Appliance Repair Wisdom for the Ages

Friday, June 10, 2005

Fisher Paykel Dishwasher, DD602, Won't Start

Went on a service call for a Fisher Paykel dishdrawer yesterday. Complaint was that the lower drawer would not start up. Diagnosis confirmed the complaint, the drawer would act as though it wasn't closed all the way, would just give not-ready beeps when you closed it and pressed start.

I put the drawer into diagnostic mode by pressing and holding the Key Lock and Start buttons simultaneously. In diagnostic mode, I could review the current and previous error codes. Current code showed U2, drawer not closed error. The prime suspect in this case is always the drawer limit switch. On the DD602's, the limit switch is located on the very back of the left drawer guide which means, you guessed it, the drawer needs to come out.

If you've not removed a drawer from a DD602, you're in for a joy ride. This article has details on how to do it. Fisher Paykel has made several improvements in the DD603 models which have been gratefully received by Fisher Paykel servicers. The drawer linkage is chief among them. It's actually not that bad, you just have to be patient and methodical.

Anyway, with the drawer out, the problem was plainly visible, as seen in the thumbnail photo below. Click it for a larger view.

Fisher Paykel DD602, broken drawer limit switch. You can see that the actuating lever on the switch has been broken and bent upwards, so it can no longer depress the switch button. Consequently, the dishdrawer's CPU never knows the drawer is closed.

Samurai Appliance Repair Man cast these pearls at 20:34 ET.  [permalink]

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36 Comments:

I too had this problem, after replacing the switch I got two wash cycles out of the drawer then got a F7 code. What if anything did I do/not do to cause this and what is the fix. I had to unplug the power "line" wire harness to stop the constant beeping. Any thoughts and thanks in advance.

By  Blueline, at June 26, 2005 11:54 PM  

Best case is a broken hardware communications link from the console to the motor microprocessor. This could be a bad wire harness, or maybe you misplaced one of the wire harnesses on the motherboard.

Worst case is a crashed control board = gotta buy a new one.

By  Samurai Appliance Repair Man, at June 27, 2005 2:50 AM  

My Fisher Paykel makes a loud sort of grinding noise during the first cycle. It sounds terrible. Any thoughts what it might be?

By  Anonymous, at June 29, 2005 6:32 PM  

You probably have some gookus stuck in the impeller. Pull off the spray arm and unlock the wash impeller assembly retaining ring. The whole assembly pulls right out. Look for deformations in the impeller vanes and/or gookus in the volute.

By  Samurai Appliance Repair Man, at June 29, 2005 7:36 PM  

Can you suggest where I can find a replacement for the "drawer limit Switch" that doesn't cost an arm and leg?..thanks

By  Walt, at July 08, 2005 9:12 AM  

Try buying directly from Fisher Paykel. You could also try to match up the switch at an electronic supply house.

By  Samurai Appliance Repair Man, at July 08, 2005 9:24 AM  

have DD603 Paykel Fisher dishwasher...one month old...Lowes has service man coming maybe next week when they can find one in our area...problem..washing both drawers and got F1 for flood switch activated.....lids didn't close..overflowed anyway...water on the floor...had to cut power at circuit breaker to stop F1 flashing....is there any way to reset this malfunction?...I am not impressed with the P & F drawer design...not worth the $1500 price tag.

By  Noah, at July 23, 2005 10:49 PM  

Have a DD603 Fisher Paykel dishwasher. No service in our area. Dishwasher won't drain and then leaks all over the floor. Any suggestions.

