Dishwasher water keeps backing up into kitchen sink then taking a long time to drain from sink

Check to see if dishwasher drain is attached to garbage disposer. Running the disposer when the dishwasher drains and it will help keep it clean but if the disposer drain line plugs then the water can drain back into the dishwasher. If it does not connect there then you have a slow kitchen drain and this can be fixed by having a plumber snake it. Often it is plugged with grease that can be cleared with boiling hot water poured down the drain. If this is not the problem then check to see if the dishwasher drain is raised as high as it can go under the sink cabinet. Fasten it up with a strap if needed. This will create a trap to keep the water from flowing back into the dishwasher. Do this regardless of your problem. Lastly If the dishwasher does not drain and it is connected to the disposer then the problem is that the knock out plug was not removed when the disposer was installed. Remove the hose at the disposer and knock it out with a screwdriver. This plug is there so you can install disposer without tying a dishwasher in. Otherwise it would leak there. A slow drain may back up and run into the dishwasher before you see any water appear in the sink. If you raise the dishwasher line to the underside of the counter top you should see water in the sink before it begins to drain into the dishwasher. A slow drain may only show up when you are doing a lot of dishes.

Two things to consider....clean water or dirty water?

Clean water usually indicates the fill valve is not shutting off all the way and the fill valve is "weeping" water in all the time = new fill valve time!!

Dirty water usually is not a dishwasher problem but more of a plumbing issue. Often the sink drain that carries the sinks water outside is not fast enough and some of this sink water is backing up into the drain hose and filling up the dishwasher through the drain hose. The drain from the sink to outside needs attention as this type of a problem indicates a slow house drain for that sink.

The dishwasher drain line should be clamped to the top underneath part of the counter before entering the sink drain plumbing, this may help the water from coming back inside the dishwasher.

Two things to consider....clean water or dirty water?

Clean water usually indicates the fill valve is not shutting off all the way and the fill valve is "weeping" water in all the time = new fill valve time!!

Dirty water usually is not a dishwasher problem but more of a plumbing issue. Often the sink drain that carries the sinks water outside is not fast enough and some of this sink water is backing up into the drain hose and filling up the dishwasher through the drain hose. The drain from the sink to outside needs attention as this type of a problem indicates a slow house drain for that sink.

The dishwasher drain line should be clamped to the top underneath part of the counter before entering the sink drain plumbing, this may help the water from coming back inside the dishwasher.

Sounds like your sink drain trap or line is clogged. When the dishwasher drains, the sink drain can't keep up, the water backs up, then backs down the dishwasher drain line into the dishwasher. You may not notice the slow line when you run a little water into the sink, but with the amount of water coming from the dishwasher the problem is worse. You can try taking off the trap under the sink and making sure it's clear. If the problem is farther down the drain line, you can try snaking it yourself, or call a plumber. I don't recommend using Liquid Plumr or Drano because if those don't work, they leave the line full of caustic chemicals for the next person who works on it. That can be dangeerous.

Hi,
No, I would not advise using Draino in a dishwasher...
Here is a tip that I wrote that will help you with your dishwasher not draining problem...

Dishwasher Problems - Water will not drain out

heatman101

make sure there is a loop in the drain hose under the kitchen sink or where ever the drain hose is hooked up at. if not try to make the loop face up , use some cable ties if you have to . the loope basically keeps the water from the sink from backing up into the dishwasher.. hope this helps

Sounds simple , but the plumber may have shut the dishwasher water off. Valve is probably under the sink or near the machine in the basement or crawl space. Good luck.

Hi,

Here is a tip that I wrote that will help you with your dishwasher not draining problem...

Dishwasher Problems - Water will not drain out

heatman101

Many dishwasher have their drainlines tied into under sink disposers. If a person caps the sink drain while dishwasher is running, it can back the water back to the washer keeping dishes dirty and backing up water

Check under your sink where the hose connects to the tail piece. I had this problem and the piece of the tail piece where the hose connects was stopped up.If the drain hose runs to an airlock mounted on your sink, then check it too.