whirlpool dwf 415

[ironstone]

I hope somebody can narrow the possibilities down for me —

I am trying to fit this dishwasher which is about 6 or 7 years old but unused as it has been in storage since new. Apart from a lot of cobwebs, dead flies etc. everything is pristine. Starting up on any program, the pump seems to run for a minute or two, then it starts to take in water, and after about half a minute the light starts flashing – 6 times, pause, 6 times, and so on . After about another half minute, it pumps out, and the flashing changes to 7 times, etc. Then it stops. I hold the button in for about 4-5 seconds and it goes through a pump out process and finally stops.

I have read plenty of the postings on here and gather that many whirlpool models have common fault codes, and I have tried to check those that seem to give similar faults, but have found nothing obviously wrong – i.e. water is flowing into the tank behind the left side panel, and a meter on the terminals shows ‘pulsing’ when water is flowing in, so presumably flow meter is ok? There is no sign of corrosion/dirt on any terminals on the main pcb, and nothing is loose. I disconnected the water indicator connection which also looks as new, and tried to get the pressure valve assembly out to see if the switch behind the diapragm works but I couldn’t persuade it to come out. Can that be tested electrically at the pcb end of the cable? Also there is another electrical connection to a white plastic thing which plugs into the bottom of the pressure valve with 2 blue wires coming out of it going to the pcb – this is a bayonet connection and comes out but I have no idea what it is – looks similar to a temperature sensor you would find on a car cylinder head, about 40mm long and 5mm diameter sealed tube – is this testable?

My worst-case fear is either the pcb has died from causes unknown while in a container through several years of British weather and temp. extremes, and I am going to have to replace lots of expensive parts which are in as new working order, or I will end up scrapping it and paying out for a new one when there is some trivial cause.

Any helpful suggestions would be most welcome. If it helps, the code no. is 85 45 415 15650 pcb code is 317 ser. no. is 33 0123 001433.

P.S. Do they really make the cabinets out of recycled razor blades – I’m running out of plasters?

[Goatboy]

Re: whirlpool dwf 415

ironstone wrote:P.S. Do they really make the cabinets out of recycled razor blades – I’m running out of plasters?

Sucks, don’t it 😕

6/7 flashes is a water filling problem. I guess it’s the white plastic thing that’s faulty, though it could be the black diaphramy thing, or the PCB.

Unplug first please :zap: And don’t live test!

[ironstone]

Re: whirlpool dwf 415

Further info for anybody who might find themselves in a similar situation..

Having checked out all the water-flowing-in parts of the machine, and the water-level part of the machine, I decided that there was no mechanical fault to be found. However, during this excercise I saw plenty of mouse droppings in the water tray which forms the bottom of the casing, and some corrosion of the galvanised steel, which indicated some fluid stronger than plain old condensation!

I removed the plastic “box” containing the main pcb and opened it up (just simple plastic clips) and removed the pcb. More mouse evidence, but no teeth marks on anything. There was staining on parts of the pcb, so I cleaned it all with isopropyl alcohol and lint-free cloth, including the edge contacts where all the various plugs are connected – the cloth was a horrible colour. I believe you can use neat vodka as a substitute, just don’t drink it afterwards.

Put it all back together and fired it up, and EVERYTHING WORKS!!

I want to thank all those many contributors to this great site for such a public-spirited way that all the information and experiences are shared, and for helping me to check out all the possibilities, and eventually saving me the cost of a new dishwasher. Just a brilliant result!

[Author]

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