Dishwasher Not Drying Dishes? Why and What to Do

A dishwasher not drying the dishes is often not broken at all. The rinse aid has run out, the load is mostly plastic, or the dishwasher dries by condensation instead of with a heater and was never designed to leave everything bone dry. You can sort those out yourself in a few minutes. If a dishwasher that used to dry well has stopped drying, or the tub is cool at the end of a heated dry cycle, a heating element, thermostat or fan has probably failed.

Dishwasher not drying? Checks you can do yourself

Try these in order. Let the dishwasher cool before you reach into the tub, and switch it off at the breaker before you reach anywhere near the heating element in the tub floor.

1. Fill the rinse aid. Whirlpool says to make sure the dispenser is filled and, if dishes still come out wet, to turn the dosage setting up. Your manual shows where the setting is.
2. Turn on heated dry. Whirlpool recommends a cycle with a heated dry option rather than an eco or quick cycle, so turn on Heated Dry if your model has it. On a Bosch, the Sanitize and Extra Dry options improve drying on models that offer them.
3. Start with hot water. Run the kitchen tap for 30 to 60 seconds, until it is hot, before you start the cycle. GE says water entering the dishwasher should be between 120 and 140°F. A hotter final rinse leaves hotter dishes, and hot dishes dry faster.
4. Load for drainage. Leave space between items, angle cups and bowls so water runs off, and do not nest bowls. GE notes that items placed too close together, and cookware with dimples, indents or etching, let water pool.
5. Unload the bottom rack first. Bosch and GE both recommend pulling out the lower rack first, so water left on the tops of cups in the upper rack does not drip onto the dry dishes below.
6. Crack the door after the cycle. If you skip heated dry, GE suggests opening the door several inches as soon as the dishwasher stops, so the warm, moist air can escape.
7. Check for heat. Whirlpool's test: run a cycle with Heated Dry selected, then open the door when it ends and feel the inside of the tub. It should feel warm and may hold steam. Do not touch the heating element.

Rinse aid: the fix for most wet dishes

Rinse aid matters more than most people think. Bosch explains that it lowers the surface tension of water, so water slides off the dishes instead of beading on them and the dishes dry faster.

An empty dispenser is also a common reason a dishwasher seems to have stopped drying overnight: it runs out and nobody notices the indicator light. If you refill it and the level never drops over the next few weeks of loads, the dispenser may not be opening, and that is a repair.

Why plastic comes out wet

Some water on plastic is normal: plastics stay cooler than glass or ceramic and trap droplets. For a load with a lot of plastic, Whirlpool recommends placing plastics on the top rack at an angle, turning on Fan Dry or Extended Heat Dry if your model has them, and cracking the door open slightly after the cycle to let the steam out. A quick wipe with a towel is often the practical answer.

Condensation drying: why some dishwashers have no heating element

If you look at the floor of a Bosch tub and see no heating coil, nothing is missing. Bosch says its dishwashers dry by condensation rather than with heating elements. The final rinse heats the dishes thoroughly, and because stainless steel cools faster than glass and porcelain, the tub cools first, so moisture condenses on the tub walls and drains away.

A few things follow from that:

• Droplets on the inside walls of the tub at the end of a cycle are normal.
• Rinse aid matters even more, because there is no heater to finish the job.
• Plastic dries the least well, because it does not hold heat.
• Bosch says its Sanitize option enhances drying, and Extra Dry adds extra heat to the final rinse.

If your Bosch dries by condensation and the dishes are wetter than they used to be, check the rinse aid and the incoming water temperature before anything else.

Heated dry and the heating element

Many other dishwashers have a heating element, a metal loop in the floor of the tub. When heated dry is on, the element heats the tub after the final rinse. Some models also use a fan to move the moist air out, such as the Fan Dry option on some Whirlpool models. GE says its Power Dry option adds 65 minutes of drying time and runs the fan for 90 minutes after the cycle ends.

If heated dry is selected and the tub is cool at the end of the cycle, the likely causes are:

• The heating element. Elements burn out over time.
• The thermostat or high-limit. A thermostat or sensor tells the control how hot the tub is, and a high-limit thermostat cuts the heat if the tub overheats. When either fails, the element may never turn on. The high-limit is a safety device and should never be bypassed.
• The control board, which sends power to the element.

Whirlpool's advice is simple: if the dishwasher will not heat, shows an error code or keeps tripping the breaker, contact service. That is the point to have a technician test the heating element, the thermostat and the control, because each one can leave the tub cold.

Dishwasher suddenly stopped drying

When a dishwasher that dried well for years suddenly stopped drying, look at what changed:

• The rinse aid ran out, or someone turned the setting down.
• Heated dry was turned off, or you switched to a cycle without it.
• The water heater was turned down, so the final rinse is cooler.
• A part failed. On models with a heater, a failed element, thermostat or high-limit shows up as a cool tub after heated dry. On models with a fan, a fan that no longer runs, or a vent stuck shut, leaves the steam inside.

If the dishes are also coming out dirty, see dishwasher not cleaning dishes, because a heating problem can cause both. On Whirlpool models, a heating fault can also show as an F4E2 or F4E3 code; see Whirlpool dishwasher error codes.

What usually fails

• Rinse aid dispenser. The rinse aid level never drops, and glasses come out spotted as well as wet.
• Heating element. Heated dry is on, but the tub is cool at the end of the cycle.
• Thermostat or high-limit. The element tests good, but it never gets power.
• Vent or fan. On models that have them, a silent fan or a vent that stays shut.
• Control board. Every heating part tests good, but nothing sends power to the element.

What it costs in Atlanta

The diagnostic is $80, waived when you approve the repair. Dishwasher repairs start at $180 plus parts, and you get a written flat-rate estimate before any work begins. On standard brands, typical dishwasher repairs run about $250 to $430 all in, with circulation pumps and control boards at the higher end; see typical total costs. The repair is done on the first visit when the part is in stock, and if a part has to be ordered, there is no trip charge for the return visit. Every repair carries our 60-day parts-and-labor warranty.

Repair or replace?

Wet dishes alone are rarely a reason to replace a dishwasher. As a rough estimate, InterNACHI's life-expectancy chart puts a dishwasher at about 9 years. If a repair would cost more than half the price of a comparable new dishwasher and yours is past the middle of its expected life, our repair-or-replace guide walks through the decision.

Schedule a visit or read about our dishwasher repair service. Prefer to talk? Call (470) 778-4087.