# Melted wires on dishwasher



## smokepants

Had a scare last night... I was up coughing so I decided to go downstairs so I did not wake anybody up and I could smell a weird odor from the dishwasher. I sniffed around, looked inside and thought it was one of the kids cups or plates and did not find anything else. After a while it smelled a bit stronger then I heard a pop, which I thought was the rinse-aid door popping open, so I checked it out. I found the dishwasher off and smelling very strange. I then took the front cover off where the wire nuts are connected to the power cord and THEY WERE ALL MELTED:yikes:. I got my wife up and ran downstairs to check the breaker and it was tripped..thank goodness. I have no clue what would cause that but now I am scared that something may be seriously wrong with it. 
It is a Sears Kenmore Elite which is made by Bosch. It has worked great since we bought it 3-4 years ago. I checked and there are no recalls on it but another model of Bosch are recalled for fire hazards. I guess I need to call Sears and Bosch and see what I can do. 
I don't know what could have caused that, does anybody have any ideas?

Sorry for the long post and thanks
Neil.


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## harpo1

If you had just purchased and installed it I would say something was hooked up wrong. But since it's been working for 3-4 years then I wouldn't have a clue! Better get a tech in to check it out before you use it again.


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## MSUICEMAN

was there signs of water under the washer at all? also, on some dishwashers if condensate or water gets behind the panel, big problems can happen.


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## roger23

some thing must have shorted out or the heating element stayed on and the thermostat did not work, the internal fuse should have blown ,,I would think you have a bare wire some where,,I surely would contact Sears, but I don't think I would have that one fixed,I would be afraid it would happen again, unless it was faulty installation that finally failed,,,,at least the breaker tripped ,,if you had a GFCI it should have detected a short,before the wires heated up that much,,,good luck with Sears,,,I never had any


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## Big Reds

My dishwasher did the same thing. Different brand and fourteen years old. Breaker should have tripped earlier I would believe. Definitely call and pass on this info to the manufacturer. This is the only way that they can detect a possible flaw.


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## Ranger Ray

My Whirlpool did the same after 3 years. Luckily my kids investigated a intermittent beeping sound downstairs (fire alarm just catching little bits of smoke) and smelled the burnt plastic. They ran back upstairs and woke me up. No breaker tripped on mine. By the time I made it to the basement to cut the breaker the whole 1st floor was full of that awful burnt plastic smell that took what seemed like weeks to disappear.


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## smokepants

I think I figured out the problem..This link is exactly what happened to me last night. Only difference is that my wires are a bit more charred than theirs. It looks easy enough to fix, just snip the wires back to the good part(remove the melted stuff) and reconnect.

Here is the link: http://www.technicianbrian.com/2009/07/bosch-dishwasher-burning-smell-and-no.html
Has anybody had this happen? Thanks again for the quick responses, it is nice to know there are always people on here willing to give some help.

Neil.


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## Sixgun

I'm guessing it was a stranded wire to stranded wire connection in the wirenuts. Wirenuts are made for solid wire to solid wire connection only. It's a blind connection, so you never know if it's "good". A few loose strands can produce heat, and over time can melt that wirenut.

The proper way to attach two stranded wires together is to use crimp on ring terminals. Then through bolt them together, and cover with electrical tape. The ring terminals go back-to-back, with both barrels the same direction. (It will look like a wire nut connection with both wires coming in from one end.)

Hope that helps,

Ray


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## hunter143

Yup loose connection will do it everytime...


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## BIG DAVE

Sixgun said:


> I'm guessing it was a stranded wire to stranded wire connection in the wirenuts. Wirenuts are made for solid wire to solid wire connection only. It's a blind connection, so you never know if it's "good". A few loose strands can produce heat, and over time can melt that wirenut.
> 
> The proper way to attach two stranded wires together is to use crimp on ring terminals. Then through bolt them together, and cover with electrical tape. The ring terminals go back-to-back, with both barrels the same direction. (It will look like a wire nut connection with both wires coming in from one end.)
> 
> Hope that helps,
> 
> Ray


not true on the wire nuts.. they are UL LISTED for both applications. if installed by a electrician that cares about his work, and not a hack.
but you are right about the resistance causing heat. you can get a better
connection from a wire nut than a crimp style eye hook and nut and bolt.
and there are ways to check your connection.


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## smokepants

Thanks for the input guys. The power cord was stranded wire while the dishwasher was solid wire. When I installed it I put the right sized nuts and gave a tug on each wire when I was done. I wonder if I could get a power cord made of solid wire instead of stranded? I took the power cord off and just the end was melted so i could cut the bad part out and reuse it if I needed to. But I was going to buy a new one anyways just for piece of mind.

