Baumatic dishwasher tripping RCD

[diyStan]

I’ve had a BDW2 dishwasher for 19 months and it has just starting tripping the main RCD near the beginning of a cycle. Initially, it would fill OK and then shortly after, trip out. On the glass wash, it seems to trip out straight away.
I’ve had a careful look and checked for a short to earth on all the major components underneath. I’ve done a continuity check on the heater element and thermostat. All ok.
Now it’s getting worse and doesn’t even want to fill. The drain pump goes, so maybe it is sensing some water still, even though it’s empty?
What I need is some advice on the normal procedure for checking all the possible problem areas. ANY advice would be very welcome.
Thanks.

[macmini]

Re: Baumatic dishwasher tripping RCD

to be honest, i think an engineer would be best to diagnose this one.

Click the red toolbox to find an engineer in your area.

[diyStan]

Re: Baumatic dishwasher tripping RCD

Thanks for the reply MacMini, but I’m after some advice on what to look for, before I have to call someone out. In other words, what would a professional look for?

[whitevanman]

Re: Baumatic dishwasher tripping RCD

diyStan wrote: In other words, what would a professional look for?

A professional would use a meggar, testing with 500v between the component and earth, testing the insulation breakdown. This is what causes the rcd to trip

Hope that helps

Wvm

[realengineer]

Re: Baumatic dishwasher tripping RCD

tripping electric is a fault involving water
leak first thing to look for
but as said b4 u need a profesional
full test repair the damage and of u go

other thing is blown mainfilter
again u need a engineer

be safe and leave it to proooooooooo

better safe then sorry

[diyStan]

Re: Baumatic dishwasher tripping RCD

Thanks guys. I’ll take all that onboard. Maybe I’ll have one last look before I pick up the phone.

Cheers!

[womaninshoe]

Re: Baumatic dishwasher tripping RCD

Hi, did you get anywhere with your dishwasher? I’ve got a Baumatic BDW13, had it approx 15 months, it has started tripping the electric this weekend, works fine on a rinse programme but any wash cycle and the whole house goes off! Just spoken to Baumatic, who have never heard of this sort of problem!! They want £75 to send someone to look, am reluctant to part with the money incase they then write it off, it’s the second problem i’ve had with it and a new one is only £229 on some webshops.

[christopher]

Re: Baumatic dishwasher tripping RCD

We had a problem with our Baumatic BDW05 (fitted, integrated model) – Dad fixed it in the end but he needed to buy a new part… I think he managed to source it from the local hardware shop!

The parents are in France at the moment, but I’m ringing them up tomorrow to have a chat – and as the dishwasher has tonight started doing something else funny, I need to ask Dad where he put the user manual for the bloody thing anyway so I can diagnose the problem! (looks like it’s not draining though, drainage hole is full to the top with nasty grimy water but I stuck my hand in and couldn’t feel anything, so I hope the drainage pipe isn’t blocked up… That’s gonna be rubbish).

If I get an answer from him I’ll reply asap.

[christopher]

Re: Baumatic dishwasher tripping RCD

Ok, so I asked my Dad… I typed this up as he was speaking to me (literally, I’m a fairly fast touchtyper so this is pretty much as I heard it, forgive the stream of consciousness style but it should all make sense).

In our dishwasher, the heating element was shorting to earth – we had to order a replacement from Baumatic Direct (there’s a web site and a phone number to ring, Google for it) – cost £45 for ours, you have to give your model number as they’re different for each one (or so we believe). There’s a serial number on the plate on the door if that helps. There’s also a drop-down panel at the front to test the terminals if you don’t want to get the entire dishwasher out and break it down into bits. To see if this component is at fault, test the earth integrity of heater element by unplugging connections to heating element (use a multimeter).

The actual component looks like a flat metal plate with two metal rings – sticking out are two spikes, the end part of the heating element. The mains connects to them, and they go up through the underside of the dishwasher to the heating element (inside the dishwasher).

Unplug the wires from the spikes and test the resistance between earth and heating element and inner. It should be infinite but ours dropped to about 1 meg(ohm), which means that the insulating powder inside the tube which separates the wire from the metal outer of the heating element had broken down and was therefore shorting. Newer dishwashers have a metal sheath around the water inlet which heats the water as it comes into the dishwasher, so no exposed heating element, but that was the problem with ours due to it using the more arcane method.

If you don’t have a multimeter, you can still perform rudimentary tests to see if this is the problem – take off both leads from the bottom of the heating element, insulate them with tape so they don’t touch anything else, and then see if the dishwasher runs through the cycle ok without shorting any fuses or tripping your house’s RCD, then that’s your problem.

The panel’s at the bottom underneath the door at the front – it’s plastic and hinged, and it’s a pain to get to. My Dad took the entire dishwasher out of its fixture and took the side off (which worked out to be easier in the end) but you can get easy access to the terminals from the front panel. The whole thing’s held in by a single bolt apparently.

So, as you can see, so long as you aren’t afraid of getting your hands dirty (and have some knowledge of physics) you should be at the very least able to see if this component is the cause of your problem without having to call out an engineer just to test for a problem. Of course, if you aren’t 100{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} confident that you can do this without killing yourself and/or blowing up the entire dishwasher, then of course call in a pro to service the machine 🙂 We managed to get it all fixed through for the princely sum of £45, but it was a right pain in the arse deducing the cause of the problem. (And we didn’t realise just how much more of a pain fitted dishwashers are to remove from their fixture and then shuffle back in afterwards – our dishwasher was poking out from under the work surface for about 3 weeks, because it was just too heavy to lug in and out all the time!).

Hope this info comes in useful for you 🙂

[Penguin45]

Re: Baumatic dishwasher tripping RCD

So – safety thermostat replaced. Any of the above procedures should be carried out with the power off.

Regards,
Penguin45
(T’other Chris).

[christopher]

Re: Baumatic dishwasher tripping RCD

Haha, in not so many words 😀

[Author]

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