The short answer
On a Unique dishwasher, standing water at the end of a cycle is a blockage far more often than a failed pump, and most of the blockages are within reach without tools. Work from the tub outwards: filter, then the hose route, then the disposer connection. When a machine may be running on a supply that is not a standard house circuit, the supply itself has to be cleared before any part is suspected.
What you are actually seeing
- Water standing in the tub floor at the end of every cycle — The classic picture, and usually the filter.
- The water is dirty and smells — Debris has been sitting in the sump for a while.
- Water spills from a fitting beside the tap during the drain — The air gap is blocked.
- NEAR MISS — water on the floor rather than in the tub — That is a leak and it has its own page.
Causes, most likely first on this dishwasher
- The filter in the tub floor has stopped passing water — Ranked first on Unique: on a bought-in platform the filter is a fine mesh with a small sump under it, and it fills within months if nobody lifts it out. On this one, remember that the supply may not be a standard house circuit, so clear the supply before suspecting a part.
- Disposer knockout plug still in place, or the disposer is full — Second: a new installation that has never drained is almost always the knockout plug, and no amount of pump work will change that.
- The air gap fitting beside the tap is full of debris — Third: where one is fitted it is the one part of the drain path above the sink, and it blocks with exactly the debris the filter passes.
- Drain pump impeller jammed by glass, a seed or a label — Last, and that is the point of the order: the pump sits directly under the sump on these platforms, so anything the filter misses arrives there within one cycle.
Check in this order, and why
- First — lift the filter out of the tub floor and look at it and the sump beneath — This is free, it needs no tools, and it settles most of these faults on its own.
- Then — check whether the machine has ever drained properly, and look at the disposer connection — A machine that has never drained since installation is a different fault from one that stopped.
- Third — look at the air gap fitting on the worktop if the machine has one — Water spilling from it during a drain names it immediately.
- Only then — listen at the drain part of the cycle for a hum with no water moving — A humming pump is jammed; a silent one is a different fault, which is why it comes after everything above it.
What an owner can safely check
- Remove and wash the filter, then clear the sump under it — Twist the filter out, wash it under a tap with a brush, and scoop out what is sitting in the sump before refitting it.
Tools: brush, clothAbout 20 min
- Lift the air gap cover and clear it — Twist the cap off, lift the cover and clear any debris inside, then refit and run a drain.
Tools: clothAbout 15 min
- STOP before testing anything electrical with the power on — The checks above are all cold checks. Anything that needs power applied is where an owner check ends.
Before you open anything
Safety
Switch the machine off at its breaker before reaching into the sump or behind the machine — the drain pump can start on a timer. Standing water in a dishwasher can be hot enough to scald, so let it cool before you bail it out. Broken glass in a sump is the commonest injury on this job: bail with a jug and wipe with a cloth rather than feeling around with bare fingers.
When it stops being an owner job
Call once the filter, the hose route, the disposer connection and the air gap are all clear and the water still stands. At that point the pump or the control is the suspect and both need the machine out and the power off. Call sooner if the machine trips a breaker, if water is appearing on the floor as well as in the tub, or if there is glass in the sump you cannot safely clear.
Nearest pages of this class
What this page does not cover
This page is written for the Unique dishwasher as a class, not for one family or one model line. Where a family-specific page exists for your unit it is linked above and it is the more specific answer. Deliberately not here: part numbers, wiring colours, torque figures and any measured value, all of which differ by family.
Lead Appliance Repair Technician · 12 years experience
Experienced technician with 12 years specializing in washing machine and dryer repairs across all major brands.
