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We bought our house a year ago. The dishwasher always seems stinky. If it runs a cycle and we don't empty the dishes immediately, they will be stinky. The dishwasher itself is relatively new, <5yrs old. The house was vacant for 5-6months.
After countless google search, I have tried vinegar, baking soda, vinegar and baking soda, some product from lowes and nothing seems to work. I thought maybe the drain pipe was full of gunk, so I tried to replace it. When I disconnected and pulled it out, the drain pipe was completely odor free. If that were the culprit, I figured there would be at least some kind of odor, so I left the current one in place.
I thought perhaps it was a problem with the loop. But as far as I can tell it's installed properly. The drain pipe comes from the bottom of the dishwasher, runs up the top of the cabinet as high as it can just below the counter and comes back down to drain into the disposal. It is definitely above the trap. I replaced the disposal a couple of months ago and that made no difference. I can't imagine it's sewer gas since I get zero odor from the disposal.
Does the high loop need a very sharp bend (small radius) to be effective when it goes over the cabinet? Mine is kind of a wide lazy loop going from the left side of the dishwasher up over and across the cabinet and then down to the disposal. Do I need to tighten that up so the drain hose is running parallel across both sides of the cabinet?
In the attachment, mine is like the one on the right.
Yup. I pulled apart that whole assembly and cleaned everything. A few months after that, it stopped pumping out water. We had a house warranty. The guy came out and said the pump was fried and replaced it. None of this has made a difference. If I need to replace it, that's fine, at this point I am completely fed up. But my biggest fear is something else is going on and I'll be crushed if the new one has the same issue.
I had the same problem in my house as the former owners didn't clean anything and allowed gunk to build up.
Short of taking it apart and replacing parts, what worked best for me was filling the soap trays with straight liquid bleach and running it through the hottest heavy duty cycles. I also scrubbed down all of the interior door sides and rubber seals with hot soapy water followed by straight white vinegar.
Yup. I pulled apart that whole assembly and cleaned everything. A few months after that, it stopped pumping out water. We had a house warranty. The guy came out and said the pump was fried and replaced it. None of this has made a difference. If I need to replace it, that's fine, at this point I am completely fed up. But my biggest fear is something else is going on and I'll be crushed if the new one has the same issue.
You know....after reading the comments and replacing a couple of dishwashers myself, I'd just replace it. Get a nice, new, quiet one.
But once I get the thing out of the house and in my hands, I'd do a sniff test around the innards. I can see how the plastic itself might get stinky - at least a little.
BTW: Did they use the right sort of material for the drain line? Maybe that's the problem.
A lazy loop could be the problem. I doubt the outlet goes as far down as you show. A positive solution would be a vacuum breaker that would prevent the back siphoning. It does create a doomyjigger at the back of your sink, but code requires it in some places.
Does it smell like rotten eggs? That could be a problem with air trapped in your hot water supply maybe near the dishwasher. An offshoot pipe going up which has air trapped in it and never has any water flow in it.
........................Air trapped - not used
......................................|
Hot water supply------------|----------dishwasher
If you have any hot water faucets in the house you do not use, turn them on for a bit and let the water run - guest bathroom faucet, shower, etc.
Well.. Define 'stinky'.. Is it a sour smell? Like mildew?
No matter what, you run a cycle there's moisture still in the dishwasher. Try this.. Run a cycle, and as soon as it's done, open the door up so that air can get in and most importantly, the humid air inside can get out.
I had the same problem in my house as the former owners didn't clean anything and allowed gunk to build up.
Short of taking it apart and replacing parts, what worked best for me was filling the soap trays with straight liquid bleach and running it through the hottest heavy duty cycles. I also scrubbed down all of the interior door sides and rubber seals with hot soapy water followed by straight white vinegar.
I have scrubbed the interior a few times. I was thinking of trying the bleach idea. I read that one should not use bleach on stainless steel. The inside of it is shiny, I imagine it has to be stainless. I assume it is stainless steel, no? I am trying to picture what else the inside of a dishwasher could be made of, yet I have read in many places about trying bleach with the warning against SS. Any way I can confirm? The manual made no mention aside from warning against using bleach when cleaning the exterior SS.
You know....after reading the comments and replacing a couple of dishwashers myself, I'd just replace it. Get a nice, new, quiet one.
But once I get the thing out of the house and in my hands, I'd do a sniff test around the innards. I can see how the plastic itself might get stinky - at least a little.
BTW: Did they use the right sort of material for the drain line? Maybe that's the problem.
I am afraid you're probably right. Trying to rule everything else out. My wife is very unhappy with the situation, but she'll be exponentially unhappier if we replace it and the issue continues.
When I pulled the dishwasher out from under the cabinet, I stuck my nose in the drainhose and it had zero odor. It seems to be a proper drain line. It's not a random tube, it's clearly a "dishwasher" drain hose, as it has the right fittings. Whether it's made from dogey plastic, hard to say. But you'd think it would retain some kind of odor, no?
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