Is Your Dishwasher Not Drying Dishes? | Sugar Land Appliance Repair

It may not be the primary function but getting your plates dry could actually be harder for your dishwasher than removing the dirt. Crockery and cutlery and glasses have lots of nooks and crannies that could trap dishwater preventing it from evaporating, thus as your dishwasher cools down water condenses out of the humid air.

Dishwashers also utilize a variety of different approaches to dry your plates. Certain models will employ a heating element to warm the inside of the dishwasher and assist with evaporation, some warm the water to a higher temperature near the final rinse, others use a fan, and others employ a mix of all of these. There are consequently a number of reasons why your dishwasher could not be drying dishes optimally and a number of things you can do to rectify the situation.

Plastic is less likely to dry fully than glass or ceramics as it doesn’t retain heat in the same way which helps with 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 make use of this troubleshooting list to help you identify and rectify the issue.

Top Reasons Your Dishwasher Isn’t Drying Plates

Few things are more irritating than an appliance that isn’t working properly, whether that’s a smartphone that really isn’t being that smart, a washing machine that’s churning out dirty clothes, or a dishwasher that is either not removing the dirt from or drying your plates. If you open your dishwasher to discover wet plates here are a number of places you can look to help you figure out the problem.

Not all dishwashers are created equal and you will find that some dishwashers do a better job of drying your dishes than others. But if if your dishwasher has always dried your crockery and cutlery in the past one of these faults may be the cause.

Have a Look at the Placement of Your Crockery and Cutlery

It might be that there is no fault with the appliance. Before assuming the appliance is not working you should first check that you haven’t overloaded it or accidentally stacked items one inside the other. Also be aware that plastic items are more difficult to dry than metal, glass or ceramics.

Have a Look at The Rinse Aid Dispenser

Rinse aid plays a key role in drying your dishes thus, if you’ve forgotten to top up or the rinse aid dispenser is broken this can result in wet crockery and cutlery at the end of the cycle.

Visually inspect the rinse aid dispenser for cracks and check that it’s full.

Have a Look at The Heating Coil

Heat is essential for drying your crockery and cutlery so a broken heating element may be the explanation your machine is not working as it should. If your plates aren’t hot to touch at the end of the cycle this can mean that the heating element isn’t working as it should.

To inspect the heating coil first unplug the appliance, then locate the heating element, you could need the manual for this, and use a multimeter to check it’s working.

Inspect the Thermostat

The thermostat ensures your appliance doesn’t overheat, adjusting the heat of the water and air during drying. Therefore, if it’s not working this can mean your appliance doesn’t heat up at all.

If you check the heating coil and do not find an fault but there’s still no heat, then the thermostat may be the issue. Again you can test this using a multimeter.

Have a Look at The Drying Fan and Vent

Many machines will make use of a drying fan and vent to suck moist air from the machine. If either of these elements are faulty then the water vapor will form droplets on the dishes instead leaving them wet.

You can use your user manual to check if your appliance uses a fan and locate it. Again you need to double check the dishwasher is disconnected before trying to make repairs.

First look at the fan and vent to check if anything is blocking it that would prevent it from working as it should. And again testing for continuity using a multimeter.

Ideas to Boost Drying Capability

There are a number of methods you can use to increase your dishwashers effectiveness at drying and make sureyou need to get the drying up cloth out as little as possible.

Don’t cram the machine. Overfilling the dishwasher limits the flow of both water and air making cleaning and drying your dishes harder. Although it’s tempting to try and cram everything in, you will get better results if you leave enough space so that water and air can circulate freely.
Make use of rinse aid. Some detergents include a rinse aid but even if the brand you use says it does, adding a separate rinse aid to the dishwasher can only improve matters. Rinse aid works by breaking the bond between water molecules and your dishes, helping water run off quickly, speeding up drying time and giving a spot and streak free finish.
Open the door at the end of the program. Some newer dishwashers have this as an automatic option, but if yours doesn’t, opening the dishwasher when the program completes allows warm air to evaporate and prevent water condensing on the dishes as the dishwasher cools down.
Have a look to see if your appliance uses a heat feature and make sure it’s turned on. Setting a higher temperature will mean better drying times and it might be possible to add more heat at different points in the cycle.
Think about how you unload your machine. This is simply because cups and glasses that are upside down on the top shelf often have a concave bottom where water can pool. Emptying the bottom rack first stops you spilling this water onto the plates below.

If you have checked all the above it might be necessary to phone an engineer or perhaps buy a new dishwasher.