Originally Posted by: denman 
DenMan,
Thanks so much for these links! After reading the service manual, I ordered a latch assy and the membrane control panel. Turns out the control panel was exactly the part I needed. Now all the lights light up, you can select the options, and actually get a heated dry!
Armed with the manual in hand, pages highlighted, I proceeded to take the dishwasher apart. Husband had gone out shopping and came back around midnight only to be surprised to see the machine in pieces on our counter! He laughed and said "only my wife would do something like that!". When I had it apart, I could not believe how poorly this unit was assembled. There is rust inside the machine from seals that were not seated at all, pieces of plastic (from the manufacture of the unit, that plastic) inside all three spinners that was severely limiting the water flow, plumber's tape in the spinners, you name it. One thing there was not, was mineral build up. With all the vinegar we have used in the machine, and its lack of actual use, the inside was squeaky clean with no mineral deposits anywhere.
When I removed and cleaned the micro filter, it was rather dirty looking. Since most of the debris was inside the micro filter unit, and the unit does not open up, I ended up soaking it in vinegar, rinsing it, then vacuuming it out. It was amazing how much stuff came out by the vacuum! Husband could not believe it. There was paper and such inside of the micro filter. Go figure how it got inside, except from the mfg of the unit, as the micro filter does not let anything through. And when I say paper, I mean about the equivalent of about 3 normal sticky backs or more in large clumps!
As for the control panel's ribbon cables, they were both barely inserted, with the larger of the two nearly pulled all the way out on one side. It's no wonder the thing crapped out. I did try reinserting both cables before installing the new panel, but the panel still would not function.
After assembly, I ran the demo mode and all lights worked. I tried a Heavy Load mode, and the unit just went weird with dumping water all the time and not really doing anything. Thinking maybe it needed some sort of a reset, I next ran the test mode. After that, I tried a Normal Load setting. It was the strangest thing - it filled, washed, emptied, filled for the rinse, emptied and then dried. What an amazing, simple concept!
Everything came out really nice and clean, even considering how many times I kept opening up the unit to check the spinners and the steam escaping. I have not had a chance to try a really tough load or the Heavy setting yet, but even if the Heavy setting does not work, I can live with the Normal setting just as well.
One strange thing it did do, is whenever I would open the unit to check the spinners, I would put all three of them directly perpendicular to the back of the unit, close the door, then open it in a minute or so. The spinners had obviously moved from where I put them, but only the very bottom one could actually be seen moving that last little bit as the door opened. Could this be a sign that the pump is not pumping as well as it should be or am I just paranoid about the unit?
Like I said, it was just amazing how poorly this unit was assembled!
Thanks again for the links,
Dobermann
PS - I wanted to thank you and Tom for all your help on the other thread, but it seems to be locked and my posts do not seem to actually get posted. I would have done this post earlier, but I am still under the weather from my cold.
