Question about Zanussi 24 in. ZSF6160 Free-standing Dishwasher
The water does not heat when the dishwasher is being used on any programme. I've tested the heating element (at least I think I have) which gave a reading of 26 Ohms. What could be the problem? Please help!
Mantona, you're on the right track. Your heater terminals are large, insulated and poke through the tub facing downward. To test this, remove one of the wires connected to the terminal, then check OHMS. If this is what you did, you don't have to do that again. Elements rarely fail, the problem most likely resides in the hi-limit thermostat. You know where the element is, now follow one of the wires back toward the control panel. One of the element wires will pass through the thermostat (in series) before going to the control. The thermostat is mounted tightly to the bottom of the tub, touching it to monitor temperature. When you find it, remove one of the wires (there are 2) and check OHMS. You should read ~1 Ohm, if you read infinity, you found the problem. (You can verify your finding by removing both wires from it and connect them together. Then run a wash load to check the heater. Don't leave it in this condition! The thermostat is a safety device and should not be permanently bypassed! If your test of the t'stat proves that it's OK, you'll have to test it with power on and running. I can walk you through this if needed. Let us know how it turns out.
Posted on Aug 16, 2007
Mantona, Great pic's! Thanx for that. #1 is the water softener, disregard that area. #2 is the tub frame, disregard that area. #3, I believe is the t'stat we're looking for. #4 appears to be a turbidity sensor located next to or on the drain pump... disregard that one. #5... ??? I can't identify it, sorry... but I can see that the thermister is located on the drain side of the plumbing circuit... We'll disregard that one as well.
OK... that leaves pic #3... The t'stat with the orange wires heading for the control panel. Pull those two female 1/4" terminals off of there and check Ohm's on the stat. Infinity is bad, ~1 Ohm OK. If this tests OK, we'll be looking at a control board. If it tests bad, there's the problem. Test it by applying what I stated in my last post.
*Caution: Thermisters are like "dimmer switches" for your interior lighting. Difficult to check. T'stats are like light bulbs, either good or bad period... no in between. You can't check a thermister like a t'stat... your average ohmmeter won't do it so don't try 'cause you'll read "infinity" everytime. This will lead one to believe the thermister has failed, when it's OK all along.
Do you have an Ammeter (amprobe=http://www.tequipment.net/AmprobeFS-3L.a... is by far the easiest... if not --->)? If so, you can connect it in series with your t'stat (pic #3) to see if your drawing amps when the unit is supposed to be heating. Also check voltage at the same time... I use a non-invasive "volt-stick" http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...
to see if I'm getting power to my element. If not? We know it's the control board not sending power... make sense?
Hope this makes sense. And thanx for the pic's!
Mantona, while you have the unit disassembled... have you run across a tech sheet that has a schematic on it? If so, this would help me help you. A picture of it would have to be high resolution and large. If you could upload it to a place like photobucket (don't post it here because the size would be wrong) and provide a link for it, I could better see what's going on. If you can't find the tech sheet, contact Zanussi/Electrolux at the number provided at this link (at the bottom)...http://www.serviceforce.co.uk/pdfs/U2545... and request a schematic.
I'm sorry this is taking so long. You are probably getting tired of having your dishwasher sitting in the middle of your kitchen.
×
Problems The Heating Element not Working Maintenance296 views
Usually answered in minutes!
Unfortunately having trouble finding the thermostat. The two wires which come fromthe heating element are brown and orange.
The brown goes to a round shaped thing which is bolted onto a piece of plastic, two pipes however come into this area. Photo included
The orange wire goes straight to the control panel.
I have more photos depicting various items which I cannot identify. Maybe they are what I'm looking for?
Possible Thermostat?
Possible Thermostat 2?
Possible Thermostat 3?
Possible Thermostat 4?
Thank you for your quick and clear reply. I will test this item tomorrow as it is late today.
By the way does a thermostat have an electrical symbol. There is a symbol on the item which I remember from looking at it earlier today. It looked a bit like a switch maybe, don't really know, but would recognise a symbol if it's the same. Do you know where I can find one?
Just a quick note, photo no does have an electronic part on it and I'm confused as to what it is, you can bearly see it I know(sorry about my photography). There are two black wires going into a terminal and one blue wire going into the second terminal. The creamy colored unit is the part itself, which incidentaly bolts straight onto the clear plastic water filed unit, as does the item from photo 3.
Thank you very much for your help, and I will get back to you tomorrow with the result of the test.
Just found this:
These appear to be the temperature parts available for my Zanussi Dishwasher:
http://www.espares.co.uk/parts/dishwashe...
ALSO:
This thermistor symbol looks klinda the same as the symbol on photo 3. Is it the same kind of thing? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermistor
I have tested the items in photo 3 as requested with the Ohmeter. I get a reading of 0.4 Ohms. The next two photos are of this item, and includes an electrical symbol on top of the item itself.
Second Photo of underside. By the way this item slides into position and sits on top of the plastic.
http://www.bitron.net/welcome.html
The above website appears to be the manufacturer for a lot of the parts. This item is pictured in their Products/Appliance Products/Dishwashers/Temperature Sensors.
This item also appears to be really similar (but not maybe quite the same) to the item in photo 2 above. Please advise me if this should be checked. I tried to check it but could not get the connectors fully removed becuase of needing to remove the whole unit first. This gave me a reading of 4.0 K Ohms.
Thank you for your help
One more thing which may be important and I forgot to mention. The black Bitron electrical component tested 0.4 Ohms when in place on the plastic box (no connectors attached). The strange thing is that when I removed the component from the plastic box, even though it was not connected to anything through the plastic box when in place (just slides in) , then it would not test, it only gave a reading of 0.L (overrange indication) I tried sitting the component on the plastic box, cardboard etc but the same reading was achieved until I placed it back in it's place. Should I try to bypass this component and see if the water heats?
×