Power and door · 20 of 21
Dishwasher Trips the GFCI or Breaker
The power drops the moment it starts, or part-way through the wash, every time.
| What you can see | What it usually is | Whose job |
|---|---|---|
| It trips the instant the cycle is started | Something energised at the very beginning of a wash is leaking to ground, and the device sees it immediately | Ours, and leave the circuit off |
| It runs a while and then trips, usually at the same stage | A part that only comes on later in the cycle is the one at fault, which is why the machine seems fine until it is not | Ours |
| It holds again once everything has had a few days to dry | Moisture is tracking across a connection rather than a component having failed outright, so it will be back | Ours |
| It only goes when the disposer or the kettle is running too | The circuit is carrying more than it comfortably can, which is a question about the wiring rather than the appliance | An electrician |
A ground-fault device is not being fussy. It cuts the supply because current is leaving the circuit somewhere it should not, and in a dishwasher that usually means water has reached something electrical. Stop using the machine and call Viking Repair Denver on (303) 729-0972.
A ground-fault device compares what goes out with what comes back. When the two stop matching, current is going somewhere else — through water, through a damp joint, through insulation that has given up — and the device opens the circuit in a fraction of a second. It is doing precisely its job. The dishwasher is the thing with the problem.
Why it keeps happening in the older housing
In Congress Park and the streets around it, the cupboard under the sink is where the house put everything it gained later: the trap, the supply valves, a disposer, and the feed for a dishwasher that was never in the original plan. Everything in there sits within reach of a slow drip, and a connection that has been damp on and off for years will start tracking long before it looks corroded.
What the visit establishes, and what it does not
The point of the visit is to find where current is escaping, not to change parts until it stops. That means testing one component at a time with the circuit isolated, in the order the cycle brings them on, because a fault that only shows at one stage can only be found at that stage.
If the answer turns out to be the circuit rather than the machine, we will say so, and it goes to an electrician. Resetting a device that keeps tripping is the one response that makes the situation worse.
What to try before anyone drives over
- Press the reset on the device once, and once only. If it holds, run the machine empty and watch it. If it goes again, leave that circuit off and stop there.
- Notice when it goes: straight away, part-way through, or only on one particular cycle. That timing narrows this fault down faster than anything else you could tell us.
- Look for water where there should be none — a damp cabinet floor beside the machine, a mark under the front edge, a swollen board. Anything wet near the supply belongs in your first sentence on the phone.
That is as far as it goes without tools. If it is still wrong, call Viking Repair Denver on (303) 729-0972 and say when in the cycle it trips and whether anything nearby is damp — it is usually enough to know which part is coming on the van.
Every symptom, grouped by what you can see Water in, water out, cleaning, power and the door — the whole library on one page.
Clifford Nakamura
- Written
- On the van
- Service technician — controls and intermittent faults
- Years at it
- 22 years in the trade