Dishwasher woe!

[Fab Foodie]

Is it dead?
Went out today left the dishwasher on it's fave setting and on our return, no washing joy. It was stgill running but appeared not to have filled with water. There was a slightly sickly electrical plastic overheating smell too.
Checked filters, and water supply, it's like the valve's not letting water in. I've left it a few hours to 'cool down' before I try and run it again.

It's a 9 y/o Bosch Maxx Classic, it gets run at least once every day and twice at w/ends so it owes us nothing .... but I'd rather have it fixed if feasible.
I've not interrogated UKwhitegoods yet ....

Any ideas out there or is it off to John Lewis Online?

 

[fossyant]

No expert, but if cleaning filters doesn't work and there is a burning smell,d then it's either get someone in, or just get new. Our washer packed in earlier this year, done about 8 years heavy use. Burning smell, checked everything and I suspected motor gone. Not serviceable so bought new.

 

[Nebulous]

We had a 19 year old Bosch which finally turned up its toes a couple of months ago. We were very concerned about it, as it was of a type which could strip paint. Several relatives have reasonably new ones, that may be economical, but they don't actually wash. We bought the cheapest Bosch we could get from John Lewis, and it works very well.

 

[Smokin Joe]

Is it dead?
Went out today left the dishwasher on it's fave setting and on our return, no washing joy. It was stgill running but appeared not to have filled with water. There was a slightly sickly electrical plastic overheating smell too.
Checked filters, and water supply, it's like the valve's not letting water in. I've left it a few hours to 'cool down' before I try and run it again.

It's a 9 y/o Bosch Maxx Classic, it gets run at least once every day and twice at w/ends so it owes us nothing .... but I'd rather have it fixed if feasible.
I've not interrogated UKwhitegoods yet ....

Any ideas out there or is it off to John Lewis Online?

A firefighter would have a fit if he read that.

One of the biggest causes of domestic fires are appliances left running unattended, dishwashers being the worst. I used to argue with Mrs SJ about leaving the washing machine on when she went out, she though I was being too fussy till we were running it one day and one of the drum support arms broke on the spin cycle. The smoke and shower of sparks that emitted finally convinced her I was right.

Right, smug lecture over. Carry on as you were.

 

[ArDee]

As there was no water it's probably the inlet valve not passing.

Most likely the coils brunt out and gone open circuit, it's unlikely to have short circuited as you say the dishwasher was still running and the fuse or breaker should have gone if the coil was short circuited.
Check for a circuit through the coil and for a magnetic field at the end of the coil. There's a magnetic probe thing that checks for a magnetic field when the coil is meant to be on; sometimes you can check if the coil is working by using a screw driver to check for a magnetic field. Any Multimeter will check for the coil circuit.
If there is a magnetic filed when it's meant to be open. Check the inlet filters and the valve's core is moving, if you can get the valve apart, pull it out and clean it if it's not, getting ride of any scale, etc.
If there is no magnetic field check the coil circuit and replace the coil, if you can take the coil off.
On most equipment now you'll need to replace the inlet manifold, that comes with valves and coils complete, as you won't be able to get the valve parts or get replacement coils.

 

[gwhite]

I used to hanker for the days when "white goods" were made to last and thought they were over. Not so I found. When browsing the net for a replacement Washing machine I touched on a website belonging to a professional repairman who gave a run-down on all the popular brands. Most of these belonged to only three companies but he amazed me when he stated that one company still held to the principle of making machines that were designed to last at least twenty years. I did check and their website states that this is so. The German company "Miele" is the one which holds to this principle and while their products usually costs a bit more, the quality and durability justifies this.
No connection and all that.

 

[Andrew_Culture]

If it's a Bosch there'll be a diagnostics program you can run using the buttons on the front panel, try googling the model number and 'error codes'

 

[mickle]

Meile here too. Dishwasher, vacuum cleaner, fridge and washing machine. If they made a bicycle we'd probably buy one of them too.

 

[Fab Foodie]

Cheers all. I'm gonna have a go at fixing it, inlet valve first.

Miele (UK) are based in Abingdon so are readily available and also very long lasting, BUT, they're very expensive too, even at 'trade' price or staff discounted rates. If you have the cash available, they're a good buy.

 

[threebikesmcginty]

Have you turned it off and then on again?

We've just bought a Beko one after doing the internet research, we had a Miele before and it was very good but flipping expensive.

 

[threebikesmcginty]

Blimey Mort, there really is a Miele bike firm (or was?)...

 

[mickle]

Blimey Mort, there really is a Miele bike firm (or was?)...

My Missus is gonna love this!

 

[srw]

A firefighter would have a fit if he read that.

One of the biggest causes of domestic fires are appliances left running unattended, dishwashers being the worst. I used to argue with Mrs SJ about leaving the washing machine on when she went out, she though I was being too fussy till we were running it one day and one of the drum support arms broke on the spin cycle. The smoke and shower of sparks that emitted finally convinced her I was right.

http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/statistics/xls/5687416.xls
Table 2. There are only about 6,000 domestic fires a year caused by faulty appliances. Most domestic appliance fires are caused by misuse of appliances or equipment.
Table 3. only 5,000 fires a year are caused by "other electrical applicances" - which includes washing machines and dishwashers.

So, with about 30,000,000 households in the country you've got about a one in 5,000 chance each year of falling victim to a fire caused by the correct use of an unspecified appliance, and considerably smaller chance of falling victim to the correct use of a washing machine or a dishwasher.

I make that a risk worth taking for the occasional convenience of being able to leave a dishwasher or a washing machine going while I'm out.

If you're a smoker and want to cut down your risk of burning your house down, you'd do better to give up than to stop using your dishwasher. There are about 3,000 fires a year caused by "smokers' materials" - and with fewer than half of households now containing smokers that's a significantly higher risk.

 

[Pennine-Paul]

I used to hanker for the days when "white goods" were made to last and thought they were over. Not so I found. When browsing the net for a replacement Washing machine I touched on a website belonging to a professional repairman who gave a run-down on all the popular brands. Most of these belonged to only three companies but he amazed me when he stated that one company still held to the principle of making machines that were designed to last at least twenty years. I did check and their website states that this is so. The German company "Miele" is the one which holds to this principle and while their products usually costs a bit more, the quality and durability justifies this.
No connection and all that.

As an ex white goods engineer I used to recommend Miele machines to my customers,not the best looking out there
but they rarely break down,most modern washers etc are only built to last 5 years so you have to go out and buy another

Only ever saw 1 bad fire due to an electrical fault tho,the bearings failed on a tumble drier,causing the drum to jam
and the heat bult up setting fire to the machine ( the elements are fitted with 2 thermostats ,1 a resettable one which
cycles to maintain the correct temp and 1 thats supposed to blow if it overheats,both failed with catastrophic results )

Re the op's problem a burning smell can be umpteen things,usual culprit is the main pc board, you can usually smell
the burnt component if you sniff it up close,most inlet valves simply go open circuit it's a simple enough job to change
the valve though,if a new valve does't cure it I would'nt bother with a new board (If there's an electrical fault on the machine
it will blow the board again and they're not cheap)

 

[Cheddar George]

Sounds a familiar story, some people i know lost their kitchen.

http://www.recalluk.com/latest/bosch-dishwasher-recall-2011.aspx