Fisher and Paykel DD603I - Top Drawer Not Draining at End of Cycle

[vwcampin]

Fisher and Paykel DD603I Double Drawer dishwasher.  Bottom drawer is functioning as it should.  Just recently the top drawer appears that it is NOT fully draining at the end of the wash cycle and is also not drying as it normally did (which may simply be due to the excess water n the tub) It is not throwing any codes or errors and when going into boot mode, the drain cycle appears to work fine as it drains the tub as expected and the water flow coming into the sink drain appears to be similar to the bottom drawer.

Ideas on may be the culprit here or further troubleshooting activities I can perform?

[J5*]

Theres a few things to look at 

first look at the bottom of the rotor and check it for wear 

second check the plastic in the draw where the rotor goes , you are feeling the piece of plastic in there called the land 

the land can get damaged , 

the lands job is to direct the water down the drainhole , if its damaged then the water will recirculate around the rotor and wont pump out 

actually first thing is to check the drain connections and hoses

next issue can be the one way flapper valve which is under the drawer at the end of the drainhose , old ones swell up and will get jammed , you can stick a cable tie down from the inside of the drawer during your testing to push it open and then trying the rotor again 

Just remember these are 14-21 years old now so be careful getting involved in stuff you dont know about 

Edited January 12, 2022 by J5*

[vwcampin]

Thanks so much for the feedback.  I replaced the rotor last year and have performed multiple repairs on this over the years, so I am comfortable getting my hands dirty with it.  I’ll go through your recommendations in the next couple days and report back with my findings.

[vwcampin]

Well I’m back with an update.  Pulled the rotor and it looks good and spins freely and smoothly.  I replaced it last year so it should.  The land looks fine and when running the rinse cycle in boot mode, it seems to clear water just fine.  I also pulled the drain hose and was able to freely blow through it to the sink drain easily.  So everything checked out.  Put it back together and just started a cycle…NEW INFO:

While I don’t know the order of all of the cycles it goes through during a wash, I’d estimate we were well over half way through a wash cycle and you could hear an unusual noise.  A lot of water sloshing and then then dripping/running.  Stopped the cycle and opened the draw.  Water was DEEP in the drawer, above the grates a good bit.  Water was actually coming out of what I believe is a vent on the back of the drawer and running down to the base.  

So it would appear that during its normal wash cycle it is never draining.  Is it ‘skipping’ this cycle or?!?

Any new ideas or troubleshooting steps with this new info?

[vwcampin]

Responding to my own post now that I’ve been thinking and Googling…Could the issue be unrelated to draining and actually be an overfilling issue?  My current theory is that during the wash cycle once the fill process starts, the inlet valve may be faulty and is not shutting the water off.  Eventually the drawer gets full to the point where it starts overflowing out the back vent, and down to the bottom to trigger the flood switch.  The wash cycle is never even getting to the drain part due to over filling.

Is my logic sound?  Replace the inlet valve?

[J5*]

If you have a leaky valve then it would generally leak most of the time 

so you would come to it when its not running and it has water in it 

 

you could have an issue with the board so could swap the board between drawers  to eliminate or confirm this 

you could have a blockage between the filter and rotor so the rotor wont get enough water so wont know how much water is in it and will keep filling 

[vwcampin]

Good call on switching the boards, I’ll do that.  One item I did notice is that when in boot mode, when I go to the ‘fill valve’ setting water comes into the drawer as it should, but it does not shut off with the button push.  It runs for quite some time before finally stopping.  Not sure if this is normal or not. Will need to try it on the lower drawer as well.

[DADoESTX]

2 hours ago, vwcampin said:

when I go to the ‘fill valve’ setting water comes into the drawer as it should, but it does not shut off with the button push.  It runs for quite some time before finally stopping.  Not sure if this is normal or not.

Not normal.  The inlet valve(s) should close immediately upon pressing Keylock in the diagnostic test.

[vwcampin]

Thanks for confirming DADoESTX.  J5*, I swapped core boards this morning and running it in boot mode had the same water fill process NOT shutting off with the top drawer, so I am thinking it’s the inlet valve.  Swapped the boards back and on the lower drawer, the fill cycle turns off immediately when pressing the button as it should.

New inlet valve is on order, so we will see if it solves it once it arrives.

[J5*]

ok 

 

so heres the tip changing the valve and you have a double to change 

The clamps are a bit a bitch 

what ive always done is run a sharp blade around the end of the valve next to the clamp to remove the hose 

once you have the hose disconnected then you can get the clamps off by hand

i used a combo of pliars and long nose pliars to then undo the clamp 

they are quite tricky due to their design which you will see 

dont worry about the hose length as there will be enough 

Take note of the clamps positioning for when you out them back on 

oh and make sure you cover the mains filter board with a doubled up towel and be prepared once you cut the hose that a bunch of water will come out thats already in the hose 

other tip

i use long nose pliers to loosen the inlet hose nut 

before you remove it turn the water off and in diagnostics test the water valves to release the pressure 

A big set of slip pliars for the long nose for doing the clamps back up , ive never been able to get them fully tight again so dont be too concerned about it 

[vwcampin]

Thanks for the tips J5*!  Looks like the valve should arrive Saturday so I’ll take your advice.  Found a decent YouTube video on the process as well that shows the swap process in good detail.  I’ll be sure to let the group know my outcome.

[vwcampin]

Good news all, this can be closed out as a success.  The new inlet valve arrived yesterday and the install went pretty quick and easy all things considered.  Tested the water fill in boot mode and it turned on and off as expected.  First run of the upper drawer worked as expected as well, so I am back in business.

A big thanks again to this forum for helping me troubleshoot!