Ancient DishDrawer Failure

My DishDrawer has officially become vintage per AW standards by the serial number of November 2002 (UUM756561), although it's less per the purchase date.

The lower drawer became effectively unusable probably a year ago. It'd beep and go into pause with the display flashing within a few mins of starting a cycle. No fault code. Pressing Start after a couple/few mins wait would have it continue for a couple/few mins then pause again, or the paused cycle would abort after a time-out if I didn't notice the reminder beeps. I figured the IR emitter or pick-up for the drawer-closed sensor had become erratic. Easy enough to get around the situation by using the upper drawer, until it exhibited the same problem a few weeks ago.

So, time to address the problem.

Lower drawer first. There are reports of the solder loosening on the IR components on the board, fixable by remelting. However, I found that the problem was that a couple of the mounting clips for the control board housing had broken and the module had shifted from proper position, causing misalignment of the IR beam. Attempting to secure the module caused another clip to break and the whole thing dropped down. The plastic F&P used for the board housing apparently doesn't age well. I devised an alternate method of supporting and securing the module.

Examination of the upper drawer found that the same problem had occurred. Two clips had broken and the IR emitter and pick-up were misaligned with the prism light pipes. I again devised a method of anchoring the module into proper position.

Good to go for another 20 years!


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Post# 1163656 11/11/2022 at 18:15 (391 days old) by DADoES (TX, U.S. of A.)
Checkrate/Likes 5 My DishDrawer has officially become vintage per AW standards by the serial number of November 2002 (UUM756561), although it's less per the purchase date. The lower drawer became effectively unusable probably a year ago. It'd beep and go into pause with the display flashing within a few mins of starting a cycle. No fault code. Pressing Start after a couple/few mins wait would have it continue for a couple/few mins then pause again, or the paused cycle would abort after a time-out if I didn't notice the reminder beeps. I figured the IR emitter or pick-up for the drawer-closed sensor had become erratic. Easy enough to get around the situation by using the upper drawer, until it exhibited the same problem a few weeks ago. So, time to address the problem. Lower drawer first. There are reports of the solder loosening on the IR components on the board, fixable by remelting. However, I found that the problem was that a couple of the mounting clips for the control board housing had broken and the module had shifted from proper position, causing misalignment of the IR beam. Attempting to secure the module caused another clip to break and the whole thing dropped down. The plastic F&P used for the board housing apparently doesn't age well. I devised an alternate method of supporting and securing the module. Examination of the upper drawer found that the same problem had occurred. Two clips had broken and the IR emitter and pick-up were misaligned with the prism light pipes. I again devised a method of anchoring the module into proper position. Good to go for another 20 years!

Post# 1163660 , Reply# 1 11/11/2022 at 18:29 (391 days old) by qsd-dan (West)
Checkrate/Likes 2 Nice fix! We don't need reminding that 2002 was almost 21 years ago :)

Post# 1163663 , Reply# 2 11/11/2022 at 19:00 (391 days old) by Repairguy (Danbury, Texas)
Checkrate/Likes Good job! As often with our vintage appliance hobby these types of repairs are necessary.

Post# 1163664 , Reply# 3 11/11/2022 at 19:27 (391 days old) by appnut (TX)
Checkrate/Likes Great going Glenn!!!!

Post# 1163666 , Reply# 4 11/11/2022 at 20:47 (391 days old) by Tomturbomatic (Beltsville, MD)
Checkrate/Likes YAY Glenn!

Post# 1163684 , Reply# 5 11/12/2022 at 02:53 (391 days old) by bradfordwhite (central U.S.)
Checkrate/Likes It's hard to believe that the dish-drawer dishwasher concept is that old. Do you leave your electronic dishwashers ENERGIZED all the time? If you have a wall switch, would be a good idea to turn off the power when not in use, which is most of the time, to protect them.

Post# 1163686 , Reply# 6 11/12/2022 at 04:26 (390 days old) by ozzie908 (Lincoln UK)
Checkrate/Likes 3 *Well done for saving your Dishdrawers* I sadly have to report that both the newer sets I had have bitten the dust by blowing themselves up and I mean literally ..... The latest one decided to leak and it dripped onto the circuit board which they had moved to the back of the machine to prevent such incidents???? The previous one also went bang and burnt its way through the insulation inside the door which caused a lot of smoke. So I was without a dishwasher so Facebook marketplace to the rescue I bought a Bosch ordinary model and have remodelled the gap to accommodate it and so no more dishdrawers for me :( I now have spares for quite a few models if anyone needs anything.

Post# 1163691 , Reply# 7 11/12/2022 at 10:07 (390 days old) by DADoES (TX, U.S. of A.)
Checkrate/Likes 1 BradfordWhite, DishDrawer development began in 1987. They were introduced to the market in 1997. Mine is model DD603. 601 and 602 series preceeded DD603. Yes, my electronic-control appliances are powered continuously ... refrigerator, range, dishwasher, microwave, washer, dryer, HVAC ... and TVs, DVD, computers, cable modem, WiFi router, clocks.

Post# 1188131 , Reply# 8 8/21/2023 at 20:54 by DADoES (TX, U.S. of A.)
Checkrate/Likes My DishDrawer is 20yo today by purchase date. View Full Size

Post# 1188153 , Reply# 10 8/22/2023 at 02:24 by ozzie908 (Lincoln UK)
Checkrate/Likes Very nice looking machines. You have cared for them well.

Post# 1188136 , Reply# 9 8/21/2023 at 21:31 by Repairguy (Danbury, Texas)
Checkrate/Likes Congrats Glenn!