Kenwood dishwasher fun (KDW12ST3A): E4 error and a terminal pop.

 Just a quick one.

I'm sad to report the last hurrah of my Kenwood dishwasher this evening. The drain pump has always been noisy on the old girl, and I gradually became aware that it had been running for quite a while during this evening's wash. I eventually went to inspect and was disturbed to see a lake of water across my kitchen floor. I switched the dishwasher off and reached for a mop, and I think this is what did for her: about a minute later a loud "pop" emanated from her guts and the power in the house went off. I finished mopping the floor, pulled the washing machine out so I could reach the power socket, and unplugged the dishwasher. Once power to the house was restored I logged on to AO and ordered a new dishwasher.

I wonder if the new one will last 18 years like the Kenwood did?

That is all. 

D :(

(I've decided that the comment facility below will also serve as the book of remembrance)

Kenwood dishwasher fun (KDW12ST3A): E3 (low heat error) and the upper spray bar

 Well, its been a while since my dishwasher last needed some TLC. As to that, see my many previous posts on this matter. 

Lately, the dishwasher has been misbehaving again. Items in the top drawer were often not cleaned properly and there would sometimes be, additionally, an E3 (low heat) error. Based on prior experience I didn't think the low heat error would be connected to a problem with the heater or pump. And so having mulled over this occasional annoyance (for several months, in fact), the actual cause of the problem finally revealed itself - the upper spray bar was simply worn out and on a recent wash completely detached itself from its connection. I think the low heat error was due to the bar leaking out of all the wrong places with the result that the water pressure in the machine was not high enough to keep the heater switched on (again, see my previous posts for my theory about that).  

It was clear on a close inspection that the bar was beyond saving and needed replacing. I did give considerable thought to finally buying a new dishwasher as I've had my money's worth out of this one, but the thought of tossing this long-time but slightly-not-working-properly family member into the scrap was too much to bear. 

A quick browse on Amazon turned up what appeared to be an identical spare part for £26. To be fair, that was more than I wanted to pay so I took a punt on a cheaper part which looks a bit different but which I hoped would fit. That part arrived the other day. It took me 30 seconds to install it and now I have my dishwasher back, functioning perfectly and lovely clean dishes. This is the part I bought from Amazon. Pictures below compare the old and new parts for reference.

More soon, no doubt....

D

Kenwood dishwasher fun (KDW12ST3A): door lock latch replacement

Well, it's been a few months since I last had my dishwasher apart. And then last week the door lock/latch began playing up. More precisely, after pulling the door open the mechanism in the door would re-lock itself. This meant the door couldn't be locked shut and the dishwasher wouldn't run.

The temporary solution was to remove the inner door skin, remove the lock/latch mechanism and reset it manually (using a screwdriver). To put that another way, I've managed to keep using the dishwasher but not without some faffing about. I therefore investigated a new lock/latch mechanism. If, like me, you're in the UK, a search for the part on Google will first bring up ebay and espares:

On ebay, a new mechanism is £22

Espares do them for £10 plus £6.99 P&P

On Amazon the part is a truly astonishing £30

Bearing in mind the nature of the part, my view was that even £17 is way over-priced. The P&P charges at espares are also ridiculous. And the sellers on ebay and Amazon were obviously just taking the piss. So I wondered whether I could get anything else to fit. After a few minutes research I happened upon this:

It's the door lock/latch mechanism for various Hotpoint, Indesit and Creda dishwashers (part number C00195887). Typical price is about £10 delivered however at Bartyspares on Amazon, the price was £5.48 delivered. Even though the overall shape of the part is different, the mechanism itself and the screw holes seemed to match the Kenwood part. The microswitch is also on the opposite side but I was confident that I could do something about that if I needed to. I ordered the part and it arrived today.

So, will it fit? First, the original lock/latch in situ:

Door skins separated. The lock/latch is held in place with two self-tapping screws. Two spade connectors to the micro switch need to be disconnected:

Here are the two parts for comparison purposes. They look significantly different but it is the placement of the screw holes that is important. They're the same!

