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The Dishwasher

The dishwasher is a G.E. Vince asked the repairman today if there’s a “lemon law” where after so many times of being repaired, the dishwasher gets replaced. The repairman said no but he said G.E. is one of the best about replacing appliances that have given lots of problems so that made us feel better.

Here’s where you’re going to have to use your imagination. You know how there’s the rack for glasses? This is one of the dishwashers with one of the little flat trays at the very top for knives, lids, etc. But, underneath the tray that holds the glasses is a little plastic wand and it goes from side to side. I thought it was making the noise when it was hitting the sides but the repairman hooked it to where it couldn’t move and we still heard the noise.

There’s a little “fan” looking thing that hangs down from the plastic wand and the fan is what turns and sends water up to the glasses. The “fan” thing kinda snaps into a little plastic tube that hangs down from the wand. Got all that?

The fan was very wobbly, much like a loose ceiling fan. As it turned, the blade was going up and hitting the basket holding the glasses. There are two long blades and two short blades and once it got to wobbling, the back blade would hit, then the front blade would hit, then the back blade would hit and the front blade would hit and that continued through the whole dishwasher process. It made a loud popping noise every time it hit.

The repairman looked at it and since it was the part the previous repairman had already replaced, he called G.E. and they knew exactly what was wrong. The little fan thing was not snapped into the plastic tube completely. Really? A $1,700 dishwasher plus a $400 extended warranty and this is what we get.

We’ll see what happens with it. For now, it’s quiet. Let’s hope it lasts.

I asked the repairman if there was any hope for it ever drying the dishes. He laughed and said “probably not”. I guess I’ll just keep taking the dishes out of the dishwasher and spreading them out on dish towels and letting them air dry. Ridiculous! I don’t blame the dishwasher though. I think that’s due to all the requirements for energy efficiency – kinda like having a clothes dryer that can’t get hot enough to dry the clothes because that would require too much energy!

On a positive note, the repair company has been great. They always show up on time. They always schedule an appointment and keep it. They always call when leaving the last stop and let us know they’re on their way. The repairmen have always been courteous and nice.

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Comments

  1. Judy glad they figured out what is wrong with the noise on the dishwasher. I purchased a dishwasher probably last August/September it’s a Bosch. I can put it on the quick 1 hour wash, and the dishes are dry. No problem at all. I had heard the more pricier model of the same brand did not have the drying option. Don’t know why. Pretty sad isn’t it? Washes but doesn’t dry.

    • I asked the repairman yesterday . . why bother putting a drying option on the dishwasher if it isn’t going to dry the dishes? Do your other cycles dry the dishes? Maybe I’ll try my quick cycle next time and see what it does.

    • You’re lucky! I think you can read from the comments here that the newer dishwashers, for the most part, do not do a good job of drying the dishes. My friend here got a Kitchen Aid not long before we made a decision on which appliances to get and she told me that hers does not dry the dishes. We had a Samsung in Texas that we bought probably 6 or 7 years ago and it didn’t dry the dishes but it dried better than this new one does and, the new one dries about the same as the Kenmore Elite that we replaced.

  3. Hi Judy….don’t know whether or not this will help your situation but when our dishwasher is finished we open it and put a wooden spoon in the opening…close the door…it holds the door open just a little allowing the steam to escape…it has worked for us…hope it works for you.

  4. What we do with our dish washer that also does not get things dry is to leave the door open when it is finished and then by the morning things are dry. If not sure enough things are wet. A real pain isn’t it.

  5. I am happy to pay repair bills an my old appliances that were made before this energy rules were made
    Your story enforces my thoughts

    • I would have been too but I so desperately wanted a gas stove and our garage fridge was going out so we wanted to take the side by side out of the kitchen and get a new one in there, and since the GE Cafe appliances have a distinct look, I didn’t want two appliances that matched and two that didn’t so we replaced them all. So far, it’s only the dishwasher I’m not happy with. Love the stove and the fridge.

      I read online that a 20 year old dishwasher, on average, will cost about $50 more to run per year than a new, energy efficient dishwasher. For our recent experience, I can tell you that had it not been for wanting matching appliances, I would gladly pay the extra $50 to have dry dishes but all the appliances in the house were Kenmore Elite from when the house was built in 2004 and that dishwasher didn’t dry any better than the new one does. The sellers said the repairman had told them to run hot water in the kitchen faucet for a few minutes before starting the dishwasher. I tried that and didn’t see that it made much (if any) difference.

      So, yes . . keep your old ones as long as they work or until you can no longer get parts for them.

  6. I hated the fact that our dishwasher doesn’t dry the dishes. It all has to do with lowering the energy usage. I don’t take the dishes out of the dishwasher to dry but I do open the door usually as soon as it stops working while the dishes are still fairly warm. The steam billows out and with the door open the dishes can air dry without me cluttering up the counters.

    • That’s what the repairman suggested but I usually start the dishwasher when I go to bed. I have a load running now so maybe when it’s done, I’ll open the door (if I remember) and see what happens.

