The water drains completely from our dishwasher, but several days later there's a terrible odor coming from it. When I look inside, there's more water in there which wasn't there after the last time I used it. Please help.
By Linda Richards from GA
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I can't say for sure if this will help, but it might temporarily while you figure out the underlying problem.
Do you have a garbage disposal? There seems to be some tie in via suction/vacuum/air pressure between garbage disposals and dish machines. Run hot water and a lemon slice or two or pour some baking soda and run the disposal for way longer than you think it needs, all the while running lots of water.
I've found sometimes there is unprocessed food in disposal and when the suction thing happens and backs up, it interferes with the dish machine drainage.
No, I don't have a garbage disposal. And I agree with you about wondering if all this is worth the trouble. The problem here is that I don't use my dishwasher very often...maybe 3-4 times a year! lol But I still get standing water in in it. I cleaned it yesterday with vinegar & got the odor out, but this does seem like trouble I shouldn't have to go through seeing as how I rarely use the thing!
I would check the drain area in the bottom of your dishwasher. Perhaps something to big to go down the drain is now blocking it allowing stale, dirty water and food bits to remain in the washer and it is decaying causing your odor.
It has to be clogging in the drain/pipes and/or a venting problem.
I would check by the grate in the bottom... remove what ever pieces of the dishwasher down there you can because it is most likely food stuck somewhere that is rotting and creating the blockage. This happens most often when you hardly use your dishwasher as to those who use theirs daily.
I've cleaned the drain. That still doesn't explain why after a few days, water starts gathering in the bottom. I ran the dishwasher through a short cycle a couple of days ago to get that standing water & smell out.
You have a bad water valve sediment gets into it and water wraps through slowly filling the dish washer shut off the water valve to dish washer and see if it stops filling
Since it appears the drain is not clogged then perhaps, as I mentioned earlier, you should check your venting even if that means having to hire a professional. Something must be improperly vented for the water to keep backing up.
You should check to see that the drain tube from your dishwasher to the main drain under the sink is oriented properly. It needs to be facing at a least 45° angle UPWARD from the pipe it ties into. Any less than that and when large amounts of water are drained from your sink they can back flow into the dishwasher. Oftentimes the pipe that the drain attaches to can turned when large items are moved around under your sink causing a previously working system to start backing up.
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