My wife and I forgot what it was like to hand wash dishes after every meal. I told her we were living the simple lifestyle...she did not agree.


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## jakeo

Sixgun said:


> I'm guessing it was a stranded wire to stranded wire connection in the wirenuts. Wirenuts are made for solid wire to solid wire connection only. It's a blind connection, so you never know if it's "good". A few loose strands can produce heat, and over time can melt that wirenut.
> 
> The proper way to attach two stranded wires together is to use crimp on ring terminals. Then through bolt them together, and cover with electrical tape. The ring terminals go back-to-back, with both barrels the same direction. (It will look like a wire nut connection with both wires coming in from one end.)
> 
> Hope that helps,
> 
> Ray


Wirenuts only for solid wire????????NO WAY!
Ive been doing this for 28 years and NEVER heard that.


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## DeerManager

what model? I have a Kenmore Elite that i bought about a year ago and would like to know what model your's is


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## smokepants

DeerManager-it is a Kenmore Elite made by Bosch, model #630.17303401. I am going to call Sears tonight to see what they say, I am not expecting much but I will try anyways. The problem looks to be in the power cord where it ties to the dishwasher wires. My fix will be to get a whole new power cord then trim the bad part off the dishwasher wires and tie together again. 
As far as I can tell and from help here the problem was vibration rubbing on one wire eventually caused it to spark and get hot eventually melting the wires and kicking out the breaker. Or not all the strands were fully under the wire nut when I tied it all together, which overtime melted the caps. With all the research I have been doing the stranded wire should be about 1/8" longer than the solid wire before you wire nut them together. So when I redo it I will make sure that is the case and tape the nuts when I am finished just for a little bit more insulation. I will also put a layer of tape around the wires where they come through the knockout spot.

Neil.


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## jakeo

So when I redo it I will make sure that is the case and tape the nuts when I am finished just for a little bit more insulation. I will also put a layer of tape around the wires where they come through the knockout spot.

Neil.[/QUOTE]

Just spend the 25 cents for the proper connector. Its actual size will say 3/8". Wire will be secure. GL


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## roger23

jakeo said:


> Wirenuts only for solid wire????????NO WAY!
> Ive been doing this for 28 years and NEVER heard that.


 
Me Too,,, same for all colors/ sizes,,


*
Engineering Specification​*Scotchlok Electrical Spring Connector (3M part No.
Scotchlok R) capable of connecting two or more
wires in a pigtail application, in the wire range of No.
18 thru No. 10 AWG solid or stranded copper
conductors. The connector shall be constructed of an
active (live) spring and a steel shell covered by a​vinyl insulator. The spring shall have a corrosion


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## ih772

smokepants said:


> DeerManager-it is a Kenmore Elite made by Bosch, model #630.17303401. I am going to call Sears tonight to see what they say, I am not expecting much but I will try anyways. The problem looks to be in the power cord where it ties to the dishwasher wires. My fix will be to get a whole new power cord then trim the bad part off the dishwasher wires and tie together again.
> As far as I can tell and from help here the problem was vibration rubbing on one wire eventually caused it to spark and get hot eventually melting the wires and kicking out the breaker. Or not all the strands were fully under the wire nut when I tied it all together, which overtime melted the caps. With all the research I have been doing the stranded wire should be about 1/8" longer than the solid wire before you wire nut them together. So when I redo it I will make sure that is the case and tape the nuts when I am finished just for a little bit more insulation. I will also put a layer of tape around the wires where they come through the knockout spot.
> 
> Neil.


If the wires were arcing to each other or to ground, it would have tripped your breaker before the insulation had time to melt.

Make sure you have actually found the problem that caused the insulation to melt. A motor with the bearings going bad will cause the insulation to melt before before the breaker will trip. A sticky breaker will do the same thing. Make sure its properly grounded as well.


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## smokepants

Only one of the wires was totally melted..it was the white on the dishwasher where it connects to the power cord. The ground was still intact and the black dishwasher wire's cap was somewhat melted where it was touching the melted white wire. 
-It was grounded.
-I did not think about bad motor bearings, what would be the best way to check for that?

I am going to the store tonight to see what they have for the proper connector and new power cord. Thanks for all the advice. When I get this back together I will make sure it is running ok before i put the cover back on the connections. And only run it when I am around the kitchen, I am still bothered by this.


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