Inlet valve solenoid circuit

**Stu** · February 13th, 2012, 03:07 PM

Model Number: adb2200aw

Brand: Amana

Age: 1-5 years

Seeing some oddness in the water inlet solenoid circuit. Seems that 115VAC is pretty much always present at the solenoid- even when I push the cycle to end (off). I DO have water to the valve (flow checked into a bucket!), but the dishwasher never fills. I unfortunately replaced this solenoid valve before properly verifying voltage, so the no fill has been an issue with both the original and a replacement valve unit. Overfill float had been stuck up, this was cleared and microswitch itself seems to be operating normally but circuit fails to respond. This dishwasher operates fine except for fill- pouring water inside it will go through cycles except fill.

At this point it seems like the control board is misbehaving. Would someone please confirm for me what voltage is specified for the inlet solenoid?Is this an AC solenoid or DC? Hard to know (and expensive to "shotgun") to see if there is indeed a problem with the driver circuit or I somehow managed to get a defective replacement part (which seems less likely, yet is possible). I lack circuit documentation.

If the circuit is at fault, which component drives this solenoid? How hard is it to get a schematic? I'd be half tempted to remove the coating & repair the board myself to save a few bucks given that I'm in between jobs at the moment and am mostly equipped to do so.

Thanks!
Stu

***Jake*** · February 13th, 2012, 06:11 PM

Something doesn't add up here, you say 115 volts are present across the fill valve terminals(not to ground)?

If so that fill valve should be open letting water in. And if its always present your kitchen would be flooded.

Jake

**Stu** · February 15th, 2012, 07:47 PM

Jake, that was the unloaded circuit- the coil wires not connected to the coil. Sorry, I should have explained. Loaded it is somewhere around 30VAC. Yes, something is screwy alright, and it seems like two things at once. So I am scratching my head and asking what single failure could look like this? The odds of a second fill valve being dead as well as the driver circuit being permanently stuck on seems unlikely to me. The coil of both the original & replacement valve is slightly over 1K Ohms which seems reasonable for the voltage if DC, right? Ought to be around 30 mA & therefore 1 watt. But this is being fed by AC... If it is a DC coil with no shaded pole and the average voltage is lower plus the impedance is way too high it won't likely work reliably. Maybe I'm grasping at straws, but the last couple times I started chasing multiple problems at the same time I learned that two don't usually show up at the same time unless one created the other. Is this the intended specified voltage for sure? And could you confirm this is an AC coil? There is virtually no DC component present, but if this was a DC circuit with shorted rectifier diodes passing AC it MIGHT explain this- thus my question. Otherwise I probably have two different problems. Do you have access to a schematic for the board which tells which transistor drives the coil, and where the control signal comes from in the board? Not many even try to troubleshoot to component level anymore, although given the cost of these I'm sure willing to give it a shot! But first, is this in fact the proper voltage ~30VAC?

Thanks!

***Jake*** · February 15th, 2012, 08:41 PM

Its AC not DC.

Then the problem looks like its in the control board:

Manufacturer's Number: 12002709

Jake

**Stu** · February 15th, 2012, 10:48 PM

Lets see if this post gets through, last one seemed to be hung up somehow. I'm certain the board is confused about the WHEN to open the valve, but what voltage is it supposed to drive that coil with? I'm guessing 30V is too low, should it be 115? Going to try my hand at diagnosing & repairing, but it is hard when I don't even know precisely what its output is supposed to be on this circuit.

Thanks again,
Stu

***Jake*** · February 16th, 2012, 01:23 AM

It should be 115-120 volts.

Its the control board.

Jake

**Stu** · February 16th, 2012, 10:13 AM

Thanks again, Jake!

***Jake*** · February 16th, 2012, 01:43 PM

Glad to help, keep us posted.

Jake

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