It’s time to do your dishes, and you’re used to the humdrum routine of loading your dishwasher and letting it do its job. Unfortunately, your dishwasher springs a leak, and water starts to pool on your floor. What do you do?
A knowledgeable appliance repair technician can get you out of such a fix. But before you fish out your phone and call a repair company, you might need to read up on possible reasons behind a leaking dishwasher.
Quality Appliance Repair Calgary LTD fills you up on surprisingly easy and quick fixes that can stop or prevent a leak and potentially costly repairs. Here’s a peek at some of the common causes of a leaky dishwasher.
- Cracked Hoses
Over time, your dishwasher’s hoses or valves may start showing signs of wear. As a safety precaution, unplug your dishwater from the power outlet before checking its hoses for visible signs of wear and tear.
Besides, faulty hose connections could result in leaks. If that’s the case, it’s easy to spot water dripping from connection points. Conduct a visual inspection of your machine’s hoses for looseness or corrosion. Still, you can feel for water on hoses by running your hand along with them. Plugging such a leak may necessitate replacing the cracked or rusty parts you come across.
- Leaky Gasket
The location of a puddle from a leaky dishwasher can help you narrow down the possible sources of a leak. Case in point, if you find that water accumulates on the floor in front of your machine, a worn or damaged door gasket could be the culprit.
Again, a visual inspection is all you need to figure this out. With the dishwasher’s door open, check the rubber seal for signs of wear or ripping. If the seal appears damaged, you can buy a similar replacement part and fix it. But if you’re not handy or you’re unsure about how to replace the seal, have a repair technician do it on your behalf.
- Clogged Filter
Regular dishwasher maintenance can avert leaks. Part of this involves cleaning your appliance’s filter. Your dishwasher’s filter keeps dirt and food remnants from flushing down the drain and ruining your drain pump.
Unfortunately, failure to clean the filter could lead to clogging. As a result, your dishwasher would puddle inside. Eventually, the pooled water can find its way out through the front seal or other outlets.
You might need to check your user manual to find out how to pop out the filter. A soft brush will get the job done, minimizing the risk of a leak or eventual breakdown.
- Obstructed Air Gap Fitting
A dishwasher’s air gap prevents contaminants of wastewater from flowing back into your machine. Generally, the drain from your dishwasher and sink are interconnected at some point. Unfortunately, debris buildup from your sink can obstruct the dishwasher’s air gap. When such clogging occurs, the notching on the air gap fitting could start releasing water.
If you notice such a leak, slide your cleaning gloves on because it’s about to get messy! Manually get rid of visible contaminants from the air gap and drainage tubes. Doing so prevents wastewater from flooding your dishwasher, which could lead to irreparable damage. Include air gap and filter cleanup in your monthly to-do list to ward off clogs and leaks.
- Crooked Positioning
If your dishwasher sits on an uneven floor, a leak could be imminent. Your machine can efficiently work if placed on a level surface. Slow drainage, pooling, and leakage could be issues if your appliance isn’t level.
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How do you figure out if your appliance is level? A trusty good-old carpenter’s level is all you need. Set the level atop the front of your dishwasher to check for levelness from side to side.
If the machine appears tilted from front to back, set the level- to check for alignment- on the dishwasher’s bottom rail (where the rack rolls). After that, manually adjust your dishwasher’s screw-on legs to ensure it is level.
- Float Switch Issue
The float switch serves the critical role of maintaining the optimum water level in your dishwasher. If your dishwasher’s float switch is out of whack, your appliance could overfill, leading to leaks. To the uninitiated, nailing down such an issue could be difficult. As such, you might need to call in an expert to check your machine for a possible float switch problem.
Now, let’s suppose you’ve inspected your dishwasher but can’t seem to trace a water leak. If you’re stumped after all else fails, you can involve a knowledgeable professional to get to the bottom of the issue. An expert repair technician can unearth a leak and conduct preventive maintenance to minimize your machine’s downtime.
