Dishwasher wiring question

jimithing78

I'm considering buying a new dishwasher and before I purchased the new one I wanted to pull the old one and see what the situation was behind the dishwasher so I know what I"m getting myself into. Here's the setup: dedicated 20 amp circuit with a switch on the back splash and a wire connecting directly to the dishwasher.

The problem lies in wire connecting to the dishwasher. Apparently when the existing dish washer it was installed the electrical wire wasn't long enough to reach the dishwasher so someone spliced in another length of wire. Instead of using wire nuts to hold the wire together they just slapped on some duct tape. So my question is should I just redo the connection properly or should I convert the wire to an outlet and then get a plug for the new dish washer? If I redo the splice are wire nuts the best option or is there something else? Thanks.

Just Bill

ALL splices MUST be in an approved electrical box!!! And I have never heard of a DW on a switch. What is the reasoning for this??? My guess is that it was originally used for a garbage disposal.

rjniles

I would wire run the wire into a box and install a receptacle; get a properly rated appliance cord and install on the new dishwasher. You can surface mount down low on the wall and it will not interfere with pushing the dishwasher back all the way.

The reason for the switch is that some jurisdictions require a disconnect and the swich performs that function.

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Location:
Coastal South Carolina

brric

Either do it as stated above or get a handy box, blank cover, and a piece of romex. Splice the romex in the handy box(use wire nuts), mount the hb to the wall, put the blank cover on the hb, connect the romex to the dw.

Daniel Holzman

My dishwasher is on a switch for exactly the reason stated above, in some jurisdictions a visible disconnect is required for a dishwasher. Since you already have the switch, and the switch is (presumably) in an approved box, it should be a simple matter to install wiring from the switch directly to the dishwasher. There is no reason to go to the trouble of installing a plug on the dishwasher, there is a rated box on the dishwasher, typically in the lower right corner, where you make the connections between the circuit from the switch and the dishwasher. The only downside of the hard wired arrangement is that if you need to pull the dishwasher, you have to disconnect the wires from the box, but the only reason I can think of to pull the dishwasher is to service or replace it.

jimithing78

Thanks for the info guys.

jimithing78

Just to follow up, I ended up creating the junction in the wall and putting a blank cover on it. I made it an outlet the first time but the plug from the appliance plug made the dishwasher stick out a little so I had to make it back into a direct wire. Works like a champ.