A working commercial dishwasher is essential for restaurants, cafes, and food businesses. So, if your dishwasher is not draining, it can restrict the number of clean dishes you have for customers. Therefore, the best way to fix this problem is to call in a commercial appliances repair service.

Inspect The Drain Pump

You should first identify the type of drain pump your dishwasher has.

The first type is gravity drain. As the name suggests, it uses gravity to flow water out of the machine. As it uses gravity, it’s at the lowest part of the dishwasher.

The second type of dishwasher drain is a drain pump. For dishwashers that have a drain pipe on a higher part of the machine, a drain pump is used. They work automatically to remove wastewater from the dishwasher when a wash cycle is completed.

These pumps work well but issues can arise like clogs, collapsed bearings, and obstructions in the pump or the drain line.

Oftentimes, small pieces of food items or a piece of glass can cause blockage in the drain line. So, inspect the line and clean it properly. If the dishwasher won’t drain after cleaning the drain pipes, you should inspect the drain pump yourself or have an expert inspect it because the drain pump may require replacement.

Check The Drain Impeller

The drain impeller is a component that pushes water through the drain line. If the drain impeller is faulty, it won’t create the sucking force required to force water to flow down the drain line.

A drain impeller is usually made of plastic or any other material and does the job fine, but over time, it can wear out, so you should inspect it if your commercial dishwasher makes loud noises and won’t drain.

Check The Wash Pump

A rinse pump or water impeller is another component that can be the culprit of your commercial dishwasher not draining wastewater. This pump is responsible for pushing and removing water from the machine during and after the wash cycle.

The sign of a faulty wash impeller is similar to a drain impeller — loud noises and the inability of the machine to drain. So, if you identify this sign, the problem may be a faulty drain impeller or wash pump, or both.

Timer Control And Solenoid

Timer control and solenoid work together with other parts of a dishwasher. The drain valve is closed when a wash cycle is in progress otherwise, water won’t stay in the dishwasher tank and flow out through the drain lines.

However, a wash cycle ends and the machine requires to drain wastewater, timer control is the component that sends an electrical signal to the solenoid. When the drain solenoid, receives the signal or current, it opens the drain valve allowing water to be drained out of the dishwasher.

If the timer control or solenoid don’t work well with each other or if any of these two components are malfunctioning, the dishwasher won’t drain.

You can check the solenoid if it’s fine or faulty by using a multimeter and checking its resistance. Connect the terminals of the solenoid to the multimeter and check its reading. It should go from infinity to 40 ohms.

Maintaining Your Commercial Dishwasher

To avoid frequent problems, you should take care of your commercial dishwasher and follow the maintenance practices:

• Before putting dishes into the dishwasher, scrape food debris from the dishes. This will prevent large pieces of food from entering the dishwasher and causing clogs.
• The dish can get chipped due to regular usage, so inspect the dish racks for chipping. The reason is that the small chipped pieces can clog the filter and other lines. Similarly, rust can form on the racks and it can also clog many components.
• Check your dishwasher filter and clean it every 20 cycles. You can use a soft brush and water to clean the filter. If some debris is difficult to remove, use a toothpick.
• Make sure to replace the tank water twice a day.

Conclusion

A blocked or clogged drain line is the common cause of a commercial dishwasher not draining. Hire a commercial dishwasher repair Northern VA technician to fix your kitchen equipment quickly to ensure the smooth operation of your business.