindrical, usually white, plastic knob about
3" in diameter on the bottom of the inside compartment. When the washer
fills with water, it floats up and shuts the water off. One of the D/W I
installed had a sticking valve and , initially, no water would flow in. I
gave it a tap and it dropped down and away it went.

R


You sir, are a god! I just fixed mine, it's been broken about 3 months,
after reading this.

Happy dancing, calling DH to brag.

Thanks for posting here!
A

Craig wrote:

I really didnt think that black element got that hot and when I
burned my hand like that I wondered if anything in the dishwasher
should ever get that hot, It wasnt on for more than a minute or two
when I opened the door to see if any water was in there.

Thanks again,
Craig

Sorry to hear you burnt your hand. The element gets hot to heat the
water (which should be there, but isn't in your case) and then it gets
hot again at the end to dry the dishes, though maybe it does this only
if your dw has a "power dry" cycle. You may be able to turn that on or
off. This is why some stuff is only "top rack" safe; plastics etc will
melt if they're too close to the element.

Some dishwashers don't have the element, they have a heater in-line in
the water inlet, and they have some other scheme like air circulation
to try to dry the dishes.

Chip C
Toronto

Rudy wrote:
And there is no water going into the machine, checked all the
obvious connections,
Check the float valve..its a cylindrical, usually white, plastic knob
about 3" in diameter on the bottom of the inside compartment. When the
washer fills with water, it floats up and shuts the water off. One of the
D/W I installed had a sticking valve and , initially, no water would flow
in. I gave it a tap and it dropped down and away it went.

You sir, are a god! I just fixed mine, it's been broken about 3 months,
after reading this. Thanks for posting here!

You re welcome..now you can use the former "dishwashing" time for real
around the home projects