Murphy's Law and Bluegrass*~*

  
 At this point in my life I should have already learned the lesson of Murphy’s Law.
 
I mean, whatever can go wrong (or at least not according to plan) will most definitely blow up in my face at the most inopportune time.

Of course with my schedule, there really is no good time to deal with life’s little inconveniences. Things such as dinners that don’t cook themselves, garbage that doesn’t take itself out and worst of all……….broken appliances.

Granted if money and scheduling were not an issue, I would simply dial up Repair-O-Hunk and have him drop by during my afternoon tea. He could fix it up in a jiffy and we would be back in business.

Unfortunately my current reality doesn’t include a big bank account and any handyman that I would call would want to come during my work hours. So regardless of money, it would still mean I would have to ask my Mom to hang out at my house all day waiting on him/them or her.

So when I came home after work today, with all intentions of going back out to the opening night of RudyFest (it’s an annual bluegrass music festival, for those of you not in the know) and found a WHOLE bunch of water in the floor, I knew my evening plans were about to be re-routed.

I discovered this fluid festival in my floor when I stepped in it.

In my socks!

Oh yes, that is enough in itself to put me in a royally foul mood.

So I did a quick calculation and determined I would rather stay home tonight, fix the leaking dishwasher and be able to attend tomorrow night. (Friday night’s line up includes The Steeldrivers and I have been Mega-pumped for months about watching them. I don’t plan on missin’ that show unless, this thing is SPRAYIN’ water in the air!!!)

So anyway, I thought I would share, in detail, how I fixed my leaky dishwasher. I figure I can’t be the only person who would like to save a little green on something that you can easily do yourself.
　
First 2 things to keep in mind:
 

#1 - I absolutely DO NOT know what I am talking about. Do not hold me accountable for this information. I am not an appliance repair technician. I am not liable for any damages that you may incur due to anything that I may or may not write in this post. If you choose to use any of the information contained in this blog post, it is because you are a tight-ass like me; not because your are choosing to use superior information and directives.

#2 A leaky dishwasher is either gonna be no big deal, or its gonna be REAL BIG.

Barring a cracked tub (which is what I meant by REAL BIG), there are only a few places that the water can be coming from. My dishwasher is a Kenmore. It is cheap, basic and functional. It doesn’t have any fancy bells or whistles. Keep this in mind, your dishwasher may be (and most likely is) drastically different from mine.                    

                     *** The Door Seal
                     *** The Drain or Drain Hose
                     *** The Water Intake
                     *** Where the Heating Element goes through the Tub
　
Determine the Leak Source

One of your first steps will be to determine where the leak is coming from. Not being a repair technician, and knowing the proper and likely easier way, this is how I chose to do this.

              * UNPLUG THE DISHWASHER!!!! The money save from repairing your

                 dishwasher won’t count for much if you end up at the ER (or worse).
              * I dried up all of the water. This included the floor and inside the

                 dishwasher.
              * I removed the screws that hold it in place, and moved the dishwasher

                 out from under the countertop. (As much as possible so I can see

                 under it, but without having to disconnect the water line or drain 

                 hose.)

                   



I know this picture is not very clear, but
it should help. Open the door to your dishwasher and look up
underneath of the countertop. Your dishwasher shuold be secured
similiarly. Mine has two of these.



             * I dried up any other water that I could find. (when I moved the

                dishwasher out, there was more under it)
             * When everything was completely dry, I located where the water

                goes in, where the water comes out, and where the heating element

                goes through the tub and connects to the wires. 

 

See where the heating element enters into
the tub. If you look under the dishwasher where the ends
protrude through, you will see where the heater nuts screw on.



             * In all of these locations, I laid dry paper towels down on the floor.
             * Next, I filled a glass with water and poured the water on the inside

                of the dishwasher at the heating element and the drain.
             * After, emptying the glass, I checked the paper towels to see if there

                were any signs of water.

