SMEG dishwasher - base fills with water after cycle completed

[gkb993]

The SMEG dishwasher has been faultless for many years but is starting to exhibit strange symptoms.

Recently noticed water in the base when opening unit to remove clean dishes. Was a day to two since the cycle completed.

Put dishwasher on last night and inspected at end of cycle - no water in base. Went to empty machine this morning and there is water in base. Something somewhere is leaking.

Has anyone encountered this before?

 

[JohnD]

Do you mean the tray underneath? Or inside the cabinet?

Is the water clean or dirty?

Show us some photos of the waste hose and the route it takes. I bet it connects to the sink waste. Show particularly how high it goes before the connection. There should be an upwards loop.

Also show us the valve that the filling hose connects to.

 

[gkb993]

The cavity at the bottom inside the cabinet, where the filter is has cleanish water almost to the bottom level of the door. The water entered after the cycle completed and at that time the cavity at the bottom inside the cabinet was empty. I think the cavity filled up overnight.

When I say cleanish, I think the water started clean but has a bit of left over debris that didn't make it through the mesh around the filter. The filter is clean.

 

[JohnD]

Waste hose pics please.

Do you have any coloured food dye?

 

[gkb993]

I ran another cycle and checked at the end. The base was empty. I had a good look inside and could see a slow drip coming from an outlet - see picture which shows the outlet. You can see water in it. When I turned the water off at the tap for the inlet the drip stopped.

 

[gkb993]

Update - have left the dishwasher for a while after thoroughly drying water from suspect outlet. No further leaks but level in sump where filter sits is very slowly filling. Definitely water coming in. I suspect the shutoff device fitted somewhere on the inlet. Anyone seen this before?

 

[Tigercubrider]

Only had two (Bosch ) dishwashers.
They have a solenoid controlled inlet valve, maybe buggered, stuck?

 

[JohnD]

i had a solenoid operated water inlet valve on a Bosch washing machine that let by because it was clogged with rust and limescale particles subsequent to replacement of the incoming water pipe.

had a new pair fitted, but on inspection it would have been very easy to clean out the valve. The hot valve was clean.

Bosch inlet valves are different from the industry standard, you can get one for the popular brands from an online spares supplier.

If you unscrew the inlet pipe from the valve, there should be a gauze disk particle filter. This will give you a clue of particles before you start dismantling the machine. It will also give you a definitive answer, because if the machine still fills up after you disconnect the inlet hose, the water must be coming down the waste hose (which is very common if the routing is wrong).

Show us some photos of the waste hose and the route it takes. I bet it connects to the sink waste. Show particularly how high it goes before the connection. There should be an upwards loop.

Also show us the valve that the filling hose connects to.

Waste hose pics please.

Do you have any coloured food dye?

did you decide not to photograph the waste hose?

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

If you can find the solenoid valve, it will be near where the cold water inlet enters the machine, see if you can remove it as a first step and soak it in kettle descaler/citric acid/lemon juice. If you can also see into the valve, have a look to see if any debris has been trapped.

 

[gkb993]

I decided not to take a picture of the waste hose as I believe I have eliminated it as the culprit. While the machine is powered off and the tap is turned off no water enters the tray at the bottom and the sump area around where the filter sits is dry. Still with the power off and the water inlet turned back on the sump around the filter at the bottom can be seen to very slowly fill with water. To me it sounds like the solenoid is the area I should be looking. Thanks to all for your help, I will report back here when I have it fixed.

 

[gkb993]

Took the back off the dishwasher and couldn't see a solenoid valve, the inlet pipe disappears inside the unit. But, there is some kind of device the water passes through where the inlet hose connects to the tap. Found out this is the solenoid or as it is correctly called an "Aquastop". A sealed unserviceable unit encompassing the tap connection, the solenoid, an outer hose cover, the inner hose and and electrical wire with a connector at the machine end. I priced a new Smeg Aquastop online and they varied from AUD$219 to nearly AUD$400. Ouch.

Nothing for me to do, called an appliance repair guy who fitted a generic Aquastop which including a call out fee and labour set me back AUD$280.