You were right! It was the crud in the solonoid (plus a frozen motor)!

Thanks to everyone here, I was able to fix the dishwasher clog caused by
all the debris that came out of the water heater repair. Complete pictures,
as always, are posted.

For example, so the next person benefits, please see the updated pictures
of the tremendous amount of dishwasher sand in the mesh filter cup inside
the blue "solonoid" at the bottom left of the GE Nautilus dishwasher.See
http://www.flickr.com/photos/donnaohl

At first, I checked and cleaned the "air gap" as many recommended (this
caused a flood as the airgap had a plug of its own that I forgot to put
back once I got the dishwasher working). Without that cap on the air gap,
water shoots up six inches all over the countertop as shown in the photos I
uploaded so the next person benefits.

As for teh solonoid, I unplugged the power and removed the four 8mm screws
holding the blue solonoid together and water splashed all over the place,
this time on the floor as the water supply must be turned off. I got the
camera all wet trying to take a shot of THAT fiasco for you boys!

Nonetheless, I did take a good shot of the horribly clogged mesh filter
that was inside the solonoid. This wasn't the only culprit though. The
motor in the middle on the bottom wouldn't start. I guess it has been
turned off for so long it froze shut. I had to oil it and cajole it into
spinning with a screwdriver but it finally worked and now the dishwasher
has gone through two cycles and it seems to be repaired.

Thank God 'cuz I can't figure out how to remove it from the kitchen (see
the photos of the screws that were holding it in that are tiled over on the
top so they will never come out). Who builds these things that way anyway?

Donna

Donna Ohl wrote:

On Wed, 27 Feb 2008 21:54:18 GMT, John wrote:
Hello Donna, you seem to have learnt quite a surprsing amount.

Hello John,
I wonder why intelligence bothers you so very much.


Donna, some people would bitch if you hung them with a new rope.


--
aioe.org is home to cowards and terrorists

Add this line to your news proxy nfilter.dat file
* drop Path:*aioe.org!not-for-mail to drop all aioe.org traffic.

http://improve-usenet.org/index.html

On Sun, 16 Mar 2008 04:13:01 -0400, Michael A. Terrell wrote:
Donna, some people would bitch if you hung them with a new rope.

Thanks for the kind words Michael.
I think it bothers them that anyone could learn as much as I did from you
guys and that we could solve the problem together, even though it took a
while.

Here, for example, is my picture today where I finally got the courage to
take the blue dishwasher solonoid apart and you guys were right! The filter
was completely clogged with sand!
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2269/...55ae468a_m.jpg

Without your advice, I would never have been able to know what to take
apart to find the problem!

I hope, by posting the pictures and describing what we've learned together,
that the next person reading this who has a clogged dishwasher after doing
a water heater repair, will know exactly what to do!

Donna

"Donna Ohl" wrote in message
et...
You were right! It was the crud in the solonoid (plus a frozen motor)!

Thanks to everyone here, I was able to fix the dishwasher clog caused by
all the debris that came out of the water heater repair. Complete
pictures,
as always, are posted.

For example, so the next person benefits, please see the updated pictures
of the tremendous amount of dishwasher sand in the mesh filter cup inside
the blue "solonoid" at the bottom left of the GE Nautilus dishwasher.See
http://www.flickr.com/photos/donnaohl

At first, I checked and cleaned the "air gap" as many recommended (this
caused a flood as the airgap had a plug of its own that I forgot to put
back once I got the dishwasher working). Without that cap on the air gap,
water shoots up six inches all over the countertop as shown in the photos
I
uploaded so the next person benefits.

As for teh solonoid, I unplugged the power and removed the four 8mm screws
holding the blue solonoid together and water splashed all over the place,
this time on the floor as the water supply must be turned off. I got the
camera all wet trying to take a shot of THAT fiasco for you boys!

Nonetheless, I did take a good shot of the horribly clogged mesh filter
that was inside the solonoid. This wasn't the only culprit though. The
motor in the middle on the bottom wouldn't start. I guess it has been
turned off for so long it froze shut. I had to oil it and cajole it into
spinning with a screwdriver but it finally worked and now the dishwasher
has gone through two cycles and it seems to be repaired.

