Is Your Dishwasher Not Drying Dishes?

It turns out drying your plates could in actual fact be harder for your machine than cleaning them. Dishes and cups have lots of nooks and crannies that may collect water preventing it from drying out, thus as your dishwasher loses heat water condenses out of the steam.

Dishwashers also make use of a number of methods to get your plates dry. Certain models will have a heating coil to heat up the inside of the dishwasher and help with evaporation, some warm the water further nearing the end of the cycle, certain models employ a fan, and others make use of a combination of all three. There are therefore a variety of reasons why your dishwasher could not be drying crockery and cutlery optimally and a variety of things you can do to rectify the situation.

Plastic is less likely to dry fully than other materials as it doesn’t retain heat in the same way which helps with the drying process, so it’s worth seeing whether the drying issue is related to the material rather than the machine.

If your dishwasher isn’t drying properly you can enlist the help of a dishwasher repair service or first utilize this troubleshooting list to figure out what the problem is and with any luck fix it.

Top Reasons Your Dishwasher Isn’t Drying Plates

There is nothing more frustrating than a home appliance that doesn’t work as it’s meant to, regardless of whether its a smartphone, tumble dryer or dishwasher we expect them to do the job they were made for. If you open your dishwasher to discover wet plates there are a few places you can look to help you figure out the problem.

Not all dishwashers are built to the same spec and some appliances perform to a better standard compared to others. However, if if your dishwasher has always dried your crockery and cutlery in the past one of these faults may be the problem.

Check How Your Machine Has Been Loaded

It might be that there is no fault with the appliance. Before assuming the machine is faulty you should look at how it has been loaded, ensuring it isn’t overloaded. It’s also worth noting that plastics don’t dry as well as metal, glass or ceramics.

Check The Rinse Aid Dispenser

Rinse aid plays a key role in drying your crockery and cutlery and so if you’ve forgotten to top up or the rinse aid dispenser is faulty this can stop your dishes coming out properly dry.

The best thing to do is check the rinse aid dispenser for damage and check that it’s full.

Check The Heating Coil

Without enough heat your plates will not dry so a faulty heating coil might be the reason your machine is not working as it should. If your dishes don’t feel hot at the end of the cycle this can indicate that the heating element is broken.

To check the heating element first disconnect the machine, then locate the heating coil, you might need the instruction manual to do this, and use a multimeter to check it’s working.

Have a Look at the Thermostat

The thermostat stops your dishwasher getting too hot, determining the temperature of the water and the drying part of the cycle. However, if it’s faulty this can result in your dishwasher not heating up at all.

If you check the heating coil and do not uncover an issue but there’s still no heat, then the thermostat may be at fault. Once again you can check this with the help of a multimeter.

Check The Drying Fan and Vent

Many appliances will employ a drying fan and vent to suck moist air out of the machine. If either of these elements are broken then the steam will remain in the appliance preventing the plates from drying.

You can utilize your instruction manual to find out if your machine uses a fan and find its location. Again you need to double check the machine is disconnected before trying to access the fan.

First look at the fan and vent to see if anything is blocking it that would prevent it from operating correctly. If there is nothing obvious you can then test for continuity using a multimeter.

Tips to Boost Drying Capability

There are a number of methods you can use to increase how well your dishwasher dries your dishes and prevent you needing to dry them by hand as little as possible.

Allow ample space between crockery and cutlery. Overfilling the machine stops the flow of air and water decreasing the effectiveness of your appliance when it comes to both cleaning and drying your dishes. Although it’s tempting to try and cram everything in, your appliance will work better if you leave enough space so that water and air can circulate freely.
Utilize rinse aid. Some detergents already have this but even so, adding a separate rinse aid to the dishwasher won’t hurt. 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 new machines do this automatically, but if yours doesn’t, opening the door at the end of the program allows warm air to evaporate and prevent water droplets forming as the dishwasher cools down.
Have a look to see if your appliance uses a heat feature and make sure it’s turned on. The higher the heat the better the drying and you might be able to add more heat at different points in the program.
Unload the lower level before the top. This doesn’t affect how well your machine works, but it prevent and water spilling that has collected in the concave bottoms of cups and glasses.

If you have checked all the above it may be necessary to phone the professionals or perhaps buy a new dishwasher.