The short answer for this family
On the Criterion CDW dishwasher family a leak divides into three: supply side, tub side and door side, and they are told apart by when the water appears rather than by where it collects. The tub is plumbed and powered under the counter, so a leak is usually seen on the floor before it is seen in the machine Shut the supply tap first and diagnose second. The table below lists the five models this profile covers.
What owners of these models actually see
- A stain or swelling on the floor or cabinet with no visible water — A slow leak that has been running for weeks. It matters more than a fast one because of what it does to the floor before anyone notices.
- Suds coming out of the door — Not a leak: the wrong detergent, or hand dish soap. It floods the machine with foam that forces its way past a perfectly good seal.
- Water under the machine with a dry tub and dry door — Tub side: a hose clip, the pump seal or a split hose under the machine. It will not be visible until the machine comes out.
- Water appears at the end of the cycle, at the front — Door side. The lower door seal and the corners are where a tub full of moving water finds its way out.
- NEAR MISS: standing water inside the tub, floor dry — That is a drainage fault with its own cause list and its own order. Read that page instead.
Ranked causes for this family
- The door seal or the lower door gasket is failing — First on this platform, because a door gasket around three sides of the tub plus a separate lower door seal that wears differently. A seal that has hardened, or one with a food fragment pressed into it, leaks at one repeatable point at the front.
- The inlet hose, its connection or the valve is weeping — Second, and the most urgent: this is the only path here under mains pressure. A weep at the tap connection or the valve body will not stop while the tap is open.
- The wrong detergent is flooding the machine with foam — Ranked this high because it is common and free to fix. Hand dish soap in a dishwasher produces foam that forces past every seal on the machine.
- A hose, clip or pump seal under the tub has let go — This is the leak nobody sees until the machine is pulled out, and it is why a dry door with a wet floor points under the machine rather than at the front.
What to check first, and why in this order
- Close the supply tap before anything else — If the water is arriving under pressure this stops it immediately, and it costs nothing if it turns out not to be the supply side. Each step rules out a cause the next one would inherit.
- Dry everything and note WHEN the water returns — During fill means supply side; at the end of the cycle means door or tub. That single observation splits the causes above in half.
- Run a fingertip round the door seal and the lower corners — Look for hardening, a gap, or food pressed into the seal. Clean it and close the door on a strip of paper to feel the drag at several points.
- Check the detergent being used — Hand dish soap or too much powder produces foam that leaks past a good seal. This costs nothing to correct and is a genuinely common cause.
Before you open anything
Safety
Water and mains electricity meet under this machine, so switch it off at its breaker and close the supply tap before touching anything; a capacitor in the control can hold a charge after the power is off. Mop the floor before you kneel on it. Do not run the machine to reproduce a leak while the panel is off, and if water has reached the electrical side, leave it off and have it looked at rather than drying it and trying again.
Models in the CDW family
Reference| Model number | Family key |
|---|---|
| CDW2FCM* | criterion:dishwasher:cdw |
| CDW4FCM* | criterion:dishwasher:cdw |
| CDW5TCM* | criterion:dishwasher:cdw |
| CDW7TCM* | criterion:dishwasher:cdw |
| CDW7TCT1S | criterion:dishwasher:cdw |
Where the owner line falls here
The split on these models is not subtle. Tightening a tap connection, replacing a door seal, correcting the detergent and levelling the machine are owner work. Call when the leak is under the tub, when the machine has to be unplumbed to come out, or when water has reached the electrics. On this platform the machine has to be unplumbed and drawn out from under the counter before most work can start, which is where a straightforward job becomes a longer one.
Other problems covered for this family
Lead Appliance Repair Technician · 12 years experience
Experienced technician with 12 years specializing in washing machine and dryer repairs across all major brands.