By  Anonymous, at August 04, 2005 5:26 PM  

In reply to Walt
You will find a Honeywell switch in that form, not sure of their part number, IFM-Effector also make them, it is a standard switch format. Just make sure it is the correct contact type (NO or NC).
To Samurai:
Thanks for the hints. I had already worked out how to remove the drawer before I found this site, seems I got it right!
I replaced the air seal (DS601v2) but there is still a small water leak. I suspect the air system is still leaking. I noticed the air pump runs about every 5 or 8 minutes for about 30-40 seconds. Is this normal, or does this indicate an air leak?
Thanks

By  Anonymous, at December 27, 2005 4:30 PM  

To add to your comment to the poster a few back whose dd made a terrible noise one of mine did the same today and before finding this fabulous site I diagnosed it as a chewed up impeller vanes as the other dd's impeller vanes were nowhere as bad. I am getting the part for $36 from FP directly and hope that will do the trick. I could not get out of them if this was something that wore out often (my machine is 3 yrs old). I think we have probably strained this part due to on several occasion things sticking down impeding the wash arms going around. What does anyone think?

By  Anonymous, at March 15, 2006 10:29 PM  

Not sure what to put here!

By  Anonymous, at March 15, 2006 10:32 PM  

We have the Dish Drawer and it's been on the fritz since THANKSGIVING. We're told by the service man that he can't get parts. He comes, tries one thing, then 2 days later it's the same F1 status signal. We're ready to buy a new one (Not this type!) because we don't know when it will be fixed. What about the KitchenAid dish drawers?

By  Anonymous, at March 19, 2006 11:39 AM  

The dishdrawers sold by Kitchendaid are also made by Fisher-Paykel.

A very common cause for the F1 is a split in one of the drain hoses. Can be tricky to catch but the parts are inexpensive and, if the d/d is a few years old, wouldn't be a bad idea to go ahead and replace 'em anyway.

By  Samurai Appliance Repair Man, at March 19, 2006 2:05 PM  

I am very appreciative of your information on the dd603. I have one that is 5 years old and is showing its age. The plastic hose guides have both cracked and caused leaks and new ones are on order. One of the lid actuators is failing and I am going to replace all 4. If you have any advice on replacing these, please let me know because I haven't yet figured out how to remove them.

Also, my dd603 has the wood front panel and thus no LED display to show letter codes. If you have info on how to put it into diagnostic mode and then interpret the light signals, I would be very grateful.

Thank you!

By  Anonymous, at April 06, 2006 7:30 PM  

I have a DD603 2003 vintage. Suffering through F1 codes. Removed both drawers, mopped up water in bottom tray and in the tray that separates the two drawers. Ran one drawer at a time to isolate leak. Seems to be the top drawer, and it seems to not be sealing properly. After a new F1 fault, I removed the top drawer and saw water drops on the back panel, and on the outside rear of the drawer.

This unit has a gasket on the 'roof' of each drawer. Does the drawer just slide in against this gasket, or is it somehow sealed. Mine SEEMS to have about a 1/8in gap when I slide the drawer in. Is this an air seal? Anyway to check the operation of the air seal?

By  pgbnh, at May 19, 2006 4:32 PM  

I've got an older DD601 which never really worked well and now the top drawer needs a new motherboard. Do you know any way to get a cheap one - potentially used? Otherwise do you recommend any other manufacturer of dish drawers? I kind of like the format but would rather avoid fisher paykle products for the rest of this lifetime.

By  nmglider, at May 25, 2006 12:55 PM  

I have a F&P DishDrawer 603. Got the dreaded F1 code. A break in the bottom drain hose had caused a small flood. It broke because the harness support, a cheap piece of plastic that prevents the inlet/outlet hoses from kinking, had broken. Dismantled the thing, took out flood control sensor board at bottom of unit, dried everything out and put it together again. I still get the F1 code. So I'm going for a new drain hose $47, two new harness supports at $10 each and a new control board $40. It could of course be the two computer boards at $200 each as well. Don't ya just love this thing. I repair dishwashers and washing machines regularly as part of my job. This is the first one I've come across that needs to be completely dismantled to fix. And then you can't get the parts. And the cost of parts is extortionate. If the $40 control board doesn't do away with the F1 problem I think I might invest in a trip to the local rubbish dump and pick up a new Bosch on the way back. Unlike the previous poster I wouldn't buy a F&P product even in the next lifetime.

