Leaking Dishwasher - Hobart LX30H

[jyl]

For your amusement.

My dishwasher is leaking.

I pulled it out and found that the supply hose is actively leaking. It connects deep in the bowels of the machine. While looking for a way to get a wrench, or even a hand, to the fitting, I found something much worse.

On the booster tank, the welded junction between a hose fitting and the tank body is leaking. It has apparently been doing so for a long time, based on the crusty buildup around that point.

A new tank is $2,981. Lol.

Just getting the tank out, to replace with a used tank or to have someone weld it, will require separating the upper and lower parts of the machine, disconnecting most everything.

This pic is upside down, sorry


As is this one


That’s the tank, part #2

[jyl]

So, thinking about options.

1. Disassemble, pull tank, and:
a) Replace with new $2,981 part
b) Take to welder for repair
c) Find used part, if any around, will be spendy too.
And do a bunch of “while-I’m-in-theres” - there some sensors that can be proactively replaced, and no doubt other things will crop up

2. Find a commercial appliance repair place or person who will fix it
a) A regular service business, who might refuse to enter my house (not a commercial establishment) and balk at repairing the old tank.
b) A guy working on the side, who might have no such qualms but might be a flake too

3. Find some way to seal the leak in situ.
a) JB Weld?
b) solder?

Thoughts?

[dad911]

Thinking way outside the box, and considering most home DWs do not have a booster tank.....

How hot is the booster tank? Can you bypass it, disconnect the heating element, and still wash?

If you need more heat, add a tankless heater and crank the temp?

If you pull the tank, and take it to a radiator shop (are there any of those left?) they could probably fix it.

Edit: if you clean up the rust, you may be able to braze it, but I have a feeling you're seeing the tip of the iceburg.

[jyl]

Booster heats water to 195F.

Don’t think the machine is designed to intake water of that temp.

Without the 195F rinse, the machine won’t effectively sanitize.

[greglepore]

We ran a similar hobart machine with a remote booster and tank, fwiw.
My recollection is that Hobart makes them available either way.

[Zeke]

Epoxy putty and good prep. That's a slam dunk.

[jyl]

Originally Posted by Zeke

Epoxy putty and good prep. That's a slam dunk.

Wire brush the crusty off, then any other prep needed?

What kind of epoxy putty? I don’t know anything about that stuff? Is it like JB Weld?

I quail at the thought of what a remote booster assembly would cost . . .

I bought this thing for $250 so yah I’m cheap.

[greglepore]

The other option is to use a chemical sanitizer, but the dishes take longer to dry.
I doubt epoxy will stand up to the temp.

[jyl]

Question: would it be better to use a torch and solder over the join? I assume I won’t be able to locate the exact crack.

[John Rogers]

We have lived in our house for nearly 40 years and we are on our 4th dishwasher. They seem to last 10 years or so so when the original one started leaking I looked at parts and as you have found they are $$$$$$$. So we go to the Sears discount center and get a new one usually an out of box floor model and after making sure we get the hoses, ETC use it for another 10 to 12 years.
John

[greglepore]

Originally Posted by jyl

Question: would it be better to use a torch and solder over the join? I assume I won’t be able to locate the exact crack.

Nah, you won't get it clean enough. I'd eliminate the tank and just get sanitizer from your local restaurant supply. It'll still run the short cycle and clean pretty well. The idea of a Hobart is that everything is rinsed really well before it goes in and the dw just sanitizes.

[greglepore]

Or search for another roached one with a bad pump but good tank.

[RANDY P]

2nd on the epoxy putty, JB weld that $**t.

rjp

[jyl]

The fast drying from the 195F rinse is important. We use it after big dinner parties and are running 10-15 loads in a couple hours.

[Bill Douglas]

And JB Weld has a high temp epoxy called Extremeheat.

"If you can't fix it with JB Weld it aint's worth fixin."

[nota]

lots of dead restaurants

so lots of commercial grade equip used now

or go to a boat tank maker for a custom SS tank or alloy
they make lots of odd shape tanks to fix nooks on boats

I just picked up a miele

[jyl]

Originally Posted by nota

lots of dead restaurants

so lots of commercial grade equip used now

or go to a boat tank maker for a custom SS tank or alloy
they make lots of odd shape tanks to fix nooks on boats

I just picked up a miele

Oddly, I’ve not found anyone parting out this stuff. I can buy a used unit for $2K but not the used bits.

[dad911]

If you get the wires and hoses out of the way, won't the tank slide right out?

Can you access it from the other side?

[greglepore]

I bought a half dead restaurant with a lot of half dead equipment. They presume that only their techs are going to work on it, at 150/hr in 2008 dollars. It ain't easy.
That said, I think the op is motivated. I'd pull it and take it to a radiator shop and say "fix this".

[jyl]

https://www.jbweld.com/product/j-b-extremeheat

Good to 1000F?! Wowsa.