Is Your Dishwasher Not Drying Dishes?

It turns out drying your dishes could really be more difficult for your machine than getting them clean. Plates and glasses have lots of nooks and crannies that could trap water preventing it from drying out, thus as your machine loses heat water condenses from the steam.

Dishwashers also utilize a variety of methods to get your dishes dry. Some will use a heating element to heat up the inside of the machine and assist with evaporation, some heat the water to a higher temperature nearing the final rinse, some have a fan, and others use a combination of all of these. There are thus a number of explanations why your machine may not be drying plates optimally and a number of options to rectify the situation.

Plastic is less likely to dry fully than glass or ceramics as it cools down more quickly hindering the drying process, so it’s worth noting whether the drying issue is related to the material rather than the machine.

If your dishwasher isn’t drying effectively you can call a dishwasher repair service or first employ this troubleshooting guide to help you identify and rectify the problem.

Top Explanations Your Dishwasher Isn’t Drying Dishes

Few things are more irritating than an appliance that doesn’t work as it’s meant to, regardless of whether its a smartspeaker, air conditioner or dishwasher we expect them to do the job they were made for. If you open the dishwasher to wet plates there are a number of troubleshooting tips to help you figure out the problem.

Not all appliances are built to the same spec and some dishwashers perform to a higher standard compared to others. However, if you notice a change in how effectively your dishwasher is working one of these issues may be the cause.

Inspect How Your Machine Has Been Loaded

It might be that there is no fault with the appliance. Before assuming the appliance is not working you should first check that you haven’t overfilled it or accidentally stacked items one inside the other. It’s also worth noting that plastic items are more difficult to dry than metal, glass or ceramics.

Inspect The Rinse Aid Dispenser

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

Visually check the rinse aid dispenser for damage and ensure that it’s full.

Check The Heating Coil

Heat is essential for drying your dishes so a broken heating coil could be the reason 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 element you will need to disconnect the dishwasher, find the heating coil, you might need the manual for this, then use a multimeter to check it’s working.

Check the Thermostat

The thermostat ensures your machine doesn’t get too hot, determining the temperature of the water and the drying part of the cycle. Therefore, if it’s not working this can result in your machine not reaching a high enough temperature.

If you check the heating element and do not uncover an fault but there’s still no heat, then the thermostat might be the problem. Again you can make sure using a multimeter.

Inspect The Fan and Vent

Many dishwashers will utilize a drying fan and vent to remove the warm moist air from the dishwasher. If the fan isn’t operating as is should or the vent is blocked then the water vapor will remain in the machine preventing the dishes from drying.

You can employ your user manual to find out if your appliance has a fan and locate it. Don’t forget to ensure the appliance is disconnected before trying to make repairs.

First visually inspect the fan and vent to check if anything is blocking it that would stop it from functioning as it should. If there is nothing obvious you can then test for continuity using a multimeter.

Tips to Increase Drying Ability

There are a variety of methods you can use to improve your appliances drying ability and prevent you needing to dry them by hand as little as possible.

Allow ample space between dishes. Overfilling the machine limits the circulation of air and water decreasing the effectiveness of your machine when it comes to both washing and finishing your dishes. Although it’s tempting to try and stuff everything in, your appliance will be more effective if you leave enough space so that crockery and cutlery are not touching.
Utilize rinse aid. Some detergents already have this but even so, adding a little extra to the machine will do no harm. Rinse aid helps reduce spotting and gives your glasses a streak-free finish but it also breaks the bond between water molecules and your dishes helping the water to run off them and thus allowing them to dry faster.
Open the door at the end of the program. Some newer machines do this automatically, but if yours doesn’t, opening the machine when the cycle finishes allows warm air to evaporate and prevent water condensing on the contents as the machine cools down.
Check if your appliance employs a heat feature and make sure it’s turned on. The higher the temperature the better the drying and it might be possible to choose which points in the cycle you increase the temperature.
Think about how you empty your machine. This doesn’t affect how well your dishwasher 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 time to call in the professionals or perhaps buy a new machine.