sabotlours | The Dishwasher

Before we left on the cruise last month, our dishwasher started making the most god-awful noise. Instead of a nice hum, it started making loud, vibrating sounds. The spray arms seemed to move just fine, so I had no idea. I figured it was just on its way out. I think it's nearing 10 years old. Well, if we have to replace it, we'll replace it in the new year.

While I had some time over Xmas, I decided to take as much apart inside the washing chamber to see what I could see. One thing I noticed is that I no longer heard the "whoosh whoosh whoosh" of the spray arms when it operated normally. Perhaps something was impeding it/them. The arms are driven by water pressure and not mechanically. I took the drain/arm assembly completely out, and outside of a drain mesh that needed a little cleaning, everything appeared normal. I then checked the water outlet that drives the arm. Ah ha! What is this! Somehow one of the plastic detergent pods did not dissolve and somehow made its way around the drain mesh and into the outlet. It was preventing much of the water from flowing freely into the lower arm which then made the arm not capable of spinning freely and instead just vibrating. Why the plastic never dissolved is beyond me. How it got into the outlet is beyond me. Perhaps the outlet is 2-way and also acts as a drain. What I do know is that everything is back to normal and is functioning fine. And I don't have to go appliance shopping!