dishwasher hardwiring help

dexterinmiami · 12-29-2005, 06:38 PM

I am trying to hook up my new dishwasher. the instructions are simple. white to white, black to black and ground to the metal housing. But the electrical wiring from the wall has a white, black, ground and a RED! Can someone please tell me where do i put the RED wire. I did everything that the instructions said w/o the red and it did not work. Please help :confused:

Teetorbilt · 12-29-2005, 10:29 PM

Help is on the way!

mdshunk · 12-29-2005, 10:50 PM

Dexter- I honestly don't know why such a cable was run to the dishwasher location. A 3-wire cable, with a black, red, white plus ground is nomally two hots (black and red) the white neutral, and the ground. In your case, the black apparently is not hot. You can try connecting the red of that cable to the black of the dishwasher to see if the red wire is the hot wire in your case.

Is there a switch above the countertop for a disconnect for the dishwasher? Some electricians are fond of locating a dishwasher disconnect switch along the countertop.

Do you have any testers? Multimeter, neon light, etc? Might check to see if either the black or the red are hot before you go to the trouble. For all we know, the other end isn't hooked up in the panel. If there was never a dishwasher installed there, the cable may well not be terminated at the other end yet. That would be standard procedure for new construction or a major remodel, for safety's sake.

dexterinmiami · 12-29-2005, 11:24 PM

Thank you. The RED is the hot.. It works great. Im now washing dishes in it as we speak. The black wire I guess is not hooked up on the other end since it did not work the first time. I did cover that black wire just in case with one of those plastic things... .. Thank you

mdshunk · 12-29-2005, 11:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dexterinmiami

It works great. Im now washing dishes in it as we speak. . .. Thank you

Glad everything worked out for you. You'll get your bill in next week's mail.

Mike Swearingen · 12-30-2005, 01:10 AM

Dexter,
A dishwasher is supposed to be on a designated circuit.
Someone must have had a piece of 3-wire-with-ground left over, and only hooked up one leg of the hot.
If it's 14g, it should be on no larger than a 15 amp breaker. If it's 12g, it can be on a 15 or 20 amp breaker.
If it's hot-wired rather than run to a receptacle behind or beside the dw, the wirenut connections must be inside a receptacle or junction box with a full cover plate.
Good luck!
Mike