Epic Dishwasher Saga

For more than a month, I listened to my dishwasher tell me that something was wrong.  I contacted my preferred service company.  A repair technician arrived, checked out the dishwasher as it went through its paces, and pronounced it to be okay.  Really?  Okay?  It was still making the noise that caused me to call for service.  But, who am I to argue with the “expert” dishwasher technician?

For another month, I continued to listen to the suspicious noise; the machine continued to wash the dishes.  Each day.  I have been using the dishwasher every day, whether it has five items or is full.  I LIVE ALONE!  It would usually take a week for me to fill the dishwasher.  And, when I was a child, I lived in places that had cockroaches.  Cockroaches!  Ugh!  I don’t want those critters in my house, and who’s to know that if dirty dishes are left in the dishwasher, they won’t climb out of the drain pipes into the unit to seek out the food left on the dishes?  Understand that there is no one in my neighborhood who has this vermin.  No one.  But, how far do cockroaches go for a meal?

I opened the dishwasher, last week, to clear the last night’s load and put away dishes, and the stainless steel tub had two inches of water in it.  After trying to get the water to drain, I called the service people, again.  This time, the technician pronounced my dishwasher:  dead.  The pump was frozen.  I would definitely need a different dishwasher.  Yes, he could repair the unit, but it was going to cost more to repair the machine than to purchase a used and refurbished unit from the local used appliance store.  Then, he vacuumed the water out of the machine and left.

I trust the technicians from this company because several years ago, I needed service on my clothes washer and dryer.  That technician repaired both for a very nominal fee.  Some time later, the washer began making a noise I knew it should not be making, and the technician came back.  That time, he told me that it would cost more to “fix” it than to buy another clothes washer from the used appliance store.  He suggested that I just keep using it, until it stopped.  That was about two years ago; it is still washing clothes … and making the noise.  Two years!  I know that it is living on borrowed time, but will use it until it stops.

I went to the local store that sells used/refurbished appliances (they are part and parcel with the technicians who repair appliances) and purchased a used dishwasher – a model slightly newer (well, ten years newer) than the one in my house.  Installation was scheduled for Friday, last.

I’d made a medical appointment for 4 pm on Friday, knowing that the dishwasher installer time window was 9 am to12 noon.  Surely, I thought, the dishwasher could be installed in the three scheduled hours.  At five minutes to twelve, the call came from the installer that he would be at my house within ten minutes.  So, the installation window had changed from 9-12 to 12 to who knew how long – it was clear that I had to reschedule the medical appointment.

The technician, Alfredo, disconnected the plumbing and took the “dead” machine out of its home.  We had looked for about thirty minutes to find the breaker to shut off the electricity to the dishwasher and never found it.  I have an indoor breaker box, an outdoor breaker box, and fuses in the basement.  No amount of turning off the breakers worked.  So, Alfredo worked his magic on the electrical connection. (Electrical work always seems like magic to me.)  Whatever he did made it so he would not electrocute himself.  The plumbing was easier.  And, then … it wasn’t.

“We (apparently, I became part of the installation “we”) have a problem,” he said.  The connection he had for the newer machine didn’t fit anything in my house that worked for the older machine.  What to do?  He couldn’t and shouldn’t attempt to make any changes to the house plumbing, and he had nothing in the truck that would fit.  There was nothing to do but call Keith (HM); so I did.  He had just finished getting his covid vaccine (Yay!), and was willing to be at my house in a few minutes.  Keith and Alfredo discussed the situation.  Keith thought he had the needed connection in things he had at his house.  He went home and brought the correct connection back with him.

Alfredo finished his part of the work and left.  In the event I have not said this before, I have a rule that something has to leave my house every day and never come back.  Alfredo took an office chair and a sound box that I was giving away.  So, there were three things gone:  chair, sound bar, and dishwasher!  Keith began working on the problem and discovered another missing part.  It turned out that he did not have that part at home, but got one at a local hardware.

You know how problems may actually be a blessing and lead to the fixing of another problem that you don’t even know you have?  That is the case with all of that activity of needing a different dishwasher, problems with the installation, etc.  Keith discovered a leak from another part of the plumbing under the kitchen sink; a leak that I did not know was there or how long it had been leaking – how many times do you look under your kitchen sink for water leaks?  If Keith had not had to come to help install the machine, I would have never known about the other water leak and could have spent many dollars getting it repaired, once it was discovered.

As I said, I’ve been washing a load every day.  Keith and Alfredo both STRONGLY recommend that I alter my dish washing schedule and wait two or three days to wash a full load.  They assured me that the bugs can’t get into the dishwasher.  I really, really don’t want to do that, but I suppose for the good of the machine, I’ll have to attempt dish washing that way.  And, sister Clara will be happy.  She has been telling me this for a long time.  I will hold these three folks responsible if I ever do see a cockroach!

One more thing.  The newly installed machine came without a silverware basket.  But, that’s another story.

Later:  I think you need to know that the third time I reached for a pot or dish that I use every day and that it was unwashed in dishwasher , I broke my resolve to wash only full loads.  I washed the load even though the dishwasher was not full.  I needed that pot and those bowls.

Why is it that these activities have to be so convoluted?

Be safe and well.

The Cranky Crone

If you have thoughtful feedback or questions, please let me know with a comment below.