Is Your Dishwasher Not Drying Dishes? | Las Cruces Appliance Repair

It turns out drying your plates could really be harder for your dishwasher than cleaning them. Plates and glasses have lots of nooks and crannies that could trap dishwater making it more difficult for it to evaporate, thus as your appliance cools down water condenses from the steam.

Different machines also employ a variety of different methods to get your plates dry. Some opt for a heating coil to warm the inside of the dishwasher and assist the water to evaporate, some heat the water further near the final rinse, others make use of a fan, and certain models employ a combination of all three. There are thus a variety of reasons why your machine could not be drying crockery and cutlery optimally and a number of options to improve the situation.

Plastic items are less likely to dry fully than other materials as it cools down more quickly hindering the drying process, so it’s worth taking note whether the items that aren’t drying are predominantly plastic items.

If dishes are coming out wet you can hire a dishwasher repair service or first utilize this troubleshooting guide to figure out what the issue is and with any luck fix it.

Top Reasons Your Dishwasher Isn’t Drying Crockery and Cutlery

Few things are more annoying than a home appliance that isn’t working properly, regardless of whether its a smartspeaker, tumble dryer or dishwasher we expect them to do the job they were made for. If you open the dishwasher to wet plates here are a number of troubleshooting tips to help you figure out why.

Not all appliances are created equal and some dishwashers perform to a better standard compared to others. But if if your dishwasher has always dried your plates in the past one of these faults may be the cause.

Have a Look at the Placement of Your Plates

It might be that there is no fault with the dishwasher. Before assuming the appliance is faulty you should look at how it has been stacked, ensuring it isn’t too full. It’s also worth noting that plastics are more difficult to dry than metal, glass or ceramics.

Check The Rinse Aid Dispenser

Rinse aid plays a key role in drying your dishes therefore, if you have run out of rinse aid or your rinse aid dispenser is not working this can result in wet plates at the end of the cycle.

The best thing to do is check the dispenser for cracks and check that it’s full.

Check The Heating Coil

Heat is essential for drying your crockery and cutlery so a faulty heating element might be the reason your dishwasher is not working as it should. If your crockery and cutlery don’t feel hot to touch when they come out of the machine this can mean that the heating coil is faulty.

To inspect the heating coil you will need to disconnect the dishwasher, find the heating coil, you could need the owners manual to do this, and use a multimeter to check it’s working.

Inspect the Thermostat

The thermostat ensures your appliance doesn’t overheat, determining the temperature of the water and the drying part of the cycle. Therefore, if it’s not working this can mean your machine doesn’t heat up at all.

If the heating element seems to be in working order but your machine isn’t getting hot, then the thermostat could be the issue. Again you can make sure with the help of a multimeter.

Check The Drying Fan and Vent

Many appliances will use a fan and vent to suck moist air from the machine. If either of these elements are faulty then the hot air will condense on the plates instead leaving them wet.

You can make use of your user manual to find out if your dishwasher has a fan and find its location. Don’t forget to make sure the machine is disconnected before attempting to make repairs.

First look at the fan and vent to check if anything is blocking it that could stop it from operating as it should. If there is nothing obvious you can then test for continuity using a multimeter.

Ways to Increase Drying Power

There are a variety of things you can do to improve how well your machine dries your dishes and prevent you needing to dry them by hand as little as possible.

Allow sufficient space between crockery and cutlery. Overloading the machine inhibits the circulation of both water and air decreasing the effectiveness of your machine when it comes to both washing and finishing your dishes. Although it’s appealing to try and stuff everything in, you will get better results if you leave enough space so that plates are not touching.
Make use of rinse aid. Some detergents already have this but even so, adding a separate rinse aid to the machine will do no harm. Rinse aid helps reduce marks and gives your glasses a streak-free finish but it also breaks the bond between water molecules and your plates helping the water to run off them and therefore making them dry more quickly and evenly.
Open the door at the end of the program. Some new dishwashers have this as an automatic option, but if yours doesn’t, opening the machine when the cycle finishes can help allow the water to escape thus stopping water condensing on the dishes as the appliance cools down.
Find out if your machine uses a heat feature and make sure it’s turned on. The higher the heat the better the drying and you might be able to add more heat at different points in the cycle.
Think about how you empty your machine. This doesn’t affect how well your machine works, but it prevent and water spilling that has collected in the concave bottoms of cups and glasses.

If none of the above solves the problem it may be time to call in an engineer or even buy a new dishwasher.