Dishwasher Installation

Dishwashers are so common these days that I imagine someone will soon start a campaign to "bring back washing the dishes by hand". I can't see it being popular with the housewife demographic though. A dishwasher is one of the great technological godsends in the home....as long as you know how to install it, that is.

There are two main ways to install a dishwasher. The first is to call up a friend who is a whiz kid with these things and say "hey, come and install my new dishwasher for me". If, however, you don't have a whiz kid friend available, then you can do it yourself - it's not as hard as it might look ar first.

One reason for this is that dishwashers have a standard size. They are designed to fit into a space 24 inches (2 feet) wide, and 34 inches (slightly under 3 feet) in height. This takes the guessing out of installation.

We are going to assume that you are installing a new dishwasher and replacing an old one. Safety comes first, and the initial, very important step in the process is to cut the electrical power to the old dishwasher (the one you will be replacing with the new one). If you're not sure whether you have done this or not, turn the dishwater on. If it won't work, you have successfully cut the power.

The next stage is to cut the water supply. This is probably going to come from your sink. Again, make sure that this has been switched OFF before continuing. Now you can physically remove the old dishwasher. There will be a plate at the bottom of it, and you will need a screwdriver to unscrew the dishwasher from its base. Once you have managed to do this, you can start to carefully pull it out (get someone to help you if you don't feel confident about doing this).. The old dishwater should have no water in it, but keep towels or similar handy in case there is a little left.

Once you have pulled the old dishwasher out far enough, you will see where the various wires and tubes are inserted. Take these out, but remember where each one goes. This will make installing the new dishwasher a lot easier. Dishwashers generally have a similar design no matter who the manufacturer is, so this part should not cause any real problems.

Now that the old dishwasher is completely out of the way, putting the new dishwasher in is more or less the whole process again, but backwards. Start off by pushing the new machine in until you can connect the wires which you removed from the old one (this is why it is recommended to memorize what goes where).. Once this is done, you can connect it to the base and screw in the screws which you unscrewed earlier.

Done! Your new dishwasher is installed and your hands need never be wrinkly again.

Sources

http://www.hammerzone.com/archives/kitchen/dishwasher/install/new1.htm

http://www.dannylipford.com/diy-home-improvement/how-to-install-a-dishwasher/

http://www.hometips.com/diy-how-to/dishwasher-installing.html