The short answer
When a Panasonic dishwasher will not empty, the cause is usually the sump, filter or scrap screen blocked, and it is the most owner-fixable fault on the appliance. This is a household built-in machine, plumbed into the kitchen and fixed into its cutout, and that is what sets the order below. The top of this list costs nothing but attention, and the bottom of it is a trade job — the order is what keeps you out of the bottom. These are household kitchen appliances, installed once and expected to work without thought for many years.
What you observe
- Water standing in the bottom at the end of a cycle — The complaint in its plainest form.
- A hum at the drain step and no water moving — The impeller is being stopped by something.
- It drains and then water comes back — A different fault from water that never leaves.
- NEAR MISS — a small amount of clean water always sits in the sump — A little water in the sump is normal on most machines and keeps the seals wet.
Causes, most likely first on this platform
- The sump, filter or scrap screen blocked — First because it is by far the most common and the only one an owner clears in minutes. Debris builds in the sump until the pump cannot pull through it, and water stands in the bottom at the end of every cycle. Installed once and then largely forgotten, this appliance presents this cause after years rather than months — but it presents it first.
- A disposer knockout plug never removed, or a blocked air gap — Ranked second on a household installation because it is the classic new-install fault: the drain hose is connected to a disposer whose knockout plug is still in place, and the machine has never been able to drain at all. An air gap on the sink deck blocks with debris and does the same.
- A drain hose without a high loop, or kinked behind the machine — Without a loop above the sump the drain siphons or backs up, and a hose crushed when the machine was pushed into its cutout does the same. It is worth checking before anything is opened.
Check in this order, and why
- First: lift out the filter and clear the sump by hand — First because it is the most common cause and the only one an owner clears in minutes. On an appliance installed once and forgotten, start with the thing nobody has looked at since.
- Second: check the disposer inlet and the air gap on the sink deck — The classic new-installation fault, and a machine that has never drained points straight here.
- Third: confirm the drain hose rises above the sump before it falls — Without that loop the machine siphons or backs up regardless of the pump.
What an owner can safely check
- Bail the standing water out before anything else — It makes every later check possible and it stops a spill when the door is opened wide.
Tools: jug, towelsAbout 15 min
- Lift out the filter and clear the sump by hand — The most common cause by a distance, and the only one an owner clears in minutes.
Tools: glovesAbout 20 min
- STOP HERE before removing the drain pump — Unplug or switch off at the breaker first, and then hand it over: broken glass and live wiring are a poor combination.
Before you open anything
Safety
Switch the machine off at its breaker, or at the switch under the sink, before opening any panel. The wash water is hot enough to scald, so let a stopped cycle cool before you reach into the sump, and wear gloves when you clear it: broken glass in the filter is the commonest injury on this appliance. Never lean on an open door — it is designed to take a rack, not a person.
When to call a technician
Call once the sump is clear, the air gap and the disposer inlet are open, and the hose has its high loop. Call rather than persist if the drain step is completely silent: that is a pump that is not being asked to run, which is a different and more electrical problem than one that hums.
Nearest pages of this class
What this page does not cover
What this covers is the pattern that holds across Panasonic dishwashers of this platform. It does not cover an individual model line: control revisions, fastener patterns, service-mode entry and every part number vary, and where a page exists for your specific family it supersedes this one.
Lead Appliance Repair Technician · 12 years experience
Experienced technician with 12 years specializing in washing machine and dryer repairs across all major brands.
