Hello,

I'm having problems with my dishwasher; I don't know if anyone here
can help?

We leave the dishwasher on overnight (we have economy 7). It is a
Zanussi DE6965.

This morning we found it had stopped saying "AL6". The manual says
this is a drain fault and to check the drain is clear and the pipes
are not kinked. The dishwasher has not been moved, so it was unlikely
any of the pipes were kinked but I checked anyway; they were fine.

If I switch it off and on again and try to start any program, it
rumbles a bit and then says "AL6". I'm not convinced that it is a
drain problem because I cannot hear the dishwasher filling with water.
Surely it needs to fill with water before it can drain it away?

I need to take the cover off (after unplugging from the mains first).
I can find screws to remove the top and the sides where they are
screwed at the rear, but the panels are secured at the bottom front
corner. How do I undo them there? I cannot find anything to unscrew?

Once I have got the sides off, can you give me pointers of what to
look for?

Thanks,
Stephen.

On Sun, 09 Dec 2007 14:38:40 GMT,
wrote:



We leave the dishwasher on overnight (we have economy 7). It is a
Zanussi DE6965.

To answer some of my own post, I have removed the plastic strip
beneath the door on the front and this gives me access to the two
remaining screws holding the side on. So I now have sight of the
sides. So what should I do next? (I've got the Haynes dishwasher book
so I'll give that a read - is it any good?).

If it is a drain problem, won't these bits be underneath, rather than
at the sides? How do I get to those to check them?

It'll almost certainly be open at the bottom. Dry out the sump with a wet
and dry vac and just turn it upside down.

wrote:

Once I have got the sides off, can you give me pointers of what to
look for?

How does the DW know the machine is not empty? There must be a fill
sensor somewhere.

If it's pumping out normally yet reporting a drainage problem, then
the sensor could be gunged up, or possibly a poor connection.

cheers,
Pete.

On Sun, 09 Dec 2007 14:38:40 GMT,
wrote:

Once I have got the sides off, can you give me pointers of what to
look for?

Look for the drain pump, its likely something has got past the filter
and is jamming the impeller.

On Sun, 09 Dec 2007 18:05:01 +0000, Peter Parry
wrote:

Look for the drain pump, its likely something has got past the filter
and is jamming the impeller.

Thank you. I think you were half right: something was causing a
blockage but the impeller seemed ok.

I removed the lower arm and mesh filter and unscrewed the various bits
and pieces that become visible, so that I could see into the sump.
There seems to be a blue "basket" type of filter in there, which had
some bits and pieces in it. I tried to pick a few out and used a
vacuum to help and it seems to have helped; I've only done a test
rinse programme but it was washing and draining ok.

The Haynes book seems to suggest that you can remove the sump and
visually inspect the hoses and give it all a good rinse under the tap.
Is this possible with my model?

The sump seemed to be moulded to the bottom half of the machine and it
didn't look like you could get it out without taking most of the
machine apart.

Thanks.