New part goes on with no trouble. The only "modification" I had to do was to detach the two wires to the switch from the existing loom (by cutting the cable ties). There was then enough length in the wires to reach round to the micro switch which is now on the right-hand side. Here it is, job done :)

All working fine. The new mechanism comes with a new micro switch. For the record, here is a picture of the micro switch from the Kenwood part:

More soon, no doubt....

D

Update 12 October 2020: well, the replacement latch failed yesterday. I can't really complain so I just bought another. Bartyspares seems to have gone from Amazon so the new latch came from a different seller and cost me £10.65. Just fitted it now and all is well again. D.

Kenwood dishwasher fun (KDW12ST3A): Part Six (IT'S FIXED!!!)

Yes indeed :)

Today I took delivery of my new-old-stock pump - £30 delivered from ebay. I'm not actually sure its precisely the right pump because it is visibly different to the pump on the machine. Plus there's no space on the impeller housing for the half load solenoid. Nevertheless, the piping all fits, as does the wiring, so I lashed it in tonight, after my tea.  I've opened up the dishwasher so frequently that the whole job of swapping the pumps over (from disconnection to re-connection of the water main), took little more than 10 minutes. The dishwasher is now on its longest (and hottest) cycle and I've chucked in a bottle of cleaner, just to get rid of the soily smell that had developed over the past few months.

I'm very pleased to have my dishwasher back. Total cost:

New controller - £80
New heater element - £18
New pump - £30
Switches and other bits - about £10

Total: £138

I'm going to put the old controller on ebay - they seem to be going for about £30 so I might be able to recoup some of my costs.

Either way, my outlay is far cheaper than buying a new dishwasher. And since I've replaced all the important bits, I've basically got a new dishwasher. I've also learned plenty about dishwashers. This additional "string to my bow" is priceless.

The photos below are the new pump. It's definitely a Welling YXW50. I'm thinking that the correct pump is actually the YXW65 but, really, I don't actually care :)

More soon (but hopefully not about this dishwasher...)

D.

EDIT (20 August 2020) - well, we're almost five years on from this repair and I'm pleased to say that the dishwasher is still working fine :)

EDIT (15 March 2024) - Almost nine years now and still fine (apart from the door latch and spray arm which needed replacing per my more recent posts) :)

Kenwood dishwasher fun (KDW12ST3A): Part Five

Well, I've put everything back together and there is still no heat.

However, I stand by my theory (in Part 4). Before I put the motor back (using some shiny new and cheap jubilee clips from Screwfix), I took some time going over the motor.

The first thing I noticed, underneath, was rust. There appears to be a leak on the seal where the motor's shaft enters the impeller chamber.

It is only a matter of time before the leak gets so bad that water starts pissing out every where.

The other problem is with the impeller itself. The presence of the flap off the solenoid valve has destroyed the outer edges of the impeller. This can only have had a detrimental effect on the performance of the pump. Having spotted the damage, I was now less hopeful that merely removing the flap from the chamber would fix everything. And so it proved. The dishwasher is running and both spray bars are turning - plenty of water everywhere - but it seems that it is not enough.

So, what next? The impeller chamber is two halves that have been plastic welded together. I suppose its not beyond the realms of possibility that the chamber could be cut in half again, along the seam, a new impeller and seal fitted, and then re-welded. The question is, can I be arsed? Plus I'd need to spend money on some plastic welding kit. On reflection, I think its time for a new pump. As far as that goes, espares do them for about £80. However, there are quite a few sellers on ebay selling the part "new old stock" for less than £40. It's pay day on Friday so that's what I'm going to do.

For the record, the pump (which in my machine has no labels or other identifying marks) is a Welling YXW50. Power wise, there are actually a few variations of this pump but from what I can tell, all of them have the correct arrangement for coupling up to the existing pipework. These next two pictures are for me to use as an easy reference:

More soon, no doubt...

D

Kenwood dishwasher fun (KDW12ST3A): Part Four

Right, I think I've finally cracked it. Before I get to that, I should say that having pondered the issue since my last failed attempt, I'd decided that the problem was with the main circulation pump even though it appeared to be operating normally (pumping!) and that the resistance across its terminals was within the specified range (78 - 100 ohms).

