Haier dishwasher problem

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CeaSaR
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Haier dishwasher problem

Post by CeaSaR »

My inlaws have a Haier ESD311 dishwasher with all electronic controls (what doesn't
these days :roll: ). Just the other day it got a mind of its own and started turning on the
plate warmer by itself. When the cancel button is pushed, it stops but will start up again,
anywhere from 5 - 25 minutes later.

When it does this, the plate warmer light, dryer light, add rinse aid light and 8 minute
countdown timer come on. Then the timer counts down to 0 and starts again, all the
while keeping the plate warmer element on. It melted (warped) a plastic glass and popped
(deformed) a corner of the stainless liner. Good thing they were home when it happened,
as my brother-in-law hit the breaker to kill the line. While we were visiting tonight, he
turned the line back on and within 20 minutes it did the same thing.

We are leaning toward the logic/control board being f'd up, because we cannot find any
sensors inside or on the wiring diagram he has.

Does anyone have any experience with Haier products? Any ideas? Do you think the combo
of lights might be a code similar to what you might find on a car or printer? Any help would
be greatly appreciated.

Yes, he has been in contact with both Haier and the company that sold him the dishwasher,
but no real luck as no one can find the extended warranty he sent in.

Thanks in advance,
CeaSaR
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Bob Scott
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Re: Haier dishwasher problem

Post by Bob Scott »

I had strange things happening with my dishwasher. One of the wires in the door had fatiqued and became intermittently open from a few years of opening/closing the door. If you have wires from the door to the main chassis, try stretching them. Any open wire will stretch and break the insulation at the bad/open point. Good wires with continuous metal don't stretch.

Bob
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haklesup
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Re: Haier dishwasher problem

Post by haklesup »

I agree that it sounds like the control board. If the in chip program or control chip is failed then it would need to be replaced. On the off chance it is contamination on the board surface, a generic cleaning in isopropyl alcohol might get you lucky but it's a long shot. Replacement of electrolytic caps is another long shot possibility to try.

A quick search on sears parts direct dot com shows the control PCB DW-0668-10 at $90 and I doubt you can do better for price. The cabinet assy drawing also shows a thermostat DW-7350-02 for $7. You might want to take a look at that too. Other than the wiring harness I can't see any other possible sources of the problem.

Another long shot would be to call sears repair (they are pretty good and competitively priced for the most part) and tell them you have an extended warranty. Maybe they can validate it. Is the extended warranty with Haier or with the store that sold it. If it's with the store, you may need to proove it with your reciept.


A quick look at the operators manual http://www.managemyhome.com/mmh/lis_pdf ... 905200.pdf shows that to activate this you need to have the door open and press a button. You should check the button continuity and the door open switch for proper operation as well. Try to check the continuity to these switches at the switch and at the control board input pin.
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CeaSaR
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Re: Haier dishwasher problem

Post by CeaSaR »

Thanks guys. My Brother-in-law said that in his manual it states that the door should be
closed and then you push he button, after which you open the door. After 8 minutes, the
plate warmer element turns off and your plates have been warmed.

He did some more tests today (without having to open the panels) and found something
interesting.

Test 1: run a regular cleaning cycle - while running, the plate warmer light blinks like it
wants to come on but is prevented because of the cleaning cycle in progress. Once that
is finished, the plate warmer comes on immediately without being told to do so.
Test 2: the child lock function disables all buttons until it is "un-child locked". While locked,
the plate warmer light was blinking like it wanted to come on. Upon unlocking, it turned on.

Sounds more and more like the board going flaky. He has found a board for ~ $72, but is
waiting on the store that sold it to him to help "find" the extended warranty before he buys
it. The store is a local appliance place that has been in business for over 50 years, not a
mega-chain like Sears or Best Buy. They have been very good to him over the years, that's
why he's giving them the chance to help. They have placed several calls to Haier, but it
seems Haier doesn't want to talk to anyone yet. If they give him a real hard time, he has
the option to report a "very dangerous appliance situation" that could give Haier's Legal,
Public Relations and possibly Recall departments a big scare. If they hadn't been home to
kill the power, it could have started a fire.

We'll see what comes of the lost extended warranty phone tag. Until then, many thanks.

CeaSaR

PS - He found another guide on-line that has troubleshooting and wiring schematics. He
also talked to Sears (before I talked to him) and they helped him somewhat.
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Bob Scott
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Re: Haier dishwasher problem

Post by Bob Scott »

CeaSaR wrote:PS - He found another guide on-line that has troubleshooting and wiring schematics. He also talked to Sears (before I talked to him) and they helped him somewhat.
Caesar,

Could you please post the link for the schematic?