By  doodle, at June 12, 2006 8:49 PM  

$47 for a corrugated plastic drain hose? You should only be paying half that. No wonder you're upset!

By  Samurai Appliance Repair Man, at June 20, 2006 9:28 AM  

Last week the wife couldn't change the wash mode on the bottom drawer. I pushed a bunch of buttons and it works. Now the top drawer's disply screen has gone crazy. It flashes through every possible diply and lights on and off. There is no why of shutting it off. Any thoughts?

By  Bob T., at July 18, 2006 8:45 AM  

I tried to get a code on the display but instead the machine started playing the National Anthem. I called FP tech support to see if they had any idea. Come to find out the unit was in display mode. I unplugged the unit for 5 minutes and problem solved. The big question is how did it get in display mode and the girl on the phone couldn't answer that. We'll see if the board is starting to go or the kids played with it.

By  Bob T., at July 18, 2006 3:15 PM  

Hey thanks, I fixed my DishWasher! This post got me started. I wanted to leave my experience with the 603 which is has a different mechanism for detecting whether the foor is closed. On mine, your first remove the front panel. This is detailed in the link in your article, but basically involves turning the two round tabs at the bottom front of drawer and pulling out with a needle nose pliers. Then pushing front panel down. Look at the right upper side of exposed front panel. You will see 2 clear plastic tubular pieces that exit out the right side. These use infrared light to detect whether the door is shut. There is s triangular prism inside the right side frame of the machine that when the door is closed directs light between these plastic tubes and voila it detects door closed. In my case, the prism had fallen out. Luckily, I had the sense to save it. I put the prism back and problem solved.

By  Chris, at December 04, 2006 11:14 PM  

Have a DD603, approx 3 yrs old. Upon applying power, a little concert of beeps is followed by a cycling count up from 01 to 12 on the display. Then, the number of minutes for the cycle is displayed, followed shortly by the beginning of the cycling numbers, 01-12. Eco button works, main internal setting button does not. Bottom drawer appears to work okay, though I'll test it more tonight (after I pull power on the top drawer).

Are the controllers separate, such that I could switch the bottom drawer to the top, then wait on parts to fix the broken unit? I suppose I'll give that idea a go this evening and see what happens.

In the meantime, there are no F1-F9 signals; just this other. Any hints for servicing? Can I get parts here?

By  Anonymous, at December 18, 2006 12:12 PM  

The above post is mine. Fortunately, I got the bottom drawer to stop leaking yesterday so we don't have to go through Christmas without a dishwasher. However, I'd like to isolate the problem with the top drawer to the failed component, starting by swapping the controller board? to the top unit. I imagine that is behind the door, under the LED display. Are there instructions somewhere on how to get access to the controller panel? And, if the effort proves fruitful, where can I find a new one?

Incidentally, the leak out of the lid on the bottom drawer was resolved by manually screwing down the actuator screw mechanism. Disconnecting the rocker panel, then manually screwing this down about 4 turns did the trick but it seems odd that I'd need to do that. Is this a common problem with these units? The leak was letting water get on the floor and pooling into the pan at the bottom -- bacteria were having a lot of fun growing and stinking up the place. Yuck!

By  Anonymous, at December 21, 2006 9:06 AM  

DS603 Model - Single Draw

With the wiring harness that connects the removable draw to the chassis of the unit I accidently connected it the wrong way and turned it on.

Now no go....

Is there a replacable fuse or is she fried?

By  Anonymous, at December 25, 2006 12:22 AM  

I have a DS601v2 which has not been working properly since a power failure a few days ago. It gets half way through a cycle and the timer will suddenly display the letters 'HE'. On some cycles these letters are replaced by the error code 'F1'. I have checked the drainage pipe and it seems to be working fine. Given that the water has been cold each time I open the draw, I figure the HE stands for Heater Element. If so, is this something that is easily replaceable?

Thankyou

By  Anonymous, at January 04, 2007 6:15 PM  

Bob T, your a legend i had no idea what those plastic things where for. Was baffeled as to why the dishwasher wasnt starting.

