Two quarts of water in dishwasher.

[lexus130]

New disposal, dish washer and clothes washer. Dish washer drains to disposal and from there around corner to where the clothes washer drains into the under house line that travels fifty feet to sewer line. The drain from the dishwasher that has the pipe to the roof over it is somewhat sealed in that there are clamps from the rubber drain pipe of the clothes washer to the cast iron pipe that goes into the under the house piping system

No matter how careful I am about not running any of the above fixtures at the same time, about once a week I will find an inch or so of water at the bottom of the dishwasher. On one occasion, I noted the backup of water to dishwasher from clothes washer which, I believe, lets out the most powerful gushes of drain water of the appliances. If clothes washer has not been used for days, I may find water in bottom of dishwasher. I am very careful to rinse and wipe dirty dishes before placing them in dishwasher that is used every other day. I have tried one of those drano type cleaning gels that was recommed for use which I think gave me some relief.

I suspect that I need to to call a plumber to clean those under house pipe lines carefully. Years ago this was required once per year before we started to use a real plumber instead of rooter people. In addition the drain of the dishwasher was reconnected to the disposal where before it had gone directly to the drain line.

Just recently I was required to replace 64 square feet of flooring as well as 24 yards of vinyl due to a leaky dishwasher. I don't want to experience that again.

Any comments would be appreciated.

[richapplyguy]

Sounds like your dishwasher drain hose is not routed right. You need to move it up above the drain fitting by at least a foot if possible.

[lexus130]

I looked into the twenty four inche high [cabinet floor to sink base] cabinet where the disposal is located. The drain tube [one inch diameter/flexible plastic] from the dishwasher comes into this cabinet at the lowest level possible, approximately at the same level as the bottom of the dishwasher. The drain tube's exit from the dish washer is out of sight. From the floor of the cabinet to the base of the disposal the measure is eight inches. The disposal is sixteen inches in height. This would make for a drain tube rise of twenty one inches.

The flexible drain tube enters the opposite side [from the dish washer] of the disposal. It's entry is to the left side of the disposal. The dishwasher is adjacent to the single kitchen sink.

I'm just not sure what you mean by "move it up above the drain footing by at least a foot". The drain tube enters the disposal near it's top and I assume it enters a pre drilled hole.

I operate the disposal with minimum refuse and water running a couple of times per day. Could I be causing water to travel to the dishwasher from the disposal? This I can continue to watch for.

[richapplyguy]

Sorry, I was wrong, you only need to raise the drain hose 2-3" to prevent disposal water running down to the dishwasher!!

[lexus130]

Thanks for your continued help.

What I have just done is to raise the drain line from the dishwasher where it
enters the cabinet under the sink as high as the slack would allow. In other
words that drain line from the dish washer that is within the cabinet moves upwards as high as allowable, then travels towards the top of the disposal where it is connected.

The drain line from the dishwasher is hidden as to where it is attached to the dishwasher and it comes into the cabinet at its lowest point under the sink where the disposal is located and now moves almost directly upwards and travels horizontally to where it is attached to the disposal near it's top. This was done using the slack in the drain line. I am hoping this this prevents water from the disposal immediately gravitating downward into the drain line and traveling to the dishwasher as it leaves the disposal when water is flowing into the disposal.

I hope the above makes sense. I wont really know if this helps the problem
until I have gone through a few cycles with these appliances. Today, and before I rearranged upward the drain line as described, two loads of clothes were washed without leaving water in the bottom of the dishwasher.

[theripster]

[QUOTE=lexus130]Thanks for your continued help.

What I have just done is to raise the drain line from the dishwasher where it
enters the cabinet under the sink as high as the slack would allow. In other
words that drain line from the dish washer that is within the cabinet moves upwards as high as allowable, then travels towards the top of the disposal where it is connected.
QUOTE]

Here is the way it needs to look. From the spot where the drainline attaches to the disposal it needs to go up about 3 inches before it does anything else. After that 3 inch rise it can go down sideways or whatever. It's that 3 inch rise right after the disposal connection that will prevent disposal water from leaking backwards into the dishwasher. I hope this makes it clearer. :D

[lexus130]

Richapplyguy and The Ripster,

Thanks for your help. I'll take care of the suggestion regarding the three inch rise at the drain exit from the disposal right now. I have a load of dishes ready to go. I'll add the final results about this time next week.

[lexus130]

I reached under the kitchen sink to where the drain from the dishwasher is attached to and near the top of the disposal. While fishing around this hard to get to spot I discovered a broken wire. It is obvious this was a wire the plumber had attached to hold the drain tube the few allowable inches above where it is attached to the disposal. The still attached end of the wire was around a support for the kitchen sink. Evidently, at some point in time the wire had broken allowing the drain tube to sag.

I installed one of those plastic ties where you place the tip of it through a small hole. With this tie wrapped around the kitchen sink support and the drain, I pulled it tight. This caused the plastic drain tube to rise two or three inches above it's entrance to the disposal, as you suggested.

[curiousmom]

Did this fix your water problem? I thought my dishwasher wasn't draining, then realized it is getting water in it when not running. The hose problem was already corrected, and still it gets water in it.

[theripster]

[QUOTE=curiousmom]Did this fix your water problem? I thought my dishwasher wasn't draining, then realized it is getting water in it when not running. The hose problem was already corrected, and still it gets water in it.[/QUOTE]
curiousmom, I would sugest that you try turning off the water supply line to your dishwasher and see if it still gets water in it. If it does then the problem is external. If it does not, then the problem is internal, and perhaps a leaking water inlet control valve. If it still happens, but the length of time required is much longer then it is probably still internal, and probably also still the inlet valve, but you also have a problem with the main supply valve leaking as well. :)

[lexus130]

The answer I received here in regards to a couple of inches of water in my dishwasher was that I needed to raise the drain from the dishwasher at the point where it is attached to the disposal two or three inches. Following the advice obtained here, I found a broken wire/strap near the top of the disposal which appeared to have held the small loop in the drain at this point the two or three inches higher. I replaced this wire with a small strap which held the small loop of drain tube a few inches higher.

I haven't had the problem since.

Thanks for your help and interest.

[DIY Guy]

May I add my two cents?

Water will never back up into a dishwasher if a properly installed air gap is used, as it always should be.

An air gap works this way. The drain line runs out from the dishwasher to the air gap. The air gap mounts in a hole through the sink or counter and just sticks up a couple inches. Then another hose runs out from the bottom of the air gap and leads to the disposer or the sink drain.

The water drains from the dishwasher and goes toward the air gap. If the drain hose past the air gap was clogged, then the water would leak out the top of the air gap and pour safely into the sink. Otherwise, the water simply continues out through the other hose and safely to the drain line.

If water was to back up in the house drain line and out through the hose to dishwasher, it would get to the air gap first and then simply spill in to the sink and not into the dishwasher.

Another aspect of an air gap is that it prevents a siphon from developing, resulting in the water being sucked out of the dishwasher at the wrong time.

It sounds as though you do not have an air gap installed. By installing one, you could prevent water from backing up into the dishwasher.