You might join the forum at http://fixitnow.com , the Samurai appliance repairman. There are volunteer repair techs in the forums who help DIYers. This is a great resource for those of us who fix our own. There's a small fee to join the forum but you can get around the fee by completing the "Appliantologist" competence test with at least 75% right answers:

http://fixitnow.com/merit-exam/

It's a fun place with funny stories about customers from hell and also incompetent repairmen.
I do see Haier listed. Who makes it and where are they? Wait, I'll look it up in Wiki:

Haier (traditional Chinese: 海爾; simplified Chinese: 海尔; pinyin: Hǎiěr) (SEHK: 1169,SSE: 600690) is primarily a producer of household appliances ("white goods"), including air conditioners, washing machines and refrigerators. Its headquarters are in Qingdao, Shandong, People's Republic of China. As of 2008, Haier is the fourth-largest white goods manufacturer in the world. Haier Group reported sales of over $17.8 billion across all divisions in 2008.[1]

Did you check here:

Ask a Haier Technicians
http://Haier.JustAnswer.com 8 Haier Technicians Are Online! Ask a Question, Get an Answer ASAP.
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CeaSaR
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Re: Haier dishwasher problem

Post by CeaSaR »

Thanks Bob,

I'm just the secondary middleman on this particular quest. My b'inlaw has been doing all the
legwork so far. I haven't even seen what he's found on-line. All I know is what he has relayed
to me and what I saw (in the first post).

I read something a few years ago about how the Chinese were up and coming in the appliance
market and that Haier was one of the better ones. That remains to be seen. We'll see.

Next time I see him I'll give him your links.

CeaSaR
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Bob Scott
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Re: Haier dishwasher problem

Post by Bob Scott »

CeaSaR wrote:I read something a few years ago about how the Chinese were up and coming in the appliance market and that Haier was one of the better ones. That remains to be seen. We'll see.
Just don't ever ever buy a new GE appliance, no matter how low the price. See comments from techs at fixitnow.com.
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CeaSaR
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Re: Haier dishwasher problem

Post by CeaSaR »

Update:

After many calls and emails on his part and numerous calls from the store that sold the dishwasher,
Haier has finally said that he has a 4 year warranty (no one wants to produce any documentation yet)
and is sending out a repairman tomorrow to fix it. Unfortunately he had to play the liability card to get
any satisfaction from Haier. After it is fixed he's going demand written proof of the remaining warranty
should anything go wrong again. All in all, he's happy with the store's efforts to resolve the problem, not
so happy with Haier. Let's just say he probably won't be a repeat customer of that brand.

CeaSaR
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philba
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Re: Haier dishwasher problem

Post by philba »

It sounds like you'll (he'll) get some satisfaction. In general, all appliances sold these days are complete garbage, even the high end ones. When buying a new appliance, factor in the extended warranty as part of the cost. We've had a new stove, 2 dishwashers and 2 washing machines fail in the last 5 years. Dishwasher 1 was Bosch, dishwasher 2 is Kenmore, washing machines were Fisher-Paykel and stove was GE.

I will never purchase another major appliance without an extended warranty.

The Bosch dishwasher was purchased new in 2001. It failed 3 times and cost us time and money. After 3 years, we junked it for a kenmore and an extended warranty. It has failed twice but repaired for free under the plan.

The Fisher-Paykel washer was a nightmare. First one was purchased in 2001 and failed in 2005. After 4 months of inability to repair it, FP gave us a new one. That one lasted 2 years. We replaced it with a 25 year old Whirlpool that is still running just fine.

The GE stove is from 1999 and failed about 2 years ago with all the LED segments on the display on. The controller is no longer available so it sits useless while I figure out what to replace it with. It's in a mother-in-law appt so it's out of sight...
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CeaSaR
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Re: Haier dishwasher problem

Post by CeaSaR »

Update:

It is the "brains" that are going (going... gone :grin: ). Now the repairman is waiting
for the parts to come in off of backorder (hmm... wonder what that means??), so they
will call when the pieces (the control panel and board) come in.

What a way to run a railroad, scheesh!

CeaSaR
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jgrade
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Re: Haier dishwasher problem

Post by jgrade »

For future reference, www.repairclinic.com is an excellent source of parts. I have used them for dishwasher and washing machine parts. They have quick shipping, and a great return policy allowing you to by more parts than you need to diagnose the correct issue and them return the unnecessary parts. A a bonus, they have schematics, manuals and a user forum. (at least they did when i used them). Good luck.
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CeaSaR
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Re: Haier dishwasher problem

Post by CeaSaR »

Finally repaired! And it only took 4 months, 2 visits, and a LOT of phone/email time... :/

First visit the repairman pulled the face off to replace the faulty board. OOPS! Wrong board. :roll:
Backordered the correct one. Waited, and waited, and waited. Finally it came back in and had
to schedule another house call. After ~ 2 weeks they came out and now it works fine.

Haier's reputation has slipped in my brother-in-laws eyes. He's said that he'd never buy another
product from them.

Oy!

CeaSaR
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