Thanks for that. Now that I have such step by step instructions I will do that first. And they just opened a Harbor Freight near me. Perfect.
Well, the float switch was bad. I replaced it–took about 35 minutes, next time will take 15. The switch itself remained open regardless of the position of the float.
Glad you had success. Ironically, I received a Harbor Freight mailer today and they have a multimeter advertised for 99 cents!
We have an expensive dishwasher (Bosch) just over four years old. Obviously out of warranty.
It was working/ not working so I ended up getting a technician out which could have been expensive. There are several problems including ordering a part from Germany. I was expecting a huge account but they have told me they will fix it out of “goodwill” as they should last longer than the four years. They have won me forever.
It appears that the OP’s problem has been solved so I’ll post my own dishwasher issue. It’s a GE Quiet Power 3.
The problem is that if we don’t rinse off every visible bit of food before placing the dishes in we end up with some dishes still having dried bits of food stuck to them after running the washer. This seems to occur regardless of what detergent we use.
I feel like I’m washing the dishes twice and it doesn’t seem like this should be necessary. Am I expecting too much?
Proper loading affects how any dishwasher functions. Even the best washers give unsatisfactory performance if loaded improperly, irrespective of the detergent used. Pay attention to your particular machine’s spray orientation, use common sense and load accordingly. Rinsing a majority of the food scraps off prior to loading (a dishwasher isn’t intended to be a garbage grinder) always helps, but it shouldn’t be necessary to “wash” them to the point of being spotless either… That’s what the dishwasher is supposed to do.
On the other hand, some (many) machines out there are just crap… and don’t clean well no matter what you do.
Just a brief update- Bosch were as good as their word. They replaced the power module and control panel and it didn’t cost me anything.
I am jelly 
Some companies do provide decent after sales service. My 3yo Miele dishwasher started playing up last Thursday and after trying the usual - clearing the impellor - I put a query on their website. Later on, after a couple more tries, the problem cleared.
This morning I get a phone call from Miele to see if they could help.
I concur and I guess it comes down to a high level brand or not. With their service Bosch have me for life (as if my wife would let me buy anything else anyway).
This is an issue wife and I can’t get through to the teenagers. A knife full of butter or peanut butter will not get washed clean in the dishwasher. Neither will yesterday’s fried eggs or spaghetti sauce or the crud stuck to the frying pan. If it doesn’t rinse clean under running water, it will not spray clean in the dishwasher. There is no wiping or rubbing action to help.
That said, dried on foods are tough. Our Frigidaire has a two pellet option. We use the second sometimes for heavier soiled dishes. It also let us program our own one button cycle. Every load we do is the pots & pans setting, scour spray, heated water, air dried. 2 1/2 hour cycle. Our water cools off in the 30’ run from the water heater. We still have to wipe butters off the knives, rinse and wipe dried starches out of pots and bowls, scrape the pans clear, rinse out the milk glasses. Does a bang up job with greasy items though.
This isn’t quite true - the water in a dishwasher is hotter than you can stand in a handwashing bowl, and the detergent does do a great job.
I admit, I’m surprised by the second part of your post - that you have to rinse milk glasses and things after a 2 and a half hour cycle. Makes me wonder if your machine arms are going around.
I’ve never had a dishwasher that didn’t do a perfectly fine job removing butter, fried eggs, or milk residue. I think PoppaSan needs a new dishwasher.l
I only got my first dishwasher about two and a half years ago. I’m frankly amazed at how well it cleans dishes. I had no idea those things worked that well! I grew up hearing the occasional complaint that you had to do significant prerinsing, or that the glasses came out spotty, etc. So I was skeptical, but my wife insisted on getting a dishwasher. And, holy crap! I don’t do any prerinsing, just stick the sucker in getting at least most of the solids off, and dishes, pots, bowls, glasses come out looking cleaner than I could ever get them by hand. It works on magic, as far as I am concerned. And, yes, I put in my butter dish, which is coated with butter, all sorts of dried-on pasta dishes, peanut butter knives, etc. in there. I try not to put pans in there too often, but if I have a particularly cruddy one, that’s where I stick it, and it gets clean. But, yeah, glass casseroles with roasted-on crud? Not a problem for it. Good as new with a single cycle.
Sounds like you have a good machine. Would you share the make and model?
