The short answer
On a Sunvivi dishwasher this is usually a blocked air gap or a missing high loop rather than a control that never calls for drain. The first checks below cost nothing and need no panel off; the one at the bottom of the list is a service call.
What you actually observe
- Standing water in the base at the end of a cycle — The classic version. A small amount in the sump is normal; a covered filter is not.
- The machine stops part-way through and holds water — Drainage is failing mid-cycle and the control is waiting for a level it never reaches.
- NEAR MISS: water only under the machine — That is a leak, not a drainage fault, and it belongs on a different page.
Causes, most likely first on this build
- A blocked air gap or a missing high loop — Without an air gap or a loop above the machine, waste water runs straight back in as fast as it leaves. It leads on Sunvivi: a unit that moves house with its owner arrives out of level and with a seal that has been leaned on.
- A control that never calls for drain — The machine is behaving correctly to a wrong reading and the pump is never asked to run. Second, because a board decides the behaviour rather than a switch, so a control fault reads as a machine declining to act.
- A blocked filter or sump — Everything the machine washes off collects here. Full, it closes the only route to the pump. Third: the filtration is basic here, so debris reaches parts a finer filter would have protected.
- A kinked or blocked drain hose — The hose runs behind the machine where it gets crushed against the wall or trapped by a drawer. Bottom of the list on purpose: the drain path is short and narrow on this build, so it blocks with less debris than a wider one needs.
What to check first, second and third
- Look at the air gap on the worktop, or at whether the hose rises above the machine — An install fault looks exactly like a pump fault from inside.
- Once the path is clear and the pump is free, what is left is the control — And that is a meter job.
- Bail the water out and lift the filter — The state of the sump answers this before any tool is needed.
What an owner can safely check
- Lift the air-gap cover on the worktop and clear it, or secure the drain hose in a high loop — This is an install fault and it never fixes itself.
Tools: a screwdriverAbout 20 min
- Bail the standing water out with a cup, then remove and wash the filter and clear the sump by hand — Glass and bone fragments live here, so look before you reach.
Tools: a cup, a sponge, glovesAbout 25 min
- Pull the machine out carefully and straighten the drain hose over its whole run — Check the high loop is still in place: without it, waste siphons back.
Tools: a torchAbout 20 min
- STOP HERE: testing the pump winding or the control means a meter on live terminals — A service call, not an owner check.
Before you open anything
Safety
Switch the machine off at its breaker or unplug it before removing the kick plate or any panel, and shut the supply off at the stop tap. A capacitor can hold a charge after the power is off. Never defeat the door latch to watch a cycle run: it holds hot water and a spray arm behind it. Water and a live terminal in the same cabinet is the one combination worth being careful about.
When this stops being a do-it-yourself job
Call when the filter and sump are clean, the hose runs free with a high loop, the waste spigot is open and the machine still holds water. Call sooner if you find the pump jammed with glass: clearing that by hand is how people get cut. Isolate the power before reaching into any sump.
Closest pages to this one
What this page does not cover
This page covers the Sunvivi dishwasher as a class, not one family or model line. Where a family-specific page exists it is linked below and it is the more precise answer. Not here: pump part numbers, hose routing diagrams and family-specific error sequences.
Lead Appliance Repair Technician · 12 years experience
Experienced technician with 12 years specializing in washing machine and dryer repairs across all major brands.
