LG Dishwasher Melted Wiring

[Terry McCloud]

I posted another post about our whole house RO and thought... these guys may be able to help with the burning rubber smell coming from the dishwasher.
LG LDF5545ST dishwasher is a little over 1 year old and has developed a burning rubber / plastic type smell when it is running. The smell does not solely happen when heated dry is turned on and also this unit does not have the traditional heating assembly at the bottom so there is no chance of it being food touching the hot metal type problem. I have unplugged it for now and plan on pulling it out tomorrow to troubleshoot. It is out of warranty so I am going to give it a go first, any tips on where to look first? Known issues?


EDIT: Just took off the bottom cover and removed the cover for the wiring.. the wire nuts are black and melted through and the wires are all melted. What would have caused this? Would it be safe to cut off the burnt off sections and rewire it with new wire nuts?

 

[Toolaholic]

Who installed it ?

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Terry McCloud]

Who installed it ?

Home was built last year, moved in April 2018. I'm not sure if the plumber installed and then electricians did the final hookup or if plumber wired it too. A friend of mine was the GC on paper so I am not going to "go after him," since he made no money off me. However I could contact the electricians tomorrow. Attached a picture

 

[Plumber69]

Hard to tell, but is the green ground tied together with the 2 white neutrals

 

[Plumber69]

Maybe there was to much exposed wire sticking out past the marrette

 

[Dj2]

Doesn't look like the best job. Have the electrician fix the mess he created.

 

[JohnCT]

Home was built last year, moved in April 2018. I'm not sure if the plumber installed and then electricians did the final hookup or if plumber wired it too. A friend of mine was the GC on paper so I am not going to "go after him," since he made no money off me. However I could contact the electricians tomorrow. Attached a picture

The heat generated under the wire nuts is caused by contact resistance. That's how resistance heaters work...

My guess is that whoever did the wire nuts didn't have the insulation stripped back enough, and/or had the wrong size wire nut, and/or didn't pre-twist the wires.

Done properly, wire nuts of the appropriate size properly installed should work without issue.

John

 

[JerryR]

Good catch!

It looks like a poorly installed wire nut causing high resistance and heating up. You should be able to cut out the burnt wires and install a new quality wire nut.

 

[Terry McCloud]

Thanks all, I have called the electrical company and they should have someone out tomorrow. Glad I noticed it before it became a bigger issue!

 

[Sylvan]

Document the before and after . Called CYA