Got a call on one of these Kenmore-by-Bosch dishwashers. These are made by Bosch but sold under the Kenwhore label. Complaint was that it leaked a bit on the right hand side during each wash staining the rug in the kitchen.


Only thing on the dishwasher itself that looked weird was the top seal.


According to the Seventh Law of the The Prophecy, “All leaks are visual.” So, in my efforts to comply with the sacred appliantological scripture, I took the door apart and could see a detergent trail going from the top of the door to the bottom hinge…


…and running down the inside edge of the door. What do you conclude is the problem and how do you arrive at your conclusion?


Introducing the apophatic method of troubleshooting and Occam’s Razor. These concepts are powerful weapons to have in your troubleshooting arsenal. The apophatic method of troubleshooting is useful when you cannot directly prove that a thing is causing the problem you’re trying to fix. Instead, you prove that everything else is okay, which, by elimination, confirms the suspect item as the offender. The Occam’s Razor concept says, “When all the plausible possibilities seem equally likely, the simplest solution is usually the correct one.”

So I checked out and eliminated the other potential causes of door leaking: gookus or splits in the spray arms, deflected spray from incorrectly loading the dishwasher, loose door latch, overfill condition. The only thing left was the puckered top door gasket. Even though I didn’t have eyeball positive proof (cataphatic proof) that water was leaking past that seal, I did have apophatic proof and the assurance of Occam’s Razor.

So I ordered a new top door seal and replaced it. Problem solved!

To learn more about your dishwasher, or to order parts, click here.