Water – Frugal Living

Troubleshooting a Leaking Whirlpool Dishwasher [UPDATED]

September 21, 2016 by Andrew 56 Comments

For the past couple of days when Shae or I walked in the back door we noticed an unpleasant odor. We checked the half bath adjacent to the door, the entranceway closet, and underneath the kitchen sink. Taking the garbage and compost out did not seem to solve the problem and everyday the odor would come and go.

Yesterday, I finally figured out the source when I went to unload the dishwasher. I smelled that all too familiar smell of something died and saw a little glimmer of water at the base of the washer. Uh oh.

Removing the kick panel revealed a grisly scene of stagnant sludge water pooling under the dishwasher. My first thought was, “Yay, I found the problem.”, quickly followed by, “oh damn”.

Pulling the dishwasher out from underneath the cabinet isn’t too difficult of a task. Flip the breaker(s) at the electrical panel to kill power to the unit, find and turn off the water supply valve, and undo any screws attaching it to the cabinetry.

After mopping up the mess and hosing it down with a liberal amount of bleach, I set to work trying to figure out the source of the leak. My first inclination was the drain hose. The pooled water was not clean, and a leak from the supply line would have flooded the whole room, so I ruled that option out. That left the drain hose or the dishwasher itself.

Fast forward an hour and a half and I had a new drain hose installed and with Shae’s help we did a test run with the dishwasher pulled out from underneath the cabinetry. This way, we could easily see if anything was leaking. Right away, water started gushing out from a port at the bottom of the unit. Well, so much for my hypothesis that it was the drain line.

I looked up the part number online and found out it was the diverter motor. #12 in the diagram below.

Removing the motor was a simple task, it just had two electrical connectors and two screws holding it in place. Upon closer inspection, I could not deduce any water sealing feature on the #12 part. The fault must lie further upstream.

I opened the door to the dishwasher and started removing parts. The first to go were the filter screens, #2 and #6. Next was the sprayer arm, #7. A quarter turn was all it took to unlatch it. Then part #1 was liberated with another quarter turn. Below that is the diverter disk, part #4. It attaches onto the post of the diverter motor, #12, where we saw the water coming out of. Yay, progress!

In the above picture, you can see the white diverter motor post sticking up through the bottom of the dishwasher. Water was getting through that black gasket/grommet/seal. With a little digging around the internet, I found the replacement Sump Assembly part, #3 for $56. I don’t need the whole assembly, I just need the grommet. Thankfully, I found it as part #WPW10195677 (alternative part AP6016787). $6 plus shipping. [Update 4/4/2018] The previously linked part is no longer in stock. Here are some alternatives. from SearsDirect.com, or avxseals.com (hat tip to David Olson for finding a suitable replacement part).

With any luck, the replacement grommet will fix the problem, at least for the next 3 years. The total cost so far is $10 for a new drain hose, $14 for a new grommet.

$24 plus some sweat equity sure beats paying a technician to come in and bill $200-$400. It also beats paying $150 for an extended warranty.

The grommet seems to be compatible with Whirlpool, Kenmore, and KitchenAide dishwashers. I suspect all three brands suffer from this same problem. Our next dishwasher will not be one of these three brands.

[UPDATE]

The part arrived today and I was able to pop the old grommet out very easily.

The new grommet slid into place just as easily. This would be a much easier repair if you did not have to remove the diverter motor underneath the machine. Perhaps a more skilled person could, but since I already had the machine pulled out it wasn’t too much extra work.

A quick test of the system revealed no leaks! Huzzah!

As a final step and with the benefit of hindsight, I added a 1/2″ thick sheet of rigid board insulation in the cavity. On sub zero nights, the drain line would freeze. Hopefully, this will save us some future headache.

Here is a Youtube video that shows the entire procedure.

Ghost Camp

May 23, 2015 by Andrew 4 Comments

Today was the first day of Memorial Day weekend, a three day weekend for many Americans. Part of frugal living is finding the joy in simpler activities. For us, that includes reconnecting with nature by hiking through the wilderness and enjoying the sights and sounds that cannot be found in a sterile office environment.

Someone asked Shae what our plans for the weekend were, and when she replied that we would probably be hiking 3-6 miles they could not understand why we would want to do that. Well, keep reading to get a glimpse of what adventures and fun can be had in your own backyard.

We drove a short distance to Detweiller Park in Peoria, Il.

Detweiller Park is special because it is the southern most trailhead for the Illinois River Bluff Trail (see a trail map here). The 6.9 mile trail features terrain that you would not expect to find in Central Illinois. Namely, rolling hills, and deep ravines.

There was an nice playground by the trailhead that we took advantage of to set Frugal Boy free while we ate some lunch. After fueling up it was time to hit the trail.