Thank God 'cuz I can't figure out how to remove it from the kitchen (see
the photos of the screws that were holding it in that are tiled over on
the
top so they will never come out). Who builds these things that way anyway?

Donna


It's always nice when someone can figure this stuff out and posted advice is
useful. It's a change from the common response of "I'll just buy a new one".

On Sun, 16 Mar 2008 18:05:36 GMT, James Sweet wrote:

It's always nice when someone can figure this stuff out and posted
advice is useful. It's a change from the common response of "I'll
just buy a new one".

Or, all too often, there's no response at all. Then none of the
advisors know how it turned out, and the archives offer nothing for the
next feller that comes along with the same or nearly identical problem.

Jonesy
--
Marvin L Jones | jonz | W3DHJ | linux
38.24N 104.55W | @ config.com | Jonesy | OS/2
*** Killfiling google posts: http://jonz.net/ng.htm

On Sun, 16 Mar 2008 18:05:36 GMT, James Sweet wrote:

It's always nice when someone can figure this stuff out and posted advice is
useful. It's a change from the common response of "I'll just buy a new one".

Hi James,

Thanks. I go to a lot of trouble to respond and to take pictures and to
post what happened, even with my mistakes (like not knowing the water would
shoot all over the place in the air gap or solonoid!).
http://www.flickr.com/photos/donnaohl/2337210324/

The amount of sand in the water was astoundingly large!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/donnaohl/2337210334/

I would think we should probably clean these things out every year or so if
it weren't such a pain to put the solonoid back together. The six bolts to
remove it are easy enough to remove but to put it all back together with
the rubber gasket and wire mesh screen is a pain. I accidentally let the
screen fall out and ended up having to remove it a second time after
testing that it worked.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/donnaohl/2337214312/

I would never have had the courage to try this unless you guys had advised
me so I really hope that this will help the next person who reads this.

The two things I have left a
- How to repair the rusted white wires inside the dishwasher that got
rusted while it sat with bleach in it (to kill the mold) for the past few
weeks. http://www.flickr.com/photos/donnaohl/2337210340/

- How to unclog the bathtub where I can't figure out WHERE the filter is!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/donnaohl/2279157295/

Donna

On 16 Mar 2008 19:05:38 GMT, Allodoxaphobia wrote:

Or, all too often, there's no response at all. Then none of the
advisors know how it turned out, and the archives offer nothing for the
next feller that comes along with the same or nearly identical problem.

Hi Jonesy,

You just wait! A coworker of mine said he was gonna fill his welding tanks
with oxyaceteline and cut apart my old water heater so we could see exactly
what it looked like inside!

I can't wait to snap the pictures.

Right now, all we have are the anode and safety valve autopsies
http://www.flickr.com/photos/donnaoh...7603933515835/
but it's gonna be great to see inside the water heater for the first time!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/donnaoh...7603933515835/

Donna

On Sun, 16 Mar 2008 16:05:47 -0700, Donna Ohl wrote:
On 16 Mar 2008 19:05:38 GMT, Allodoxaphobia wrote:

Or, all too often, there's no response at all. Then none of the
advisors know how it turned out, and the archives offer nothing for the
next feller that comes along with the same or nearly identical problem.

Hi Jonesy,

You just wait! A coworker of mine said he was gonna fill his welding tanks
with oxyaceteline and cut apart my old water heater so we could see exactly
what it looked like inside!

I can't wait to snap the pictures.

Yes. Massive lime/calcium deposits, I'd hazard to guess.
Or, are you on a well? I don't remember that comment up-thread.
In that case it probably would be sand.

You might want to install a water softener ahead of the H/W heater --
_just_ to serve the H/W side of the system.

I did that in the previous house for use with a solar H/W system that
was in-line ahead of the existing domestic gas H/W heater. Both the
(then) existing 50 gal. gas H/W heater and the 80 gal. solar H/W tank
lasted over 25 years -- and they may still be going strong, FAIK.

(Of course the gas H/W heater did not run much, so it's tank did
not get 'cooked' that often by the gas flame.)

