Kenwood KDW45W16 dishwasher pump problem

[David Snider]

Hi all,

The evacuation pump on my DW suddenly stopped working. It gives an E1 error, which is faulty water supply, but in fact the water supply works fine: the DW fills, the wash pump engages, but then starts leaking all over the floor because the evac. pump doesn't work. When I start the DW the pump never comes on - during what should be the initial pumpout cycle it's absolutely silent, until it starts the fill cycle.

I pulled out the pump, and there's nothing blocking the impeller. I tested the motor and it shows 121 ohms for the 'high' circuit and 162 ohms for 'low', which sounds about right. Motor spins freely. I started the DW and tested for voltage at the motor, and there's none. Tried to trace back the motor wires but it's a tangle.

Question: are there any relays or failsafe switches that could prevent the evac. motor from engaging? There must at least be a relay off the control board, as the amperage draw must be fairly high.

Hopping one of you has had this problem, or knows enough about the design of these things that you can give me some pointers. Any suggestions appreciated!

Thanks,

-Dave

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

You can obviously test resistance, why not trace the wires back to the PCB with your meter, then follow tracks on the PCB, to the triac or relay which switches it on?

 

[David Snider]

Good suggestion, Harry: hadn't thought about using the ohmmeter to trace the wires. (Doh!) Will give it a try.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Good suggestion, Harry: hadn't thought about using the ohmmeter to trace the wires. (Doh!) Will give it a try.

You might find one of the wires is common to several items, probably a common neutral. The live will be unique and switched.

 

[David Snider]

yeah, there's a common (which I assume is neutral/ground) plus two hot circuits, for two different motor speeds. Will try tracing them back later this week.

-Dave

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

I cannot think why the drain pump would need more than just one speed. I would expect - 1 - neutral, 1 - earth, and 1 - live.

 

[David Snider]

Yeah, it does seem odd, but here's the wiring diagram from the motor itself: Blue(Com), Black(Hi) and Yellow(Low), but maybe I'm misinterpreting the labels. There's also an earth wire attached to the motor body.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

That doesn't look like a drain pump motor.

It looks like the main motor, the wash motor.

The pump motor will likely be fitted into a rubber drain pipe at the lowest point and much smaller than in that photo.