The short answer
On a Comfee countertop dishwasher this complaint is usually the drain hose lying wrongly in the sink rather than the failure owners fear, and where it is not, the filter or sump blocked takes most of the rest. A countertop dishwasher lives beside the sink and borrows its water and its drain through an adapter on the tap, which puts the two ends of its plumbing in the owner's hands every time it runs. That order is what this page is for, because working it the other way round is how an afternoon gets spent on the least likely cause.
What you observe
- Water standing in the bottom at the end — A small amount is normal on some machines; a bowlful is not.
- It stops part-way through — Usually waiting on water it cannot get or cannot drain.
- NEAR MISS - a smell rather than a performance problem — That is nearly always the filter and the sump, and it is a ten-minute job.
Causes, most likely first on this brand
- The drain hose lying wrongly in the sink — Top of the list here: a countertop machine empties into the sink through a hose you place, and one hooked too low siphons while one that falls out empties onto the worktop.
- The filter or sump blocked — Second here: labels, seeds and fragments of glass collect where the water leaves, and they stop the drain long before they stop the wash.
- The sink drain itself backing up — Third, and worth the two minutes: the machine empties into the same pipe as the sink, so a slow sink means a machine that cannot get rid of its water however healthy its pump is.
- The drain pump jammed — Last, and the reason the order matters: a fragment of glass or a fruit stone against the impeller stops the pump dead, and it announces itself as a hum with nothing moving.
Check in this order, and why
- Check where the drain hose sits in the sink — On a countertop machine the hose placement is the drain system.
- Clear the filter and the sump — Where the water leaves is where the blockage is.
- Pour a bucket into the sink and watch — It separates the plumbing from the appliance in one step.
What an owner can safely check
- Check the drain hose rises above the machine before it falls — Without that high loop the sink drains back into the dishwasher.
Tools: torchAbout 20 min
- Reach into the sump with a torch and clear what is in it — Go slowly - broken glass collects there. Check the impeller turns freely.
Tools: torch, glovesAbout 20 min
- Pour a bucket of water into the sink and watch it go — It tests the plumbing without involving the appliance.
Tools: bucketAbout 10 min
- STOP HERE if the next step means pulling the machine out or removing a panel — There are live terminals and standing water behind it, and that is where owner checks end.
Before you open anything
Safety
Unplug the machine before reaching into the sump or working on the adapter, and turn the tap off first. A capacitor can hold a charge after the power is off. Go carefully in the sump with a torch: broken glass collects there. Never defeat the door catch to watch it run - the water inside is hot enough to scald.
When to call a technician
Call when the hose is placed correctly, the sump is clear, the sink takes a bucket readily and the tub still holds water. Bail the tub out before doing anything else, because a machine full of water cannot be moved along a worktop safely and it will not be worked on with the water still in it.
Nearest pages of this class
What this page does not cover
This page covers countertop dishwashers as a class rather than one model line. Hose lengths, sump designs and pump arrangements differ by family, and where a family- or model-specific page exists for your unit it is linked below. Not here: hose figures, capacities and part identifiers.
Lead Appliance Repair Technician · 12 years experience
Experienced technician with 12 years specializing in washing machine and dryer repairs across all major brands.
