Is Your Dishwasher Not Drying Dishes?

It turns out drying your crockery and cutlery may really be more arduous for your machine than removing the dirt. Dishes and cups have lots of nooks and crannies that can collect dishwater preventing it from drying out, plus as your machine cools down water droplets form out of the humid air.

Dishwashers also utilize a number of different approaches to get your crockery and cutlery dry. Some opt for a heating coil to heat up the inside of the dishwasher and assist with evaporation, some warm the water more nearing the end of the cycle, others have a fan, and others employ a mix of all of these. There are therefore a variety of reasons why your machine may 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 other materials as it cools down more quickly hindering the drying process, so it’s worth seeing whether the items that aren’t drying are predominantly plastic items.

If your dishwasher doesn’t seem to be drying properly you can hire a dishwasher repair service or first employ this troubleshooting guide to figure out what the problem is and with any luck fix it.

Top Explanations Your Dishwasher Isn’t Drying Dishes

Few things are more annoying than an appliance that doesn’t work as it should, regardless of whether its a tv, washing machine or dishwasher we expect them to do the job they were designed for. If you open your dishwasher to discover wet plates here are a number of troubleshooting tips to help you figure out the issue.

Not all makes and models are built to the same spec and some dishwashers do a better job of drying your crockery and cutlery than others. However, if you notice a change in how well your machine is working one of these faults may be the problem.

Have a Look at How Your Dishwasher Has Been Loaded

It might be that there is no fault with the machine. 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.

Check The Rinse Aid Dispenser

Your dishwasher needs rinse aid to properly dry your dishes thus, if you have run out of rinse aid or your rinse aid dispenser is faulty this can result in wet dishes at the end of the cycle.

Visually inspect the rinse aid dispenser for cracks and ensure that there is rinse aid inside.

Check The Heating Element

Without enough heat your dishes will not dry so a faulty heating element may be the explanation your machine is not working as it should. If your dishes don’t feel hot to touch when they come out of the machine this can indicate 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 may need the instruction manual for this, and check for continuity using a multimeter.

Inspect the Thermostat

The thermostat stops your appliance getting too hot, adjusting the heat of the water and air during drying. However, if it’s broken this can mean your machine doesn’t heat up at all.

If you check the heating element and do not find an fault but your machine isn’t getting hot, then the thermostat might be the problem. Once again you can make sure with the help of a multimeter.

Check The Fan and Vent

Many dishwashers will utilize a drying fan and vent to remove the warm moist air out of the machine. If the fan isn’t operating as is should or the vent is blocked then the water vapor will condense on the crockery and cutlery instead preventing them from drying.

You can employ your user manual to ascertain if your appliance uses a fan and locate it. Don’t forget to make sure the dishwasher is disconnected before attempting to access the fan.

You can visually inspect the fan and vent to see if anything is blocking it that might stop it from functioning correctly. If there is nothing obvious you can then test for continuity using a multimeter.

Tips to Boost Drying Capability

There are a variety of methods you can use to improve your machines drying ability and make sureyou need to get the drying up cloth out as infrequently as possible.

Don’t overfill the dishwasher. Overloading the appliance stops the flow of air and water decreasing the effectiveness of your dishwasher when it comes to both cleaning and drying your dishes. Although it’s appealing to try and cram everything in, your machine will be more effective if you leave enough space so that crockery and cutlery are not touching.
Make use of rinse aid. Some dishwasher tablets already have this but even so, adding a separate rinse aid to the machine can only improve matters. Rinse aid helps reduce spotting and gives your glassware in particular a streak-free finish but it also breaks the bond between water molecules and your crockery and cutlery helping the water to run off them and consequently making them dry more quickly and evenly.
Open the door at the end of the program. Some new models have this as an automatic function, but many do not, thus, opening the dishwasher at the end of the cycle can help allow the water to escape and stop water condensing on the contents as the machine cools down.
Find out if your machine employs a heat feature and make sure it’s turned on. The higher the heat the better the drying and it might be possible to add more heat at different points in the cycle.
Empty the bottom rack first. 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 crockery and cutlery below.

If none of the above solves the problem it could be a good idea to call in an engineer or even buy a new machine.