My theory went something like this: with the machine running normally, the PCB switches the heater on. However, that little switch that I replaced a few weeks ago must be depressed before the heater will actually work. It is the water pressure created by the main pump that causes the switch to be depressed. This is a safety feature in the event that the main pump fails, or there is a water leak, during the heating cycle. It prevents the heater from boiling or over-heating itself. Important, because my machine has no actual temperature sensor on it...

So, I decided that something must be serving to reduce the water pressure in my machine. It can only have been a slight reduction because both the top and bottom arms of the machine were spinning during the (many) test programs I had run. However, it was enough of a reduction that the little switch wasn't being depressed with the result that the heater was never actually switching on.

Tonight I removed the main pump which, frankly, was a pain in the ass. The non-reusable clips the manufacturer has used on all the tubing are nasty to get off, particularly as I was trying my best not to damage the tubing. Anyway, I got the pump off and inspected it. Some photos with commentary:

Here is the pump in situ. Note the nasty pipe clips...

Here is the pump on my coffee table, And what is that I can see in the impeller housing, directly under the sump drain connector?

Can you see it? It looks like a slice of water chestnut. It's actually a piece of rectangular plastic. I couldn't get it out of any of the connections. So I removed whatever the hell thing is attached to the housing.  

And lo, the piece of plastic is the same shape as the hole left by the thing that was attached to the housing.

Just like that...

Ah, I see. It's a flap that is supposed to be connected to that thing I just removed.

And here is a close up of the thing. Turns out it is a "FCD-90A" solenoid valve. It turns out that when activated, that flap serves to close of the water supply to the bottom arm in the dishwasher. It is this that delivers the "half load" facility on the dishwasher (which, incidentally, I have never used. Ever).

It's supposed to look like this.

And this.

I don't intend to replace the valve. And I can't put everything back together tonight because I have no jubilee clips of the right size. Roll on tomorrow for the grand re-assembly. Will I have my dishwasher back?

More soon, no doubt :)...

D

Kenwood dishwasher fun (KDW12ST3A): Part Three

Just a quick one.

I solved the E4 leak by using skinny jubilee clips on the pipework at each end of the new heater. The dishwasher is 25 minutes into its longest cycle and so far I have nothing to report.

The photo below compares the fat jubilee clips that I thought would be perfect (but weren't), with the new ones I bought today. Annoyingly, the new clips came from Halfords which meant that they cost me £3, compared to the 99p I paid for the fatter (and in my view superior) clips from The Range.

More soon, no doubt...

D

Kenwood dishwasher fun (KDW12ST3A): Part Two

Righty.

I've bought a new heater element. It's not a Kenwood part but then again, neither is the original! Having studied the heater on my dishwasher, I decided that there is one factory somewhere churning out dishwasher heater elements for all the dishwasher manufacturers. So, whereas the "approved part" comes in at about £70, an identical (and presumably non-approved part) cost me £18. The pictures below compare the original part with the one that cost me £18. The new part is the shiny one. Apart from the gleam, it looks identical to the original.

I bought the new part from"bartyspares" on Amazon. The part is listed for a Beko but will probably replace the 1800w element on any dishwasher.

So, on to fitting. This was quite easy with the back panel removed. I had to cut the old clips off as they are the non-reusable sort. Disconnect the three wires and then remove the old heater. The new one goes in its place, re-attach the wires and connect the rubber tube on each end. I've used 30mm - 40mm jubilee clips for this and have now hit a snag. The clips I've got are too wide. Even fully tightened, the force of the water passing through the element is forcing the rubber tubes off (at both ends). This means that water is spilling into the bottom of the machine and setting off the flood sensor. The flood sensor - which manifests itself as a series of beeps and an E4 error on the display - basically shuts the machine down apart from the drain pump. This means I do not yet know whether my new heater has solved the original problem of the water not being heated; the machine just doesn't run long enough before the E4 to be able to tell.

Needless to say, I'll be buying some thinner jubilee clips at some point. Until then, I'll continue washing my dishes in the sink. Grrr....

In this last picture you can see the new heater fitted with the new jubilee clips which are too wide.

More soon, no doubt....

D