Is Your Dishwasher Not Drying Dishes?

It may not be the primary function but getting your crockery and cutlery dry could actually be harder for your dishwasher than removing the dirt. Dishes and cups have lots of nooks and crannies that can pool dishwater preventing it from drying out, and as your dishwasher cools water droplets form from the steam.

Different machines also employ a number of approaches to get your dishes dry. Certain models will employ a heating coil to heat up the inside of the machine and help with evaporation, some heat the water more nearing the end of the cycle, certain models use a fan, and certain models use a mix of all of these. There are thus a number of reasons why your machine may not be drying crockery and cutlery optimally and a variety of things you can do to rectify the situation.

Plastic is more difficult to dry than glass or ceramics as it cools down more quickly hindering the drying process, so it’s worth taking note whether the items that aren’t drying are predominantly plastic items.

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

Top Reasons Your Dishwasher Isn’t Drying Plates

There is nothing more annoying than a home appliance that isn’t working properly, regardless of whether its a smartspeaker, tumble dryer or dishwasher we expect them to do the job they were designed for. If you open the dishwasher to wet plates here are a few places you can look to help you figure out the issue.

Not all appliances are built to the same spec and some dishwashers do a better job of drying your plates than others. But if you notice a change in how effectively your dishwasher is working one of these issues could be the cause.

Have a Look at the Placement of Your Crockery and Cutlery

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

Check The Rinse Aid Dispenser

Your appliance needs rinse aid to properly dry your plates thus, if you’ve forgotten to top up or the rinse aid dispenser is faulty this can result in wet crockery and cutlery at the end of the cycle.

Visually inspect the dispenser for cracks and ensure that it’s full.

Inspect The Heating Coil

Heat is essential for drying your crockery and cutlery so a broken heating element might be the explanation your dishwasher is not drying plates. If your dishes aren’t hot at the end of the cycle this can be a good indicator that the heating coil is faulty.

To inspect the heating element first unplug the appliance, then locate the heating element, you might need the owners manual to do this, then check for continuity using a multimeter.

Check the Thermostat

The thermostat prevents your appliance overheating, 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 find an issue but there’s still no heat, then the thermostat could be at fault. Again you can make sure using a multimeter.

Have a Look at The Fan and Vent

Many dishwashers will utilize a fan and vent to suck moist air from the machine. If either of these elements are broken then the hot air will remain in the machine preventing the plates from drying.

You can make use of your instruction manual to find out if your machine uses a fan and find its location. Don’t forget to ensure the machine is disconnected before trying to make repairs.

First visually inspect the fan and vent to check if there is anything lodged that would stop it from working correctly. And again testing for continuity using a multimeter.

Tips to Boost Drying Power

There are a variety of methods you can use to increase your dishwashers drying ability and ensure you need to get the drying up cloth out as little as possible.

Allow ample space between dishes. Overfilling the appliance stops the circulation of both water and air making removing the dirt from and drying your crockery and cutlery harder. Although it’s tempting to try and stuff everything in, you will get better results if you leave enough space so that plates are not touching.
Use rinse aid. Some dishwasher tablets already have this but even so, adding a separate rinse aid to the machine can only improve matters. Rinse aid works by breaking the bond between water molecules and your crockery and cutlery, helping water run off quickly, speeding up drying time and giving a spot and streak free finish.
Open your appliance as soon as the program has completed. Some new models have this as an automatic option, but if yours doesn’t, opening the door when the program finishes allows warm air to evaporate and prevent water droplets forming as the machine cools down.
Have a look to see if your machine has a heat feature and make sure it’s turned on. The higher the temperature the better the drying and it may be possible to choose which points in the cycle you add more heat.
Empty the lower level before the top. This doesn’t affect how well your machine works, but it does prevent water from cups and glasses falling on dishes below.

If this trouble shooting guide hasn’t worked it might be a good idea to phone the professionals or perhaps replace your machine.