Written by This last week, I received an email from the tenants of the 1400 with a few “minor problems”. One of the issues was the dishwasher. The last time they ran the dishwasher it didn’t drain. The water had pooled in the bottom, so I assumed the drain in the bottom was clogged. Last time this happened I ended up cleaning up the disgusting shrimp shells and broken glass the tenants left for me. I put on some gloves, spooned out the water with a solo cup, and checked the drain. Nothing blocking it. As far as I could tell it meant the impeller to drain the dishwasher was broken or the drain line was clogged. I checked the drain to the disposal and nothing was blocking it. So instead of fixing the old one, I thought it would be easier to put in a new dishwasher.
I got the cheapest dishwasher in the area I could find. A Frigidaire from Sears for $240. I went over to the house and started taking out the old dishwasher. The three pieces to hook up are the electricity, supply, and drain.
Disconnecting the old drain line
Old Copper Supply line
Needless to say, the old connections were pretty old and gross. Getting the old copper compression fitting disconnected from the dishwasher took a long time and ripped my hand apart. I had gotten a new flexible braided stainless steel supply line and wish I could have just ripped it out. The most time that I spent on this project was taking off this and the other end, which connected to the main pipe. After I disconnected these, I realized the new supply line was only 3/8″ and the threading for the pipe was larger. I sent Maura to Ayers to get an adapter. She put me on the phone with the employee at Ayers and he gave her 3 different sizes. Meanwhile, I had disconnected the electricity and found that I needed a conduit connector for the dishwasher, and the old brittle electric wire had snapped. When Maura got back, I picked the connector that fit the supply line, attached it, and at 10pm called it a night.
Taking out the old dishwasher
Saturday morning we got up early and did a nice little home depot trip. Since the old wire had snapped when I tried to bend it, I didn’t have enough wire to reach the new dishwasher’s junction box. I picked up a junction box, some conduit cable, and conduit connectors. It was a very odd trip to Home Depot. The employees at the Seven Corners HD normally are completely unhelpful, but this Saturday the A squad was out, and super helpful.
I thought that putting in a new junction box would be super easy. It wasn’t too hard, but I would find out later I didn’t make a solid connection the first time. I used a conduit connector to put the cable in one side and connected the new cable very easily. Then attached the box to the wall.
Adding a new Junction Box
I connected the new supply line easily with an elbow connector. The new drain line fit perfectly on the disposal. I leveled out the dishwasher, fit it under the counter and attached it to the counter.
Connecting the supply water line
I turned the power back on, and was ready to go play some golf. Instead, nothing happened. I got out my multimeter and realized that no power was reaching the dishwasher. I was terrified, and thought that maybe I had broken the old wires before they reached the new junction box. I had a round of golf to play, so I speedily took out the dishwasher, and tested the power at the junction box. Luckily, I just hadn’t connected it well with the screw connectors. I recommend testing your wires and electrical work before putting in a large appliance and connecting two other pieces. It took another 15 minutes to reconnect everything. I turned on the power, and was ecstatic to find it on and working.
In summary:
- Work time: 4 hours
- Cost: $310 (including buying myself tin snips, and a new socket set)
- Difficulty: Intermediate, minimal electrical and pipe knowledge
As a lesson learned: the week after installing hhgregg had free delivery and install on all Bosch dishwashers, the one in the ad $399. So for about $100 more I probably could have saved 4 hours of time. As always, time is money.
