# Dishwasher is not draining all the way



## DIYerTX (Apr 10, 2012)

I have a Kenmore dishwasher that for some reason does not want to drain completely. There is usually a small amount of water standing even after the dishwasher has not been used for a bit. Just curious on what I can do to fix this.


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## woodchuck (Apr 10, 2012)

It is normal and necessary for a small amount of water to remain to prevent the seals from drying out and cracking and leaking. If it's cleaning good don't worry.


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## DIYerTX (Apr 11, 2012)

It cleans good but usually have soap scum which I think is from the hard water we have.


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## marine8221 (Apr 11, 2012)

Do you have a garbage disposal?  
Does it occur every use?
How old is it? 

-scott


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## DIYerTX (Apr 11, 2012)

Yes I have a garbage disposal and yes it does. The dishwasher is probably a few years old. I bought the house a year ago.


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## marine8221 (Apr 12, 2012)

The dishwasher is an item we always spend a little extra time and money on selecting .  As you know,  when they don't work properly, it's terrible, especially if you have kids.  

Does the machine have a built in disposal, to grind, and/or a screen to filter large particles? Model number?

Overloading may reduce performance, but since you mentioned it happens every time, I'm sure you have not overloaded it every time...  I know we have pushed the limits of our washer around the busy times, but certainly not every time.

Also, I had the same problem, with our kitchenaid, (our second house, second Kitchen Aid dishwasher - both DIY installed) it turned out that we had food in the garbage disposal (not the disposal built-into the dishwasher) that was slowing down the pump from evacuating all the wastewater as it backed up in the garbage disposal where it drains.  So now we run the disposal for a few seconds before we start the dishwasher, and problem went away. So no fault of the machine itself.

Lastly, I try to save energy in other areas like heating home, and other electric used to offset the cost of using the high temp scrub and other options on the dishwasher.  

I understand you may have already attempted these things, let me know. 

Scott


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