Monday, October 20, 2008

Exorcist Dishwasher

First thing, I have to apologize for forgetting to blog last Monday. I beg off with the excuse of the most horrible cold I have ever had. Didn't leave my house for five days. So my mind wasn't working all too great.

Today, I want to tell you about my Exorcist dishwasher. Most of you know I moved into a new house at the beginning of the year, and have been working through the list of contractors, uh, messes, for lack of a nicer word ever since. But this dishwasher thing caught me by surprise.

I'd put on a load of dishes to wash then went in the bedroom to fold laundry and watch tv. I went back to the kitchen a while later. The dishwasher was done with the dishes, but I noticed a ton of water on my kitchen counters. So I was thinking "man, you made a mess rinsing off those grape, then I realized the water ran all the way down the counter. So I look at the floor, expecting to see a flood, but it's dry.

By then I'm confused, but still looking for an answer. I look up at the ceiling, even though it hasn't rained, and all is clear. So then I figure maybe the dishwasher backed up into the sink and it did an Old Faithful routine. Then the sink should be wet, right? I peer over into the sink...dry as a bone.

Now, physics is one of those sciences that has always confused me but I DO understand the basic principals. It was official...I had an exorcist dishwasher. So I did what any mystery writer would do - I turned the dishwasher back on so that I could solve the case.

I'm disappointed to say that the answer wasn't near as interesting as the problem, but then in a way, I guess that's true about most crime. It's usually about something basic and sordid, like money, power, sex, or greed - and the occasional high school cheerleading slot.

So this is what happened. On the left side of the faucets on my sink is an overflow valve. (Some of you might have a salad shooter there instead) Well, the dishwasher drains into the garbage disposal, and sometime the garbage disposal can back up into the dishwasher line and cause blockage. When that happens, the water then comes out of this overflow valve. Which is a great solution as long as you've got your overflow valve turned to face the inside of the sink. But you see, mine was facing the back of the sink, so when the dishwasher tried to drain and couldn't, all the water went shooting out across my cabinets - not a drop IN the sink.

So mystery solved. And a project on the table. Had to take that line off and clean it out before I could use the dishwasher again, but hey, now I can add dishwasher repair to my long list of jobs I can now perform.

Deadly (Dishwashing Diva) DeLeon

14 comments:

Jenyfer Matthews said...

Good for you. I always find it strangely satisfying to solve problems like that :)

Terri Osburn said...

I had a problem similar to this in the spring only I've never figured it out. I went out to my truck one morning to find more than an inch of standing water on the floor on the driver's side. Nothing else in the truck was wet. Not the door, the windshield, the steering wheel or column, or the seat. Just this giant puddle on the floor which seemed to come from no where.

I know the door was shut tight and so was my window. I couldn't feel any water up under the dash and there was nothing on the passenger side. It never happened again so I never figured it out. But I still wonder about it now. LOL!

Congrats on adding the new skill to the resume!

Anonymous said...

LOL! What a bizarre problem. Congrats on solving the mystery, though!

Leslie Langtry said...

Jana,
You are my hero. I'm so clueless about physics that my friends say (when I have that screwed up face) "Don't worry Les, it's a physics thing."
Way to go!

Christie Craig said...

Jana,

LOL. I hate mysterious misbehaving appliances. Sounds as if you outsmarted it though. And probably did it cheaper, better and faster, than a plumber would have.



CC

catslady said...

You would love my "old" dishwasher. I find water on the floor but only now and then. Sometimes it eats itself - yep. old pieces have fallen off or broken and then it grinds it during one of the cycles - sounds wonderful. The upper rack is held together with wire. Yeah I need a new one but they aren't made that size anymore so it means I need a new stove and the cabinets are old - if you give a mouse a cookie... lol

Estella said...

Good for you! I have to be my own handyperson, too.

Jana DeLeon said...

Me too, jenyfer!

Jana DeLeon said...

terrio - Now you've got me wondering. I might have to ask around. :)

Jana DeLeon said...

Thanks, tori!

Jana DeLeon said...

LOL Leslie - yeah, I don't know what it is but as soon as someone starts trying to explain to me how time overlaps - I think it's cool, but you may as well be speaking greek.

Glad I'm in good company. :)

Jana DeLeon said...

Yeah, Christie, I talked to the plumber, but they wanted a minimum of $95 just to look at it. Took me all of ten minutes to fix after I googled it - you gotta love the internet.

Jana DeLeon said...

ugh catslady - and a whole remodel is so danged expensive. Well, keep holding it together with bread ties and duct tape!

Jill James said...

I've had that happen. The dishwasher guy showed me how to run it and clear it once in a while so that doesn't happen, but of course I hadn't even remembered that until I read your story. LOL