Dishwasher smells bad

Hello. I have a GE Nautilus GSD3960L00SS.

Would you please watch the following short video? It shows my dishwasher and under my sink.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvW9EC9LqjY

Recently, my dishwasher has begin to smell bad. I can't say it's not coming from the sink, but I don't seem to really notice it until I open the dishwasher door.

The video explains what I have done up to now.

I do not see an obvious air gap.

I've been living here for 4.5 years and don't recall anything like this happening before.

There is no self-wash cycle on the dishwasher, and the manual doesn't address this problem.

Thank you!

 

Did you try doing a wash cyccle without any dishes in it? Also what is your water supply? Well or municipal?
You might try throwing a cup of vinagar.

 

1. No. If I do that, should I put dishwasher soap in the cup?

2. City

3. Where should I put the vinegar? Pour it somewhere or just put a cup of vinegar somewhere (not clear on how it wouldn't spill out). If you want me to run the dishwasher with vinegar in it, would I put dishwasher soap in the cup as well?

Thank you!

 

No soap. Just pour a cup of vinegar in the tub or in the soa dispenser. You can use short cycle.

 

You can use Affresh to clean the tub...... Affresh.
Make sure the drain line is attached to the underside of the countertop.

 

Good point from PJ. Although from your video it appears the drain hose is supported from the top.

 

The drain line runs through a hole near the top of the side wall of the sink cabinet. It is not attached to the undersigned of the countertop. Rather, it rests on the bottom of the hole. Not clear that it could be attached to the underside of the countertop seeing that it runs through a hole. I can't press it up past the top of the hole and there isn't a lot of slack anyway.

Please let me know if you need a video and I'll see what I can do. It's tight in there.

 

Do you agree, Norm, that Affresh is a better option than vinegar?

 

Sure, but befor you buy stuff, why not see if it's in fact the DW or the water? Something is causing the smell. It might be something lodged on the pump. But no harm done to buy the Affresh.
I've owned and installed at least 10 DW'ers in my life and never had one that has an oder problem. If it began to smell I always ran an empty cycle. Problem solved.

 

Run a dose or Tang!

 

Is Tang still around?
I liked it as a kid but not sure I could stomach it now.

 

 

Did you take a good sniff from the sink down into that garbage disposer?

 

I did not, but the smell is much more noticeable when the dishwasher is open. Also, I don't use the garbage disposal anymore.

 

Nor do I. But you should occasionally chop up some ice and pour a bit of lemon juice down it..

 

It looks like in the video the GD has a hole in it and is leaking. At least it looks that way to me. I never use mine and I think food collects down in there and periodically I have to run it. Sometimes it seems to jam – I guess from lack of use, and I have to un-jam it.

Could the GD be clogged causing both a poor drain for the DW and the GD rusting from the inside?

Although I guess you should see some standing water in the DW if that were the case. But still.

 

I can't use my garbage disposal; it doesn't work.

A little water backs up in the sink when the dishwasher is in certain cycles. It comes up about a half an inch and doesn't stay up for long.

I did notice some rust forming on the outside of the garbage disposal. Perhaps that was the leak you are referring to?

I was already thinking about getting new pipes for the kitchen sink and pitching the garbage disposal.

Although I'm open to all suggestions, I still need to try some of the recommendations for the dishwasher itself. No telling how long it will take me to get the pipes under the sink replaced and if that's even the problem.

 

I haven’t gotten around to removing my GD yet – permanently on the to-do list.( I have a well and using a GD is a no-no.) But you use a tailpiece like this to connect the DW drain hose.

https://www.amazon.com/LASCO-03-4331...00FH87YO&psc=1

Your GE, like some other brands, has a built-in food grinder. I guess if that wasn’t working correctly you could have some food stuck inside – but, since yours is draining OK so that would seem to rule that out.

Maybe you could just disconnect the DW drain hose from the GD and let the DW sit for a few days and then open up the DW door and see if it still smells. Just a long shot, but it’s easy enough to temporarily disconnect the drain hose from the GD.

 

Maybe you could just disconnect the DW drain hose from the GD and let the DW sit for a few days and then open up the DW door and see if it still smells. Just a long shot, but it’s easy enough to temporarily disconnect the drain hose from the GD.

Seems worth a shot.

 

Hope you find the cause soon.

(Sorry about my confusing remark:
I meant I have a private septic system.)

 

I run the dishwasher before bed. When the cycle is over, the cycle light ("Normal") is this case goes out and the "Clean" light turns on, indicating that the dishes are clean. There is no beep or anything.

