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 could pool water stopping it from drying out, thus as your machine loses heat water droplets form from the steam.

Different machines also utilize a variety of methods to dry your plates. Some will employ a heating element to warm the air in the dishwasher and help the water to evaporate, some warm the water further near the final rinse, others have a fan, and others employ a mix of all three. There are consequently a variety of reasons why your dishwasher might not be drying dishes fully and a variety of things you can do to improve the situation.

Plastic items are more difficult to dry than other materials as it cools down more quickly hindering the drying process, so it’s worth taking note whether the drying issue is related to the material rather than the machine.

If your dishwasher doesn’t seem to be drying effectively you can enlist the help of a dishwasher repair service or first utilize this troubleshooting guide to figure out what the issue is and with any luck fix it.

Top Reasons Your Dishwasher Isn’t Drying Dishes

Few things are more annoying than an appliance that isn’t working as it should, whether that’s a smartphone that really isn’t being that smart, a washing machine that’s churning out dirty clothes, or a dishwasher that is either not removing the dirt from or drying your crockery and cutlery. If you open the dishwasher to wet plates here are a number of troubleshooting tips to help you figure out why.

Not all appliances are built to the same spec and you will find that some makes and models do a better job of drying your plates than others. However, if you notice a change in how effectively your dishwasher is working one of these faults may be the cause.

Check the Placement of Your Dishes

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

Have a Look at The Rinse Aid Dispenser

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

Visually inspect the rinse aid dispenser for cracks and ensure that there is rinse aid inside.

Inspect The Heating Coil

Without enough heat your plates will not dry so a not working heating element could be the explanation your appliance is not drying crockery and cutlery. If your crockery and cutlery aren’t hot to touch at the end of the cycle this can mean that the heating element isn’t working as it should.

To inspect the heating coil you will need to unplug the appliance, find the heating element, you may need the instruction manual for this, then check for continuity using a multimeter.

Inspect the Thermostat

The thermostat ensures your dishwasher doesn’t overheat, regulating the heat of the water and air during drying. However, if it’s broken this can mean your appliance doesn’t heat up at all.

If you check the heating coil and do not find an issue but your machine isn’t getting hot, then the thermostat might be the problem. Once again you can check this with the help of a multimeter.

Inspect The Drying Fan and Vent

Many machines will utilize a fan and vent to remove the warm moist air from the machine. If either of these elements are faulty then the water vapor will remain in the dishwasher preventing the crockery and cutlery from drying.

You can make use of your instruction manual to check if your machine has a fan and find its location. Don’t forget to double check the dishwasher is unplugged before attempting to access the fan.

You can look at the fan and vent to ascertain if anything is blocking it that might prevent it from working as it is supposed to. If there is nothing obvious you can then test for continuity using a multimeter.

Ways to Boost Drying Power

There are a variety of things you can do to increase your machines drying ability and make sureyou have to hand dry as infrequently as possible.

Don’t overload the dishwasher. Overcrowding the machine inhibits the flow of both water and air 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, you will get better results if you leave enough space so that dishes are not touching.
Utilize rinse aid. Some detergents already have this but even if the brand you use says it does, adding a separate rinse aid to the machine won’t hurt. Rinse aid helps reduce spotting and gives your glasses a streak-free shine but it also breaks the bond between water molecules and your plates helping the water to run off them and therefore speeding up drying times.
Open the door at the end of the program. Some new models do this automatically, but if yours doesn’t, opening the door at the end of the program allows warm air to escape and prevent water droplets forming as the dishwasher cools down.
Find out if your machine employs a heat feature and utilize it. Setting a higher heat will mean better drying times and you might be able to choose which points in the cycle you add more heat.
Unload the lower level before the top. This doesn’t affect how well your machine works, but it does stop water from cups and glasses falling on dishes below.

If you have checked all the above it could be necessary to call in an engineer or even buy a new machine.