yjpper asked:


If you called a plumber because your dishwasher was stopped up and filled with dirty water, should their job be getting the dirty water out of the dishwashers as well as clearing the stopped up plumbing?

The dishwasher won’t work — it just hums — and so the water won’t drain. They said it wasn’t their problem and charged me $240.
Thanks, grenter.
I didn’t run the dishwasher — the dishwasher was backed up because of the plumbing.

DOMINIC

3 Responses to “If you called a plumber because your dishwasher was backed up and filled with dirty water?”

1. NICK on May 1st, 2009 4:14 pm

   MOSES

   I think you called the wrong people. Try an appliance repair service. The plumber is entitled to charge you for the call, but 240 bucks for a service charge seems steep. It sounds like you need a new pump on the machine. Get quotes first, on both parts and repair costs. Then see if you are better off just getting a new machine.

2. DOMINIQUE on May 3rd, 2009 10:19 pm

   MARCEL

   scoop as much water from the dish washer as possible. get rid of any solid matter. pour some hot water in the bottom, leave to soak for about 15-20 minutes. try putting dishwasher on drain. If it still hums there is something jammed in the drain pump

3. RIGOBERTO on May 6th, 2009 3:24 pm

   JESUS

   Applianace repair techs do some plumbing, but few plumbers do appliance repair. Go figure -many appliances must be connected to the plumbing. Oh, well, lessons learned.

   If the d/w is humming, it suggests to me that the motor is trying to run -but can’t, bcause something is stuck in there around the intake to the pump. But let’s make sure: try a few other cycles -just for a moment- to see if it will fill, start washing, etc. If it will start to wash, then the motor is OK and it is the pump that is stuck. But if it still hums -no matter what- then the motor itself may be bad. The motors are cheap -but the labor will “get you” unless in warranty.

   Let’s say the wash cycle does start -so you know the motor is OK. Must be the pump, then. As one respondent suggested, bail out as much water as you can. Then, remove the racks and as much of the visible mechanism as you can. You’re looking for the drain opening -and you are looking for a small object stuck in there. If you find it, fish it out.

   If not, try this: Unhook the drain line from under the sink -its the one that comes in from the side and connects to the main line from the sink drain. Just unscrew it. Now attach your vacuum cleaner hose to the detached line, with the vacuum set to BLOW air -not **** it in. You want to blow back any obstruction in the line. Careful! There’s probably some water still in the line which may fizz and carry on in the washer. See if the object has been blown back into the washer. And see if the d/w will now work anyway.

   No good? Call the appliance repair people.