At this point, I could tell my dishwasher was leaking at the heating element. If you have discovered the source of your leak , skip below the highlighted section. If not, continue reading in the highlighted section for more tips on detecting the source of your leak. 

 




Here is a picture of the old damaged nut,
along side of the new one.

            

 * If the leak appears to be coming from the drain or drain hose. Check to make

    sure the hose is securely fastened to the drain. If the hose is worn or cracked,

    it may need to be replaced. If you cannot determine the problem or if the leak

    appears to be something else you may have to break down an call in              

    the experts.                                                                                                   
 If the leaks are not coming from either the drain or the heating element,    

 then try this.                                                                                                    
 * Close the door, and plug dishwasher back in. Turn it on for a few minutes.     
 * While unit is running, check paper towels under the water intake.                    
     If this is the source of the leak, check to make sure that the water line in         

     securely fastened to the pump. Also, be sure to check the hose, if there are    

     signs of damage or cracking the hose may need to be replaced. If you cannot

     determine the source, or if it appears the leak is coming from the water pump.

     You may need to call in the experts.                                                             

  * Next, check for signs that the door seal be leaking.                                       
     If this appears to be the case, you will have to talk to someone more             

     knowledgeable than myself. I don’t have the faintest idea whether those are   

     repairable or replaceable.                                                                             　

Repair Leaking Element

The actual culprit is what they call a heater nut. It’s a thin copper nut, made specifically to fit over the heating element ends. They are soldered together and as they are continually heated and cooled, the solder eventually breaks.

                * Remove the wiring from the heating element.

                   (Mine just slips on the end.)               

                * Remove the clear plastic tubing. Its called a Heater Shield. It helps

                   prevent water from coming in contact with the electrical wiring,

                   in case of a leak. Because that could cause serious problems. The

                   least of which could be an electrical shock hazard or even fire. 
                   Be careful and keep up with it. It can be difficult to se if you drop

                   it in a dark cramped space, such as under a dishwasher.
                * Remove the old Heater Nut. It basically falls off when you touch it.
                    

This is the underneath of the dishwasher, where
the heating element comes through. You can see the left side
element, where I have already removed the electrical wires,
heater shield and cracked heater nut.



             * Install new Heater Nut. It only needs to be hand tightened, but make

                sure it is tight. (I do not know whether it is possible, but the

                flimsy-ness of this product appears as though it may be possible to

               strip or warp these if you are not careful.)
            * Re-install Plastic Heater Shield.
            * Reconnect wires to heater element.
            * Adjust Heater Shield to make sure that all exposed connections are

               covered .
 

And this picture shows everything put back together.


Check for Leaks
              

               * Replace the paper towels directly under the repaired leak.
               * Fill another glass of water and pour it directly over the repaired area.
               * Check the paper towels, for signs of leaking.
               * If you want to test it a little more vigorously, you could plug the

                  dishwasher back in and turn it on for a few minutes. This water is

                  much hotter and is hitting the repaired area much more forcefully.

                  If there are still no signs of leaking on your paper towels, you

                  should feel pretty confident.

Re-install Dishwasher

Mine is easy. I just slide it back in and line it back up. Screw the 2 screws back in under the countertop, and plug it back in.
　
You're finished and it only cost about 5 Bucks!!!

Wow. I can assure you that it actually took me longer to write this post than it did to fix my dishwasher. Technical writing is not my forte.

30 minutes = start to finish on dishwasher.

15 hours = writing, and proof-reading this post, uploading the stunning visual aids, trying to connect to the internet on my Verizon Netbook during a storm, giving up, going to bed and getting up this morning to finish it. :))

This thing is great for blogging and net surfing on the go (it's even 3G, so I can surf while traveling down the highway ~*when someone else is driving ofcourse.) because I have internet everywhere I go.



Except home :(
　　

The Evil Culprit!
Notice the crack all the way down the side.