Dishwasher Repair Nightmare: Chasing Down 3 Faults

It all begun with a imprecise error code (demonstrated in the graphic higher than) on [nophead]’s Bosch SMS88TW01G/01 dishwasher, and it touched off a months-long maintenance nightmare that even concerned a logic analyzer. [nophead] is usually in a position to handily diagnose and mend electronic appliances, but this time he had no thought what he was in for.

Not only were three separate and unrelated faults at engage in (one particular of them misrepresented as a communications error that triggered a ton of head-scratching) but to major it all off, the equipment is just not incredibly repair-pleasant. The Bosch machine utilized elements which are not simply accessible. In the finish [nophead] prevailed, but it really was a nightmare mend of the optimum order. So what went improper?

One mistake appears to have been because of to a producing difficulty. Even though reverse-engineering the electronics in the appliance, [nophead] recognized a surface-mounted transistor that looked crooked. It was loose to the contact and fell into pieces when he tried to desolder it. This part was liable for switching an optical sensor, so that was 1 challenge solved.

Another difficulty was a “communications error”. This really arrived down to ground leakage owing to a corroded and faulty heater, and to say that it was a ache to access is an understatement. Accessing this component involves the machine to be turned upside down, simply because the only way to get to it is by getting rid of the base of the dishwasher, which itself needs a weird series of awkward and unintuitive techniques to take out. Oh, and prior to turning the machine upside down, just one has to purge the sump pump, which required a 3D-printed adapter… and the record goes on.

And the E02 mistake code, the matter that started it all? This was solved early in troubleshooting by shifting a resistor value by a little amount of money. [nophead] is beautifully mindful that this deal with tends to make no perception, but most likely it was in actuality relevant to the ground leakage challenge triggered by the corroded heater. It might return to haunt the foreseeable future, but in the meantime, the machine appears to be happy.

It goes to exhibit that even though each fault has a trigger and a reason, sometimes they are considerably from distinct or available, and the street to repair is just a long slog. Heck, even phones these days can be bricked by unintentionally swapping a 1.3 mm screw for a 1.2 mm screw.