We have this KitchenAid model. That said, I had to replace the motor earlier this year after two years of use. Fixing it wasn’t difficult, cost me $80, bit I have had to fix it. But it cleans great when the motor doesn’t fizz out on you. It was between that and a Bosch, and we settled on that because of some good reviews in Consumer Reports or something like that.
I rinse before the 2+ hour cycle. Our washer is about 2 years old and it seems there is always at least one item that comes out that needs a reclean because either the gloss on the stainless steel or ceramics is dulled in a spot or some small food particle still is sticking to the food surface. Teenagers that stick everything they can into one load so they don’t have to hand wash is a contributing issue. But our fry pans are a lost cause when they go in unless they are done immediately after the meal and they had a moister food like a stir fry and not fried chicken or liver and onions. This morning one son did pancakes. He rinsed the bowl when done. Otherwise by the time the dishwasher runs this afternoon or evening, the batter left inside will leave a dull matte to the stainless bowl surface. It would not come out until maybe the next wash.
As to the running water vs pressure wash, I’ve learned a pressure washer will not get my car as clean as a garden hose with rags. Some type of physics backs this up. Something to do with a skin effect and surface adhesion.
I like being able to see my distorted reflection in my silverware and stainless cookware. Dishwashers are why I don’t. Which I think is why at most chain restaurants you can’t see reflections either.
One trick I learned about a year into owning my LG dishwasher: If the drain line gets blocked you can use compressed air from the line under the sink to push things backward a little and loosen up the clog. YMMV of course, especially since some machines might be damaged by aggressive back-flushing.
This works for mine, and I did this on two or three occasions over the past few years before finally convincing my family to rinse off the big chunks before loading the machine.
And don’t bother trying to scoop and sponge out the standing water, just grab the shop vac from the basement–I don’t know why I didn’t think of this the first time.
I’m impressed!
We had a Kenmore that died within 10 years - after several very spendy repairs (including my beloved husband “fixing” it once with a $200 part). I finally put my foot down and told him he was not allowed to fix it again, and bought a Bosch. With a service plan as well - usually those are a waste but these days, with a failure so often due to a very expensive electronic part, I’m coming to believe it’s a very good idea.
So the Bosch, 2.5 years old, began throwing an error code. It still ran, but didn’t clean quite as well. I looked it up online and the suggestion was “probably heating module or control board, but try disconnecting the power for a few minutes first, that might reset the error code”.
So I tried that, and no luck. Then I got on the phone with Best Buy’s repair service, and first they fobbed me off with “Well, that model’s under a recall and we can’t touch it until that’s taken care of”. Which meant all my time listening to elevator music was wasted, as I had to go verify the model etc. - it’s NOT under recall (it’s a later serial number).
So I spent another 10 minutes on hold, got an appointment scheduled, and was told “They’ll ship the spare parts to your house”. Oooookay.
Service tech gets there (this was the Tuesday before Thanksgiving), swaps out one part (a control board) per his instructions, as “this is almost certainly the problem; I’ll call Saturday and if it’s still misbehaving I’ll come back out”. (the alternative was the heating element, which would explain why it wasn’t cleaning as well).
And “I’ll keep the other part, the heating module, so I’ll have it when I come back, and I’ll return it if it’s not needed”.
Er… what? It’s 2 days before the heaviest dishdoing day of the year.
So I ran the washer, and it completed the cycle - with the same error code. Back on the phone to Best Buy, to find out that they couldn’t even open a new ticket because that days’ repair order was still open in the system. Well, they scheduled another tech visit… for 9 days later (that was this morning). Of course, we never heard back from tech #1.
So he shows up - NOT the same tech as before. a) A gasket needs to be replaced, signs of an incipient leak, ordering that new part. b) Part? what part? Oh that one. They sent it back because it “wasn’t needed”.
AAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!
So… another week before they arrive to try again. If we’re lucky, the parts will have arrived by then. And I’m having surgery that morning; luckily someone else will be able to be there. I expect I’ll get home from the surgery, find he’s been and gone, it’s still not fixed, and my blood pressure will go through the ceiling and pop my new bionic eye right out of my head.
The bit about not having the parts: it’s insane… but then even Sears-authorized repair people had the same issue when our clothes washer began misbehaving. They’d come, fail to fix it, say “we have to order the part”, and come back in a few weeks (and one time, after I’d waited 2 weeks, he installed it, I made him turn the washer on - he had not been planning to do it - and the new part was pre-fried. Somehow he was able to obtain another that same day).