A dishwasher is your absolute best friend in keeping your kitchen neat. It saves you the nightmare of hand cleaning stubborn stains on the pots and dishes.
Having a dishwasher saves your washing and drying time by many folds. Broken or malfunctioning heating elements can ruin the experience and bring misery.
Here is a guide to help you deal with a bad heating element in your dishwasher.
How Do I Know If My Heating Element Is Bad In My Dishwasher?
If you notice that your dishwasher after a full heat dry cycle is unable to dry your dishes properly or can not wash away the rigid stains after a wash with the heated cycle on, there is a high possibility that the heating element of your dishwasher has gone bad.
What Can Cause The Heating Element In Your Dishwasher To Go Bad?
There are many visible symptoms of your heating element of your dishwasher going bad. The dishwasher does not dry the dishes when put through a heat dry cycle.
This is one of the most common behaviors to notice if there is something wrong with the heating element of your dishwasher.
This leads to the question if the heating element got corroded, blistered, has internal damage, or maybe even has cracks.
First of all, you should know that a heating element present in the dishwasher is responsible for maintaining the water temperature within the dishwasher.
So when the dishwasher refuses to dry the utensils effectively and the dishes do not come out as clean as they should, there is a possibility that the heating element of the dishwasher has gone bad.
The faulty heating element of your dishwasher can be a result of a poor heating element included in the system by the manufacturer.
The next issue could be the quality of water that is used in the dishwasher.
Poor water quality can lead to the growth of limescale and cause the heating element of your dishwasher to go bad.
This can create rust and corrosion and compromise the dishwasher’s functionality.
A corrupted power supply can cause the circuit of the heating element to malfunction and make the heating element go bad in your dishwasher.
The rough and rampant usage of the dishwasher may lead to wear and tear and break the heating element of your dishwasher.
If not completely broken this may also lead to having a blistered and tampered heating element that will reduce its usefulness.
How To Check That The Heating Element Of Your Dishwasher Has Gone Bad?
Now you should know the symptoms displayed by dishwashers of not being able to provide properly cleaned and dried dishes can also be a result of using detergents that are not suitable for your dishwasher.
You can change your dishwashing detergent to cross-check if the problem is caused by your dishwashing detergent.
However, to test the heating element in case the problem is not the detergent you need a multimeter to check this issue and follow the following steps.
- First of all, you will need to remove the heating element from the bottom of the dishwasher.
- Next, you need to set the multimeter to measure resistance in ohms and hold the red and black lead on the heating element to check out the resistance level.
- If the reading shows a value between 10-50 Ohms, the heating element is good to go.
- If the reading shows random insignificant values, it indicates that the heating element has gone bad.
How To Fix The Heating Element That Has Gone Bad In Your Dishwasher?
If you are familiar with DIY projects or know your around electronic appliances and have the right tools you can work on the heating element all by yourself.
For self-diagnosis, you need to disconnect the dishwasher from the power source. Next, you need to open the appliance.
You need to get to the bottom to find the heating element beneath all the wiring and structures.
It is usually complicated and would require a lot of time to find and fix the heating element.
It is also quite tricky to find the right heating element for your specific dishwasher.
However, if you are not sure, you should hire a mechanic who can sort the issue and help you fix the heating element on your dishwasher.
In situations where repairing is not a feasible option and would only fix the dishwasher temporarily, it is wise to replace the entire dishwasher.
FAQs
Can Your Dishwasher Run Without The Heating Element?
Yes. It certainly can but you would need to towel dry the dishes.
Should You Repair Or Replace Your Dishwasher With A Damaged Heating Element?
If the damage is not severe, you can hire a mechanic and get the heating element replaced.
If your dishwasher malfunctions too much then it is better to get it replaced.
What Is The Lifetime Of A Heating Element In A Dishwasher?
Typically a dishwasher’s heating element lasts for about 12-18 months depending on the usage and wear and tear of the dishwasher.
Final Thought
To be fair, a dishwasher that is unable to bring out dry and stubborn stain-free dishes can also be a result of a faulty dishwasher with a bad dishwashing detergent.
To be on the safe side, in a situation like this, if fixing the detergent does not fix the performance, immediately check the heating element of your dishwasher.
Get it replaced or repaired once diagnosed and enjoy hassle-free and time-saving dish cleaning days.
