Dishwashers & Ovens

Drainage, heating and error codes on kitchen appliances.

8 articles

• Dishwasher Won't Drain and the Filter Is Clean — Look at the Plumbing

  The most common cause of a dishwasher that will not drain is not inside the dishwasher at all.

• Oven Not Heating: Electric and Gas Fail in Completely Different Ways

  The first question is not what broke. It is whether the oven is gas or electric, because the two share almost no failure modes.

• Dishwasher Not Spraying: Check Whether the Arms Turn Before Blaming the Pump

  Spin the arms by hand before anything else. Two seconds of checking eliminates the most common cause.

• A Smoking Oven: The Colour and the Smell Tell You Whether to Worry

  Three kinds of smoke, three completely different responses. One of them means switch it off at the wall.

• Tablet Not Dissolving: Water Temperature, Dispenser Flap, or Where You Put It

  The tablet is a symptom. Something stopped water reaching it, and the residue is just where the evidence landed.

• Oven Reaches a Temperature and Stops: Sensor, Element, or Door

  Getting warm and getting hot are different problems. This one is usually a sensor reading high or an element that has half failed.

• White Film on Dishes: Limescale or Etching, and They Are Not the Same

  Try to wipe it off. That single test decides whether this is a settings problem or permanent damage.

• A Humming Disposal Is Jammed, Not Dead

  The hum is the motor trying. Every unit has a hole in the bottom for exactly this situation.