  7. I have a newer Bosch, and the installer told me to not open the door for 30 mins. after the dishwasher finished. this would let the dishes dry better. I still have to dry off the puddles in the bottom of glasses, and pan lids, etc. I have to say, I can’t pick up the silverware until about 30mins after the dishes are dry anyway, they are SO hot!

    • They are hot but they are not dry in my GE. Because our dishwasher was so loud, I would start it when we went to bed and it was the next morning when I’d open it and the silverware was, of course, no longer hot but I’d have to use a dish towel to get it to the silverware drawer or it will drip across the floor. The plates would often be dry enough to put into the cabinet but the glasses or anything on the upper two shelves, I just lay them out on dish towels and let them air dry.

      It’s funny because our repairman yesterday said it might help if you opened the dishwasher door when the cycle was finished and the air circulation while they were warm might help them dry.

  9. It’s puzzling that your dishwasher won’t dry the dishes. My Whirlpool is less than 2 years old, and it does a fine job of drying the dishwasher. I’m not sure the problem has anything to do with energy regulations, because if any state has energy regulations, it’s mine! 😉

      • That’s ok. I think my brain has been on hold for several years! Honestly, I didn’t even notice.

    • I don’t find it puzzling because very few of the new dishwashers do a good job of drying. You can read the comments here or talk to an honest repairman. Further, energy requirements affecting dishwashers are federal – not state. Can you imagine dishwasher manufacturers trying to meet different standards for every state?

      • Actually, in the California Code of Regulations, there are lots of codes that cover the energy efficiency of appliances, including dishwashers.

        • No doubt CA has regulations on top of regulations but the one that affects the dishwashers we buy are federal regulations.

          The bottom line is that, as you can see from the comments, there are many people who live all over the country who have dishwashers that do not dry. If yours happens to dry, you’re lucky.

  10. Our 2.5 year old GE Profile dw doesn’t dry ours, either. I open the door after the cycle ends and let them air dry. My brother has a Thermador. It doesn’t dry, either. I much preferred my old dishwasher. But, we “needed” to have all of the appliances match when we upgraded the kitchen. Grrrr!

    • The 18 year old Kenmore Elite that was in the house when we bought it didn’t dry either and apparently never had.

  11. My older dishwasher in my present house (older home) dries my dishes, the new dishwasher in my previous home which was brand new also dried my dishes. I set my cycles on my dishwashers to hot wash cycles and hottest heat dry. My present dishwasher takes an hour to do that. The new dishwasher in the new house took 4 hours to run those cycles. Both dishwashers were dripping on regular drying cycles. If there is one thing I will pay for, especially during Covid, is to have the dishes hot, hot, hot washed, to kill germs and incidentally dry the dishes. I discovered when my children were little that we passed lots of germs making us cyclically ill with colds or whatever, and I felt like “sterilizing dishes and silverware” would help that germ share, and I think it did.

    • A lot of the new dishwashers, including mine, don’t have a heated dry cycle. Mine definitely will wash with hot water – a couple of times I’ve needed to pull something out mid-cycle and plates were so hot I couldn’t hold them, but it will not dry. I don’t use the sterilize cycle (not even sure if I have one). I feel like with us living in the same closed quarters, we’re going to get what we’re going to get and washing on a regular cycle has worked all these years. Even a couple of months ago when I probably had the flu, Vince didn’t catch it.

  12. I’ll never have that problem!! You need to actually HAVE a dishwasher to have problems with one…. 🙂 I don’t see it ever happening that I would live in a place with a dishwasher, but I won’t hold my breath. I can always hope…. 🙂

    • Our house in Texas didn’t have one the first couple of years we were there. It’s convenient but not the appliance I would miss most if I didn’t have it. In fact, I’m wondering now why I even got a new one. I can thikn of a lot of things that would make better use of that space. I mostly only cook with cast iron so what’s a couple of plates, glasses and silverware??

  13. Look in your manual and look for what ifs. See if there is something that says “dishwasher not drying”. It could be as simple as a button not working properly. I had a repairman tell me once that I needed punch all those buttons at one time or another or they will stick. I know yours is a new one and that should not be happening! But like you said, it could just be a lemon. If I don’t hit the right button, mine will “air dry” and not let the washer dry them. I am sure you have already checked all this out and I am preaching to the choir! LOL

    • I talked to the repairman yesterday about it and he said there’s not a problem with the dishwasher . . most of the newer ones don’t dry worth a flip.

      This was the third time a repairman has been here for the dishwasher and all have agreed . . it isn’t ever going to dry the dishes.

  14. You might try placing a clean dish towel in the machine, catching the top end of it in the top edge of the door when you close it after the machine completes its cycle and leave it there until you are ready to unload it. I have a few pieces that retain water on the rims if there isn’t enough slant to allow it to run off and when I do this, they are dry when I go back to them. I wait until the cycle is finished, but the machine is still steamy, put the towel in and close the door. Works for me.

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