The short answer
A Comfee dishwasher that will not drain is nearly always blocked at the filter or the waste connection. Everything below happens with the machine switched off at the wall. On this kind of cabinet the line is a volume sub-brand of a large manufacturer, which means the platform is well understood and the parts are ordinarily obtainable.
What this looks like
- Draining is very slow rather than absent — A partial restriction, and that is why the fault arrived gradually.
- Water standing above the filter at the end of the cycle — The machine has finished and the water has not left, which is the definition of this fault.
- Dishes come out dirty and the water smells — Wash water that cannot leave is reused, so a drainage fault presents as a cleaning fault.
- NEAR MISS — water on the floor rather than in the machine — That is a leak, and it is covered on the water-leak page.
Causes, most likely first
- Sump or drain hose blocked — Ranked first: Anything small enough to pass the filter collects in the sump below it, and a hose kinked behind the machine restricts what is left. It sits at the top here since the line is a volume sub-brand of a large manufacturer, which means the platform is well understood and the parts are ordinarily obtainable.
- Filter assembly clogged with food debris — Second: Grease binds the trapped debris into a mat that water cannot pass, and that is why the decline is gradual and the failure sudden.
- Waste connection blanking plug never removed — Third: On a recent installation this is the classic cause: the spigot on the sink trap is still closed by its moulded plug.
Check in this order, and why
- Listen during the drain phase — A humming pump moving nothing is a different fault from a silent one, and the difference decides the next step.
- Check the drain hose behind the machine for kinks — A hose crushed when the machine was pushed back restricts flow with no part having failed.
- Spin both spray arms by hand — They should turn freely; a blocked jet or a fouled bearing costs a whole rack of cleaning.
What you can do yourself
- Check the waste spigot and the blanking plug — Under the sink, confirm the dishwasher connection is open and that the moulded plug was removed at installation.
Tools: torch, pliersAbout 25 min
- Flush the drain hose into a bucket — Release it at the trap, lower it into a bucket and check whether water runs freely from the machine end.
Tools: bucket, towelsAbout 30 min
- Clear the sump by hand — With the machine switched off, feel round the sump for glass, stones and labels, and remove anything you find.
Tools: gloves, torchAbout 15 min
- STOP once the free tests are exhausted — The next step is a measurement rather than an observation, and measurements here are technician work.
Power, water and hands
Safety
Isolate the electricity first — plug out or breaker off — and only then touch plumbing. Water and mains power share a tight space in this appliance, and that is why the order is power, then water, then tools. Never work inside the unit with the supply open.
When to call a technician
The line is the sump: the filter and anything you can reach with a hand is owner work, and removing the pump is not. Anything that smells of burning, trips a breaker or leaves scorch marks is a stop-now condition rather than a diagnosis to continue.
Similar pages
Scope of this page
Treat this as the general case. Where a family or model page exists, it is linked below and it is the page to trust for dimensions, fasteners and parts. The family- and model-specific pages linked here do, and where one covers your unit it is the better starting point. It stops short of anything that requires the unit to be opened, since that is where family differences start to matter.
Lead Appliance Repair Technician · 12 years experience
Experienced technician with 12 years specializing in washing machine and dryer repairs across all major brands.
