If you are seeing that water is collecting in the bottom of your dishwasher, you may be a bit concerned. While some water is perfectly normal, floating bits of food and leaks resulting from too much water in your dishwasher is not. This is why you need to know how to unclog a dishwasher with standing water. In this article, we’ll share some easy steps that you can follow to do this. Let’s take a closer look.
How do you manually drain a dishwasher
If there is a lot of water in the bottom of your dishwasher when not in use, you need to manually drain it. Although this may sound like a big job, it’s something that can be relatively simple to do. Here are the steps you need to follow to do this.
Step 1: Unplug your appliance/disconnect it from its power source and remove all dishes and cutlery from it.
Step 2: Lay some old but dry towels around your dishwasher as you don’t want a big mess everywhere in your kitchen when you are manually draining it.
Step 3: Remove all the dish racks from the appliance including the bottom one so that you can have access to the standing water.
Step 4: Using a cup or a small bowl, remove the excess water from the base of your dishwasher while transferring the dirty water in a bucket. You can also speed up the process by using a wet and dry vacuum.
Step 5: Soak up any water that may have been left behind with towels or a sponge.
Step 6: Access the sump or drain basket and filter and then remove any debris from it. This should be located underneath the spray arm, which you should slightly rotate to gain access to the sump.
Step 7: If there are any kinks in your drain hose, these should be straightened out to enable a smoother flow of water. It’s also advisable to unclip the drain hose and check if it is full of debris. A wire brush can help with this as can a straightened out wire hanger.
Step 8: The pump usually consists of two impellers - an upper and a lower one. The upper one is used to pump water into the dishwasher, while the lower one is used to pump water out of it. It’s advisable to lift out both impellers and check that they are not surrounded by gunk or debris, which should be cleaned.
Step 9: Some dishwashers are connected to a separate garbage disposal. You need to check if it is working properly and if it is not, this could be the reason why you have stale water sitting at the bottom of your dishwasher. It’s a good idea to remove any debris that has accumulated there or in and around the drain hose.
Step 10: The float assembly is usually found at the bottom of the dishwasher and it has a cap. This cap should be removed and the area around it should be cleaned well. Failure to do so could mean that it can stop the drain cycle before it is completely finished.
Step 11: Check the motor and timer. Because this step requires professional equipment, it’s advisable that you call in an expert dishwashing engineer to help you with this part.
Step 12: Once all of the above steps have been completed, it’s advisable to place the dish racks back in the machine, switch on the power to your dishwasher and run it on a short but hot cycle. After this, check if there is any more water accumulated at the bottom of your appliance or if it is draining well.
The bottom line
There are many reasons why a dishwasher can stop draining. These include problems with a clogged drain line, a defective pump, a broken drain valve or solenoid, a damaged belt, a broken motor or a broken timer. In most cases, you’ll be able to manually drain your dishwasher yourself. However, when it comes to more complicated factors such as those just mentioned, you need to call a professional appliance repair engineer to take a look. Luckily, at Exclusive Repairs, you can get greater peace of mind with our experienced engineers and the guarantee on our service. Don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We are more than happy to be of service.
