Why is My Dishwasher Leaking?

Entering the kitchen to discover an ominous puddle coming from the dishwasher is no-one’s favorite way to start the day.

Fortuitously, most commonly seen causes of dishwasher faults are comparatively straightforward to determine and resolve on your own. This means you might not have to wash the dishes by hand that much, wait for the repair man or need to pay a high call-out charge.

So, if you’re feeling up to it find the manual if you have it, clean up the mess and get something soak up any additional spills and find out if you can find a do it yourself solution. If you can’t call us for local dishwasher repair.

Simple Explanations of Dishwasher Faults as well as How to Resolve Them

Some of the most commonplace causes of dishwasher leaks aren’t actually a result of a broken dishwasher at all. Before you start preparing yourself for an engineering task and also watching endless online videos there are a number of problems you can rule out first.

Investigate to find out whether your dishwasher is aligned. If the dishwasher is wonky water will easily puddle and leak even if the dishwasher is working perfectly.
Check you have been using the right soap. You could have seen this with your washing machine. Too much detergent or using the incorrect variety may lead to too many soap suds, the bubbles spill over and so you get a spill.
Check your dishwasher door fully closes. If it does not you might have something obstructing it, or you could need to adjust the hinge or the locking mechanism.
Test the filter in the bottom of the machine for any easy to see drainage issues as if your dishwasher isn’t emptying effectively this can result in fill too much and spill.

When you have looked at these issues it’s time to get ready and begin the inspection.

The easiest place to start is the door and check for any visible damage inside of the machine prior to moving on to the underside. If you are able to find as well as resolve the problem before you need to pull out the dishwasher so much the better.

Before you do anything else make sure you disconnect the dishwasher.

Door Seal

The door is no doubt the most common area for a dishwasher to leak as well as one of the easiest problems to resolve.

If the leak is periodic the issue could be as straightforward as a large plate or another object pushing into the door and stopping it from sealing properly.

On the other hand the door gasket might have come out of place or become cracked.

Inspect the door seal and investigate for any cracks, mineral deposits or other debris, or any parts in which the seal has separated from the door.

Taking off the seal and also allowing it a thorough scrub has been known to improve the situation in some cases or you could have to purchase a new gasket and change it.

Water Inlet Valve (Solenoid Fill Valve)

The fill valve can be a further commonplace issue. It is in most cases found under the machine which means you may have to remove the toe board and might need to unscrew the door cover.

The inlet valve opens and also closes to allow water into the machine at various times in the programme. The fill valve might be damaged, shown with a slight drip, or it may be damaged and so not functioning fully throughout the program.

If the water inlet valve doesn’t close correctly this can mean that the dishwasher overfills, causing a leak.

Usually these valves cannot be repaired, which means the whole valve would have to be changed.

Leaking Hoses

Your dishwasher uses hoses to supply, empty and redistribute water along the program.

Two complications may present themselves where hoses are involved.

The gaskets may break or the connections might come loose thus it’s a good idea to have a look at all the connections first.
The alternative fault than can often develop as time goes by is that hoses might become degraded or get a hole in.

If you are able to see that the leak is coming from a hose this should be relatively easy to change and spare hoses are easy to procure.

Pumps and Gaskets

You are able to visually investigate the seals surrounding the pumps or motor to determine if there is a leakage and change them if that’s the case.

The Float Switch

The float itself or the float switch may be broken causing the dishwasher to overfill.

A working float will rise with the water level until the optimum or maximum water level is attained. The tail of the float will then turn on the switch. If something is blocking this or the float is broken this could be your issues.

Checking the switch would need a multi-meter although it may be clearly broken in which case getting a new one should stop the leak.

Alternative Parts that Could Lead to a Leak

A broken wash arm or support could force water under the door resulting in a leak. This could also often affect how well your dishes are being cleaned.

Broken or faulty tubes may also cause this problem as could a damaged pump cover.

The motor shaft seal may have come loose causing leakage. This will generally show as leakage coming from underneath the machine.

Top Tips to Mend Your Dishwasher

Spend less by checking the gasket in place of the entire part. In many cases, you are able to acquire the gasket separately which saves you having to replace the entire part.
Test the simple solutions first. You don’t need to pull the whole dishwasher out if the problem is the soap.
Take photos as you go along. This might make your life easier when you come to reverse the process, show the component you are looking for in a store, and identify the problem to an engineer if needed.
Be careful. Water and electricity do not mix so turn off the power first.
If in doubt call a professional.

What To Do Next If Your Initial Investigation Doesn’t Identify or Resolve the Leak

If the root of the problem can’t be uncovered the thing you can do is to pull out the machine to get better access underneath it as well as add water to the tub to find out if the leakage can be seen that way.

If you don’t find any leakages with this method your appliance could only leak if the pump is running. In this instance, you may wish to get a service engineer to determine and mend the problem as there are safety risks of running the dishwasher with electrical components uncovered.