In case you missed this story the first time it happened, at least 2 years ago, I'm telling it again. Not because I just like the story, but because it happened again.
I already mentioned that we worked our tails off and got the dishwasher installed, and then it didn't drain properly. I couldn't even feel or hear water trickling through the drain hose. It just wasn't working. So I poured, in several batches, a liter of vinegar in and then closed it up for the night and went to bed with prayers that the dishwasher would work.
I had concluded that the drainage system was full of mineral deposits that I had scraped off the walls and "whirlybird" (that's the official term, from the repairman instructions that came with it!) inside the dishwasher. I hoped the vinegar would soften and dissolve the deposits into the water that was sitting in the dishwasher.
What the vinegar fumes did was loosen the deposits all through the dishwasher.
But it still didn't drain.
I prayed that it would work, and be fixed miraculously, but it still didn't drain. So I tried everything I could, inclusing sticking a pipe cleaner down the drain. Nothing worked.
So I prayed again and pulled the thing out--not an easy task, especially since my wrench wouldn't fit and I had to use pliers to undo the compression nut on the copper tubing, while lying on my side and working through a six-inch opening with a one-year-old cheerfully sitting astride me pulling my hair and taking alternately the wrench and the pliers--whatever I put down--to try to help. I was terrified he would hit me, but all that happened was I lost a few handfuls of hair. To him, not to me tearing it out.
Finally we got the thing out and worked on two obvious problems--gave the power cord the extra inch it needed to plug right into the plug adapter, skipping the extension cord (which can be a fire hazard, especially under a sink), and tightened all the little bolts on the part that leaked. Then I rocked the thing back and forth and up and down and drained tons of water and soft semi-dissolved mineral putty out. Banged it out of the hose, too, and then turned the whole thing on its side and felt every hose. I was afraid to take everything off--I didn't want to break the turbidity sensor, or lose any of the springs. Even with the "exploded" diagrams, I was afraid to take it all apart because some of the parts were very complex--this is a much newer dishwasher than I'd ever fixed before. Plus some of the clamps were old enough that I knew if I took them off, they'd break (I've seen it happen before), and I didn't have new ones, and wouldn't have a car until tomorrow late because Tim is out of town rehearsing with moosebutter, so I couldn't buy more.
So, after I had done everything I thought was prudent, I turned the whole thing back upright, which drained the last of the water and gunk out, and did all the work of hooking it back up and shoving it back in (and pinched Ben's fingers!), and then I turned the power on and ...
It was like there was no change, except that the leaky part no longer leaked, and the cord was indeed long enough.
So, back to my knees, I explained my desperation to Heavenly Father that I had to have a dishwasher, and how I would go for a different one if that was the right answer but I was getting desperate to be able to feed my family.
Then back to the kitchen. I stared at the thing. Read the repairman's guide again. Stared at it more. Watched a bit of the kids' movie, played nintendo for minute, handed out bottles and checked on Dan while he threw up. Fed everyone burritos and popsicles for dinner. It seemed apparent that one of the pumps wasn't working, and I didn't want to deal with that.
And then, back in the kitchen, it occurred to me that time in the previous owner's garage, plus all the moving, might have loosened some of the many electrical plugs under the dishwasher. I dove down to tighten them and then thought better of it and unplugged the dishwasher first (it says on the repair panel that some of the inside parts are purposely not grounded and there is danger of shock). Then I lay down on my side again and tightened every plug I could reach.
Plugged the whole thing back in again, and...it still didn't drain. BUT, when I turned it on and filled it and then cancelled the cycle so it would drain,the drain hose under the sink jumped. This meant that the pumps were now working.
Back to the instructions, the first thing it said to check was the air gap--that thing that sticks up by the faucet on the sink where you can hear gurgling when the dishwasher is running. I had checked it before, but this time I got out a screwdriver and started taking it apart. I stuck the screwdriver down the gap to release the catch, and there was instantly a splutter, and a cough, and then the gushing sound of water running. It was draining!
When it was done, I pulled the cap off and found it absolutely plugged with hard, dry mineral deposits that crumbled in my fingers. With that clean, I turned it on "drain" again, and had a gushing fountain all over the kitchen counter! I quickly opened the dishwasher, put everything back together, and then, delighted, listened to the whole thing drain.
Then we put it all back together and started a cycle with no soap to be sure it would work and to clean the inside. The Vingar that had been sitting in there for 24 hours had sufficiently loosened all the deposits inside that when we opened it, the water was all frothy as if we had put soap in.
And it worked!
Once again, Heavenly Father taught me how to fix the dishwasher. And once more, it was one step at a time, with no clue that it was merely a step and not the end. Each time the new idea hit my mind, I was sure it was the answer to all the problems. But had I been inspired to take apart the air gap first, I wouldn't have fixed the leak (it was so small, and so much work to get the whole thing out again) or the loose plugs (fire hazard, especially with a leak underneath!). So, once again, I am extremely grateful--and reminded that in the "bigger" things in life, when it doesn't work out, that Heavenly Father usually doesn't show us the end or the whole process, but merely the next step--and only then if we pray and work hard doing everything we know to do.
He knows what he's doing.
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