Last night, after I started the dishwasher and went to bed, I was awoken by a constant beep that sounded like an alarm. IIRC, the Normal light was flashing on and off. I had to press another button, Start/Reset, to make it stop.

This is the second time this has happened. Any ideas?

 

Hi T-

According to your page 9 of your manual:

https://products.geappliances.com/Ma...e=49-55030.PDF

the instructions are to call for service when that happens. If the problem is that your control panel board is going bad you could probably replace that yourself and save some money and maybe some inconvenience. I installed my DW and did a door spring repair, but I never replaced the electronic control.

Looks like this would be the control for your DW in case you would want to do it yourself – if in fact it needs replacement. They are not cheap. But I see 2 problems with replacing it:

(1) I think in some cases the board needs some kind of programming.

(2) It could be something else and not the control board.

https://www.partselect.com/PS1206885...ModelID=338407

https://www.geapplianceparts.com/sto...pec/WD21X22296

In this video they show you how to replace it and they don’t mention anything about having to program the new board.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoyI3JOJpck

I guess it would be a crapshoot to replace the board if the problem persists.

(But I might do it – I’m a gambler – lol!)

 

Thanks. I won't attempt that because of the age of the dishwasher. This is the original dishwasher--it's a 2006. I'd just as soon buy a new one.

However, that has happened only 2 times in the past few months and the dishwasher is working otherwise (minus the foul smell of course, which could be coming from the garbage disposal as has been hypothesized).

 

I watched that video. It doesn't look too hard. Can you get those boards preprogrammed so that you have to do only what he did?

I won't go too far on this and will start a new thread if necessary.

 

T-

I see what you mean about the age of the DW - and those control boards are pretty expensive.

I am totally ignorant about the programming of the boards and for which models it is required. I think many dishwashers also have a diagnostic mode where you can press and hold certain buttons and the control will run through a set of diagnostics checking out all the cycles of the dishwasher – and giving an indication of any problems encountered. (I’m pretty sure GE has that.)

I guess that would also tell you whether the control itself is bad. It seems like it should. But I guess that doesn’t answer the question about programming or setup for the board.

That seems to be almost like secret information – something only the techs can interpret. I think there are documents that the tech would use for those diagnostics procedures and I guess that would also include any board setup. How you get those documents I don’t know. I guess maybe the manufacturers want to discourage do-it-yourselfers.

I think I read somewhere that instructions might be in the compartment with the control. That may be wrong. But maybe that’s standard procedure. I never looked in the control board compartment in mine (Kitchenaid) – maybe a paper document is sitting in there.

You can get a used board through ebay.

The parts link –

https://www.partselect.com/PS1206885...ModelID=338407

offers WD21X22296 as the board for your DW and further says:

Part# WD21X22296 replaces these:

WD21X10195, WD21X10254

and here is the older board (WD21X10254) on ebay (there are also other offerings of that same board on ebay)

https://www.ebay.com/itm/17519149455...8AAOSwirxiJ4dU

Anyway, if your DW just fails and lights are blinking etc, you could buy one of the used boards on ebay and install and see what happens. I guess whether it’s worth 40$-60$ and the work to install- is subjective.The older board might work in the new DW, I guess depending on the changes from the old to new. The new is certainly backward compatible.

(I installed a window motor and regulator assembly in my Lexus, used OEM from a salvage company on ebay, for $70. Some trouble installing, but not too much. The dealer around here would charge $1,400., So used parts are just fine with me in certain cases - lol!)

(I think there are people on this forum who know about the DW diagnostics etc. Pretty sure I have seen posts concerning that here. Maybe a new thread would work.)

 

Okay, thanks. I'll wait to see if it breaks down and or starts doing it all the time. For now, back to the smell.

Question 1: Would running the dishwasher on high wash temp and/or high rinse temp make a difference?

Question 2: Would you please watch this video to see if this part could be a potential problem? Doubt it because I don't see how food could get down in there but you never know.

https://youtube.com/shorts/WuBQ2OxJVg4?feature=share

 

The round domed object is the float. It turns off the water supply when the water rises to the correct level. Yours is probably working OK.

As far as I know the DW controls the water temp through sensors and a heating element. I don’t think that could be related to a bad odor – but I’m not 100% sure.

 

I had second thoughts about the GD as the odor source because I was thinking the drain valve would block most of the gases, but then I found the link below. So it sounds like it really is possible. Very interesting!

https://www.excelplumbing.us/how-to-...ishwasher.html