It is ZBD5900

Hi Gene.

Thanks for the reply and thanks for taking your time to show me this but I already have this doc. This is like taking an aspirin for a 5 year long headache - it doesn't explain the core issue at hand.

I am asking why on God's green earth, does the water go through the spillway, into the overfill tray, EVEN after I have:
1. forced the dishwasher to tilt ever so slightly back by about 1/4"
2. I have the fill time set to the absolute lowest
3. and my water level is below the lowest allowed fill level (according to the service documents) as evidenced by the fill line on the sprayer.

Why does this stupid machine do this?

I wish I could get a video of the trickling but I don't have the camera with me for now - I mean seriously, you can see a trickle, not dripping, a trickle of water running from the spillway into the overfill. It doesn't start right away when the machine cycle starts, and it also doesn't do it if I open the door in mid cycle and close it - it starts to happen when the machine has been running for about 2 minutes - first a couple drips then the trickle.

I am losing my mind with this $1400+ piece of junk and I don't know what I can do about getting GE to come up with a viable solution. I am seriously considering adding my own makeshift overfill inside the basin. and then having someone weld up some stainless sheet metal to the spillway port.

Have you ever had one of these apart, Gene? If not, it may be hard to picture what it looks like, however if you have, then you know what I am talking about. Also, it could very well be that the seal at the bottom of the door inner liner is crap and so it doesn't seal up well any more - but it doesn't explain why this overflow doesn't happen on shorter cycles. Also, from the spare parts diagrams, there is no indication of the lower door seal being available as a seperate piece - it may come molded to the inner liner!!!

Just frustrating ....

Looking forward to a response .... anybody ...... if you have any ideas I would LOVE to hear them ....

Thanks for your time, guys!

Hi Gene ... its been a while ... no, the pressure switch didn't help. I bought a new one, tried it, and it got worse. I also checked all of the tubes going to it for blockage and they were fine. So now I have a new pressure switch which I paid good money for available to anyone who wants it (for a reasonable offer). I have given up and bought a new Kitchenaid which has been absolutely great.

I kept thinking about what was causing the overflow to constantly trickle. The only reason I could come up with was the fact that there was no vent on the unit, like most other dishwashers have (which have it on the door near the top). My theory goes like this: as the hot water is jetted around, it will give off some steam (kind of like when you turn on the hot water tap and it comes at full temp - you see a bit of steam rise from the faucet). Also the heating element will increase the temperature of the water. These factors will contribute to an increase in internal pressure in the unit - the only avenue for the pressure release is the overfill hole, but it is submersed, so out comes water. Another thing that reinforces this theory is that when I open the door in mid cycle, the overfill trickle stops immediately, AND when I restart, it does NOT resume the overfill trickle immediately (there is a delay before it starts to trickle again).

That's all I could come up with. If one had this unit with this problem, I guess an easy way to test this is to drill a decent sized hole (let's say 3/4" NPT) and pipe it with a tube to a ball valve - then run the unit and wait for the overfill trickle to occur - once it starts, open the ball valve. If the overfill issue stops, there's our answer. I suggested 3/4" since it will allow for quicker pressure stabilization, and a length of tube only to prevent wash water from spraying outside the unit (simliar to a snorkel intake on an off-roading vehicle, if you know what I mean).

Oh well - all of that is history now!

Thanks for your guidance anyway.

Tom.

Hello I'm having the same exact problem. I checked the connection at the box. I hook the two leads together and the cycle still just stopped as the previous person described. No diagnostic code. This is driving me crazy. If I unplug it completely for over an hour or so it's able to almost complete the fast wash cycle. Otherwise it just looses power within a few minutes. Any help would be appreciated.