Normally, when I open the dishwasher door after a load is finished, it opens slowly, and usually stays at whatever angle I leave it at in the open position (i.e., if closed is 90 degrees and fully open is 0 degrees, then it would stay at 75 degrees if I put it there, or 50 degrees if I put it there. I suppose it would fall to 0 if I put it at 5 degrees, but I never did that.) Anyway, the last few days, if I put it at 80 or even 85 degrees, the door falls open and goes into the fully open (0 degrees) position immediately upon opening the door. It also feels like it weights a ton.
It seems to be working ok, but I can’t imagine what’s going on, other than I’ve lost my mind.
Maybe the extra heat affects the bearings on the hinges - I’d guess there’s some kind of friction-based hinge that keeps the door up, but still allows you to move it.
Probably just degraded over two years - should be easy to fix, I would imagine.
We installed a new dishwasher last year. Part of the door connection is a spring, which you adjust until the door will stay in place. Set it wrong and the door will either close on it’s own, or fall open on it’s own.
I’d guess that this spring has either broken or stretched.
Sounds like a broken spring in the door. I’m willing to bet that someone in your house hold opened the dishwasher and heard a very loud “Thwang” noise in the past few days.
By a majority vote of you smart folks, it seems that spring has snapped. (No one here heard any THWAPPPING sound, tho.)
OK.
Since I don’t mind the door not being able to stand at any angle other than 90 degrees or 0 degrees, will I be harming anything if I don’t get it fixed? (I’m one of those “don’t get a service contract that costs half as much as a new dishwasher” kind of guys. You know, rational.) Will it damage the door if I just let it fall open real fast, for example? is dishwasher-door repair simpler and cheaper than I think? Could I fix it myself, maybe, or does this takes nine years of NASA-type experience?
Take a look at the hinges, and the metal the hinges are attached to. Is everything sturdy looking, or does it look like something is flimsy enough to twist and break from the stress of repeatedly stopping the swing of the door?
I “postponed” replacing a bad spring in my washer door for about 6 months, before repeated dropping of the door broke the hinge, after which water leaked out when the washer was running. Replace it now before you are mopping up soapy water, and trying to replace the hinge and spring. It’s still cheaper than a new dishwasher.
Replacing the spring could be really simple. On the dishwasher we installed last year, all you would have to do is slide the washer out a bit, and look down near the hinges on the bottom. There is a spring on either side, right at the hinge. Unhook the old pieces, and replace with a new spring.
Thinking about it, I would probably just replace both of them, while I was at it. Save the hassle of doing the same thing in a couple of months or a year.