Jonesy
--
Marvin L Jones | jonz | W3DHJ | linux
38.24N 104.55W | @ config.com | Jonesy | OS/2
*** Killfiling google posts: http://jonz.net/ng.htm

"Donna Ohl" wrote in message news:4FhDj.65364
- How to unclog the bathtub where I can't figure out WHERE the filter is!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/donnaohl/2279157295/

Ther's probably a passage in the valve plugged. Shut off all water to the
shower, and disassemble the valve, them flush it out by briefly turning the
water back on, with appropriate precautions.

On Mar 21, 1:07�am, "Bob F" wrote:
"Donna Ohl" wrote in message news:4FhDj.65364
- How to unclog the bathtub where I can't figure out WHERE the filter is!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/donnaohl/2279157295/

Ther's probably a passage in the valve plugged. Shut off all water to the
shower, and disassemble the valve, them flush it out by briefly turning the
water back on, with appropriate precautions.

if you try this dont use the main houses valve, i did once it wouldnt
shut off and flooded the basement by the time the water company got
things turned off.......

On Tue, 26 Feb 2008 22:30:09 GMT, Franklin wrote:

Are you able to help me with my freeware question I posted in reply to
the same message of yours?

Franklin is an idiot.

On Mar 23, 10:43 pm, william dunlap wrote:
On Tue, 26 Feb 2008 22:30:09 GMT, Franklin wrote:
Are you able to help me with my freeware question I posted in reply to
the same message of yours?

Franklin is an idiot.

I think rather that his attempt at sarcasm was pretty weak. If that
makes him an idiot, so be it.

wrote in message
...
On Mar 21, 1:07?am, "Bob F" wrote:
"Donna Ohl" wrote in message news:4FhDj.65364
- How to unclog the bathtub where I can't figure out WHERE the filter is!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/donnaohl/2279157295/

Ther's probably a passage in the valve plugged. Shut off all water to the
shower, and disassemble the valve, them flush it out by briefly turning the
water back on, with appropriate precautions.

if you try this dont use the main houses valve, i did once it wouldnt
shut off and flooded the basement by the time the water company got
things turned off.......

************************************************** ********

You could test it first.

shower, and disassemble the valve, them flush it out by briefly turning the
water back on, with appropriate precautions.

if you try this dont use the main houses valve, i did once it wouldnt
shut off and flooded the basement by the time the water company got
things turned off.......

************************************************** ********

You could test it first.

a old valve that works fine can fail under a high unlimited flow
situation, i learned this the hard way

I finally found out WHY only a cup of water leaks out if you decide to
remove the drain valve from a hot water heater in order to replace the
nylon valve with a brass ball valve.

This recent OSH article explains the proper procedure to create a vacuum
such that only a cup (and not all 50 gallons) of hot water leak out when
you remove the drain valve at the bottom of the hot water heater tank.
http://www.osh.com/Cultures/en-US/Ar...aterHeater.htm

Specifically, the article says
" When replacing a water heater drain valve, turn the gas control to the
"Pilot" setting or, if the water heater is electric, turn the power off.
Connect a garden hose to the existing drain valve and drain the water to a
safe location until the water is warm. If the valve is inoperable, you
should run hot water through a large tap, such as a tub spout, until the
running water is at a warm not hot temperature. Allowing the water to cool
to a warm temperature will minimize the chances of you getting scalded,
when you replace the drain valve.

It is not necessary to drain the water heater to replace the drain valve,
as long as the pressure is off. To temporarily disable pressure close the
shut-off valve on the cold line and open one hot water faucet. Water will
run for a while and then stop. Once water has stopped, close the faucet to
prevent air from entering the system. Warn others not to use the water
supply, while you are replacing the valve, otherwise you may get drenched.

Expect some water to leak from the tank, when you replace the valve (maybe
a cup or so). When the job is completed close the hot water faucet you
opened and open the shut-off valve on the water heater cold line.

A good choice for a replacement valve is a 3/4-inch ball valve. You will
find ball valves, plastic-lined steel nipples (if one is needed) and
adapters to go from 3/4-inch pipe thread to hose thread (which is needed to
be able to attach a garden hose to the ball valve for flushing and
draining) in OSH's plumbing department."

Donna