Thanks a million!!!

By  Chris, at April 24, 2007 9:13 AM  

Our Fisher Paykel dishwasher failed 3 times under warranty(each time a different problem). A few months out of warranty it failed again. After a repair of $429 it worked for about a year and then failed again. We have just come back from buying a new American made dishwasher as a replacement for this piece of junk. We never had a problem with the builder's model that we used for 15 years previous to our Fisher Paykel. The Fisher Paykel is just a pretty face.

By  Barbara, at May 27, 2007 1:36 PM  

I have a FP 603, its been in the house for 4 years and was never used. I moved in and the top drawer rotor made an awful noise, wouldn't work. I exchanged it with the bottom drawer rotor and the F2 error went away, thought that was it. I succeeded in filling the drawer with water and it will not drain. No error messages, and I cannot seem to push any combination of buttons that will give me diagnostic codes. Is there any help out there?

By  Joshua, at June 07, 2007 12:22 AM  

For those of you with the motor grinding noise, check the drain impeller. Follow your manual directions to remove the wire basket, and lower wash plate. Then, pull out the impeller by twisting counter clockwise and pulling out. It will look like a little fan blade (mine is blue, your model may vary). The bottom of the unit has a 5 bladed star gear configuration. If it is showing signs of wear, that is likely your culprit. On my unit, only one of the blades was damaged, but was enough to cause a problem. The replacement part is 525884P, and should cost around $40. The name of the part is Motor Rotor Assy.

By  Lucas, at June 20, 2007 5:47 PM  

My DD603 is from 2002 and has been repaired al least 6 times since purchase. Who would ever buy a replacement of the same make? This time the motor unit on the top drawer is frozen. I want to remove the motor unit but am stumped. I have the blade (impeller) off but what next?

By  Louis, at July 12, 2007 11:48 PM  

Ok, I have read through all the posts and I think I have a unique problem with my 2 drawer F&P. I start with both drawers dry but when I run the bottom drawer I get water in the top drawer(about 4 inches worth). This is not a new installation I have had them for 4 years. I have cleared the drain hoses but it still is happening.

By  byoung7, at August 11, 2007 7:38 PM  

Hy. byoung7:

No, you do not have a unique problem. I also have the same problem. This dishwasher does a beautiful job and I adore it, that is when it works. Now, the top drawer indicates HP after about 40 minutes of washing and it seems blocked there and after a while F4 appears in red. I am getting embarrassed when my children are in for a meal and I have to say "Don't use one of the drawers". And they reply "not again". Repairmen have been over at least six times in the last five years. And still problems.

By  Gisèle, at August 20, 2007 9:53 AM  

My brand new Fisher Paykel dishwasher single drawer type, leaks from top left, then pools under unit. Repairman states inproper install as not level. Contractor states it is level. How do I trouble shoot? In my view, the rubber type seams at top mesh correctly but not sure.

By  James, at October 20, 2007 4:02 PM  

I have a DD/603 and have replaced 4 lid motors and linkage system after if flooded several times. Now the top drawer works fine. The bottom drawer runs through its cylce for several minutes, then pauses and flashes the "scrub brush" icon. It won't start again until I press the "Start/Pause" button. Then it runs for a few minutes and pauses again.

The drawer IS closed and the lid IS seated.


Does anyone have an insight??

By  rob, at December 06, 2007 2:56 PM  

Any one have a controller they want to sell or know where I can get the part at a reasonable cost.I have a 601 and the controller went bad by getting wet

By  Edward, at January 03, 2008 7:13 PM  

Hello I've been to the FP site and do not see a place to purchase parts. Can you help?

I need the plastic nobs and seals for the caps that cover the rinse agent.

As a side note is it okay to use vinegar as the a rinse agent?

The guy I bought my unit from said it was but it caused the orings to swell over time.

By  Nathan, at February 24, 2008 10:15 AM  

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