Frequently Asked Appliance Questions & Answers

Do you have a Bosch or ASKO dishwasher that is not working properly, but you continually hear a whirring noise as though something is running even when the dishwasher is off? Your dishwasher may have a leak.

On ASKO, Bosch, and select other import dishwashers, there is a wafer in the bottom of the dishwasher pan. When water accumulates in this pan and soaks the wafer, it expands and rises until it presses upon a microswitch, called a float switch. If the switch continues to be activated, with the dishwasher off, the dishwasher knows that there may be a leak of some kind. To minimize the risk of the machine leaking onto your beloved kitchen floor, the dishwasher continually runs the drain pump until either the machine dries out or is fixed.

Keep in mind that the drain pump running continually is not the problem, but the symptom. If any tubes and hoses are clogged or dirty, the compartment with the float switch may be unable to drain properly, incorrectly signaling to the dishwasher that there is a leak. If this is the case, the component parts of the dishwasher need to be disassembled, cleaned and dried out. If the problem is a leak, the next step should be locating the source of the water leak and fixing it as soon as possible, before the problem gets worse. For both, you should rely on a professional appliance repair service. CALL US to schedule your service call.

It’s a long answer, because there are many things that can influence the wash performance of your dishwasher. Here we will walk through several of the things that are within the control and ability of the average consumer.

1. Run hot water at the sink faucet before starting a cycle. The hot water pipe can have gallons of cool water trapped between the dishwasher and the water heater, so evacuating this water by running the nearby faucet helps to prime the pipe with hot water, which is necessary to get good wash performance.
2. Use rinse aid. Don’t just use it, make sure that your rinse aid dispenser is set at the highest setting. The highest setting on most dishwashers dispenses approximately 3 mL or rinse aid, which performs well in reducing water spots and helping food debris to slide off of the dishes during rinse. At a default setting, only 1 mL is typically dispensed. This is simply not enough to be effective, which is part of the reason that many people imagine rinse aid to be ineffective. It’s not; it just needs to be properly administered.
3. Use an appropriate amount of detergent. Too much detergent is as bad as too little. You should use no more than necessary, and a handy solution is using a prepacked product like Finish Quantum tabs. They perform well, and keep you from overusing detergent. Free samples are available through our technicians or at our parts counter at 72nd & Dodge.
4. Use a water softener. In San Antonio, we have very hard water, and this impedes our wash performance. This isn’t an option for everyone, but adding a water softener can help wash performance.
5. If all of this fails, call a certified and trained technician to look at the dishwasher. There may be a mechanical problem within the unit that can be easily solved by an expert. If you need service, please call Appliance Repair Solutions at 210-650-5776 for all of your appliance repair needs.

When your microwave quits heating, the inevitable question is whether to repair the microwave or replace it. While the answer will never be 100% clear without having a factory trained technician inspect the microwave, allow me to educate you as to some of the factors to weigh:

1. Microwaves are made of up of about 2-3 relatively expensive parts, and many little inexpensive parts. There’s not much middle ground, so generally the microwaves are repairable at an affordable price, because it’s the small affordable pieces that fail most often.
2. For some of those expensive pieces there are often aftermarket options available. Magnetrons are a semi-common failure in microwaves, and are somewhat expensive, but there are often aftermarket versions of the magnetrons available for half the price of the original manufacturer’s parts. We don’t often recommend aftermarket parts, but magnetrons are the exception, as none of the large OEMS build their own magnetrons directly anyhow.
3. Carry-in service is also available, and is generally significantly cheaper than in-home repairs. For our business our diagnosis fee is $30 less for in-shop repairs, and the repairs are also less. This is a good option for keeping repair affordable on smaller portable appliances like microwaves.
4. We generally do not recommend that customers work on their own microwaves. Microwaves in particular have a high voltage capacitor that can retain a dangerous amount of electricity even when the machine is unplugged. While we are happy to give advice on anything, this fact precludes us from recommending do-it-yourself microwave repair.

As always, if you need quality service in San Antonio Area on your microwave call Appliance Repair Solutions at 210-650-5776, to get a trained and certified technician out to your home at once.