Dishwasher Fills With Water Between Loads

LESLIE: Mary in Massachusetts is on the line with an appliance that’s acting up..  What’s going on, Mary?

MARY: The bottom fills up with water and I mean probably an inch or two. But say we run the dishwasher at night. Like I got up this morning at seven, there wasn’t anything on the bottom of the dishwasher. And about an hour later, it was filled. And it’s been doing that. And we don’t understand what’s going on. We’ve had the hoses checked, make sure they’re not bent or anything or – but we can’t figure it out.

TOM: OK. So have you cleaned out the bottom of the dishwasher? Sometimes, the dishwasher drain gets clogged. That’s the easy fix right there.

MARY: Oh, yeah. We’ve done that.

TOM: So you have no food particles there?

MARY: No.

TOM: So there must be an obstruction somewhere that’s causing it. There’s an obstruction somewhere in the line that’s causing the water – the plumbing in that part of the house to back up and it’s just evidencing itself in the dishwasher.

Have you checked the connection to your garbage disposal?

MARY: Well, I don’t have a garbage disposal.

TOM: You don’t? So it drains where? Does it drain into the trap under the sink or where does it drain?

MARY: Right. Into the trap under the sink.

TOM: Yeah, I think you’re backing some water up there. It’s going back up the hose and into the dishwasher.

MARY: Alright. Then I’m going to have somebody come over. We did have someone come over. I don’t think he’s – he honestly couldn’t figure it out. He checked the hoses and made sure they weren’t bent or anything. And he stayed for a while and yeah – and it happened again. The water started coming in after he ran it.

TOM: So if you’re running it and it’s not draining, then there’s a different set of causes for that. It’s either a drain pump or the drain impeller or there’s a solenoid kit that has to do with removing the water. But if you’re telling me this water is showing up when you’re not running the dishwasher, then I think it must be backing up through the plumbing system. OK, Mary? So I think that’s a good approach.  Start by hiring a good plumber.