The short answer
A leaking DW machine is usually leaking from a joint you can see, not from the tub. On a built-in half of the joints that can leak are under the sink rather than in the machine. The single most useful thing you can do is note when in the cycle the water appears, because that alone narrows it to one of three causes. The 7 numbers in the table below share the construction this ranking is built on.
What you observe on these models
- A line of water on the floor directly under the door — Door gasket or door alignment.
- Water under the sink but a dry kitchen floor — The leak is in the connections, not in the machine.
- The leak happens on some cycles and not others — Cycle-dependent leaks point at fill and drain events rather than at the tub.
- Water appears only at the end of the cycle — That points at the drain side of the machine.
- NEAR MISS — a wet floor with foam in it — Detergent, not a fault.
Causes, most likely first on the DW family
- The door gasket and the door alignment — First on this platform: water at the front, across the floor in a line under the door, is a gasket or a door that has stopped closing square, and both are visible without a tool.
- Overfilling from a failed float or inlet valve — Second: a machine that keeps filling puts water over the door lip, and the tell is that the leak only happens during the fill rather than throughout the cycle.
- The quick-connect at the back of the machine — Third: same argument: a handled connection fails before a permanent one.
- The faucet adapter and its washers — Fourth: it is the only pressurised joint on the machine and it is made and broken by hand.
- Overfill, especially where the machine is filled from its own reservoir — Last: filling past the line puts water over the door lip on the first spray.
Check in this order, and why that order
- Work out when in the cycle the water appears — During the fill points at overfill; throughout points at the door or a hose; at the end points at the drain.
- Run a finger round the door gasket looking for hard, flattened or torn sections — A gasket that has taken a set is visible and it is the commonest leak on a built-in.
- Draw the machine out and look at the floor of its space — Water there with a dry kitchen floor points at the pump or the tub and at a technician.
- Watch the coupler at the tap for the first minute of the cycle — It is under mains pressure the whole time and it is the first suspect on this platform.
- Dry the floor, run a short cycle and watch the machine from the side — It tells you whether the water starts at the tap or at the tub.
Before you open anything
Safety
Unplug the appliance or switch off its breaker before removing any panel. A capacitor can hold a charge after the power is off. Isolating at the breaker is better than pulling the plug where the socket is behind the appliance, because it removes the temptation to work one-handed.
Models in the DW family — The numbers this page covers.
Reference| Model number | Family key |
|---|---|
| DW1831D0WE | avanti:dishwasher:dw |
| DW1832D1BE | avanti:dishwasher:dw |
| DW1833D3SE | avanti:dishwasher:dw |
| DW18D0WE | avanti:dishwasher:dw |
| DW18D1BE | avanti:dishwasher:dw |
| DW18D3SE | avanti:dishwasher:dw |
| DW21UT22N224 | avanti:dishwasher:dw |
When to call a technician
A gasket, a coupler washer and a connection under the sink are all owner jobs. On these models the line falls at the pump and the electrical components below the tub. Call without working through anything at all for a burning smell, a tripped breaker, or water reaching a socket.
Nearest pages of this class
Lead Appliance Repair Technician · 12 years experience
Experienced technician with 12 years specializing in washing machine and dryer repairs across all major brands.