It didn’t take long to have an up close encounter with this fine specimen.

Whenever I post these types of photos to Facebook, I always get a rash of comments along the lines of “kill it” or “run away”. Our goal is to impart a “Live and let live” philosophy to Frugal Boy. The snake, like most animals and insects, poses no real danger to us. It is far better to admire it with respect and then move along and let it go about its day.

Perhaps the greatest thrill that I get out of hiking is not knowing what’s behind the next bend in the trail.

What’s Around the Bend-itis

Aren’t you just the least bit curious as to what’s up ahead on the trail. Just take a few more steps to find out. You never know what you’ll come across, and we came across something that totally blew us away!

Well, are you curious yet? Are you thinking, maybe I should get outside and enjoy the freedom of nature?

What if you found a ghost camp?

The ole swimming pool.

The trail had switched from a dirt path to a two rut gravel road. The first thing we came upon was this old swimming pool and bath house.

Next door was a canteen/cafeteria area?

Canteen, cafeteria, or trading post?

An overgrown cross gave a hint as to the camp’s original occupants.

overgrown cross and message board

Our road reached a junction, but trail signs pointed the way to a place further back in the ghost camp.

Here we found intact restrooms and an accessible caboose.

Random Caboose

If you looked at the trail map at the beginning of the post, you’d see that this was Green Valley Camp, our turnaround point for the day. GVC was run by the Salvation Army before being turned over to the Peoria parks district.

We switched off carrying duties and Frugal Boy was hosed down because it was hot out.

On the way back we spotted some more of nature’s wonders.

Do you know what plant has mitten shaped leaves?

If you said, Poison Ivy, congratulations! Leaves of three, leave it be.

Nearing the end of the hike, we crossed over another rambling brook. I had made a mental note of it on the way in, and we stopped to let Frugal Boy play in it.

He was happy as could be and got nice and dirty. A fellow hiker walked by and just grinned when she saw a mostly naked toddler playing in the stream.

Overall, it was a splendid hike.

Discovered a Ghost Camp ✓
Played in a stream ✓
Saw animals in their natural habitat ✓
Avoided poison ivy ✓

So that’s why we go out hiking on our three day weekends.

Low Flow Aerators

November 15, 2013 by Andrew Leave a Comment

I know I missed the What’s for Dinner this week. We started a new home improvement project and I have been busy with ‘work work’. Here is something that I haven’t gotten around to writing about.

A few months ago there was a little blurb on our gas bill offering a free energy saving kit. I looked up the details and our gas company was offering a low flow shower head, 2 faucet aerators, and a small roll of plumber’s tape to all of their customers. You may be wondering why the gas utility company would be giving away items that would help people reduce the amount of gas they use. The gas company after all sells gas, right? Not quite. Nicor, our gas company, just like Ameren, our electric company, provide distribution of natural gas and electricity. They don’t actually produce the commodity they just deliver it to your home. The more usage the delivery network gets, the more wear and tear happens and that costs them money. By helping customers reduce their usage, they can save some money themselves.

A month or so after I set in the request for a kit I got this small box in the mail.

Opening it revealed the contents.

We had already purchased a 1.5 GPM (Gallons per minute) shower head when we moved in that is *almost* identical to the one included in this kit. Each of the two faucet aerators are 1 GPM and the kitchen aerator is 1.5 GPM. I was really happy to receive the aerators because our bathroom faucet aerator was broken and our kitchen one was kind of dingy.

Shae was able to install the new aerators herself. She didn’t even need the included plumbers tape according to the instructions pamphlet (the aerators have built in rubber gaskets). Our sinks now use half the water as they did before.

This kind of project probably won’t have a noticeable impact on our gas or water bill but every little bit does help. Thankfully in the Midwest, water is plentiful and we often don’t think about using it sparingly. My sister and her family live in the American South West where the presence, or lack thereof, can make or break entire lifestyles.

Every time I check our water usage I get a little reminder that it takes an entire group of people to conserve resources. Our water usage chart includes data from previous owners. I highlighted in green the months that we have lived in the house. All of the other data is from previous owners or when the house sat empty. The numbers are cubic feet of water used. You can get gallons by multiplying by 7.48. So the 1800 cubit feet of water used by previous owners in July of 2005 equals over 13k gallons of water that month or about 450 gallons per day! We have been averaging about 70 gallons per day or 35 gallons per person.

I am looking to conserve even more water by replacing our 3.5 GPF toilets with modern low flow varieties. That is a post for another day though. Do you know how many gallons your household uses in a month? How about per person? According to the USGS, the average person uses between 80-100 gallons per day.

If you’d like to learn more about the Nicor Energy Efficiency Program you can do so here.