The short answer
An Almison dishwasher that does not heat leaves the load greasy and the tub cool at the end of a long programme, and the cycle usually runs long as the control waits for a temperature it never reaches. The common causes are the element and its thermal cut-out; the cheap ones to rule out first are a cold supply and a programme selection that never asked for heat.
What owners describe
- China cool to the touch at the end of a hot programme — The confirming test. Plastics are always cool and prove nothing.
- Greasy film on everything, worst on cutlery — Fat needs heat to lift. A cold wash leaves exactly this signature.
- Programme time stretching well past its estimate — The control is waiting on a temperature. This is the most useful early clue there is.
- Detergent tablet only partly dissolved in the dispenser — Cold water leaves an intact core. It is visible evidence of the temperature the wash actually reached.
Causes, most likely first
- A failed heating element — First on this class of machine, because it is the component under constant thermal and mineral stress. It fails open, without drama and without a smell.
- A tripped thermal cut-out — Second. It protects the element and, having done so once, will do so again — so it points at whatever made it trip rather than being the whole answer.
- A temperature sensor reporting wrongly — Third. A sensor that reads high stops the heat early and gives a machine that is warm but never hot.
- Programme selection or an eco setting — Fourth, and free to rule out. Some short programmes barely heat by design.
- Control not calling for heat — Last, and diagnosed only after the three above are eliminated by measurement.
The order to work in, and why
- Run a long hot programme and feel the china immediately — Confirms the fault exists before anybody spends anything.
- Compare the actual run time against the stated one — A long run points at the heater, a normal run at the sensor or the control.
- Check which programme is actually selected — Eco and rapid cycles heat far less, and both get selected by accident.
- Look at the dispenser residue — Undissolved tablet is corroborating evidence and takes a second to see.
Steps up to the stopping point
- Run a long programme with the machine empty — A clean baseline. Nothing in the racks means nothing absorbing heat and no loading variable.
About 90 min
- Feel the door skin and the tub at the end — Warm tub, cold china means poor circulation. Cold everything means no heat at all.
About 5 min
- Check the incoming supply temperature at the nearest tap — A machine plumbed to a cold supply has to make all its own heat, which is slower and shows up first on short cycles.
About 10 min
- Clean the filter and the arms, then repeat the test — Poor circulation mimics poor heating. Stop here: the element itself is measured with a meter on an isolated machine.
Tools: brushAbout 25 min
What can hurt you here
Safety
Unplug the appliance or switch off its breaker before removing any panel — a capacitor can hold a charge after the power is off. A dishwasher heating element sits in the sump with mains across it, and a failed one may have failed to earth rather than open, so the machine can be dangerous while looking merely cold. If the machine trips the breaker on hot programmes, treat that as an electrical fault rather than a heating fault and stop using it.
When to stop and book someone
Call once the machine is clean, the programme is right and the load still comes out cold, because the element, the cut-out and the sensor all need measurement across isolated terminals. Call promptly rather than living with it: a cold dishwasher is not just washing badly, it is leaving grease in its own sump and hose, which turns a heater job into a heater and drainage job over a few months. If the machine both fails to heat and trips a breaker, say so when you book — that changes what the technician brings.
Nearest pages of this class
Where this page stops
This page is the class-level answer for an Almison dishwasher that will not heat. It carries no element wattages, no sensor resistance tables and no terminal identifiers, because those differ across builds under this badge and a wrong figure leads to a wrong part. A family- or model-specific page, where one exists, holds those details and is the right place to shop from. Household water-heating and supply temperature are outside this page even though they change what the machine has to do.
Lead Appliance Repair Technician · 12 years experience
Experienced technician with 12 years specializing in washing machine and dryer repairs across all major brands.
