New PDT145SSL0SS GE Profile Dishwasher Vent Funnel leak

[395Sierra]

Model Number

PDT145SSL0SS

Brand

GE

Age

Less than 1 year

Hi All - GE Profile 18-inch dishwasher - Hoping someone can help with a fix for water droplets that splash out of the vent funnel on the right-hand side of the unit during wash cycle (see part diagram below). I found the leak while testing the unit before sliding into place under the counter. While the volume of water isn’t all that much, I just remodeled the kitchen and don’t really want to just finger cross that this is normal behavior and end up with water damage in the long run. Any ideas on a fix?

Note that while the dishwasher is brand new, I purchased it from a scratch and dent wholesaler so I figure warranty is not an option. The unit looks to have never been installed as all of the shipping foam was still on the racks and the soap door was tapped shut. Everything was included and the only damage is a couple small dents to door skin, no damage to actual door internals or seal area.

 

[Jake]

No matter if its scratch or dent or not, you should still have a 1 year full warranty on it from GE, they go by the dishwasher serial number for warranty work.

Contact GE at 1-800-432-2737 to have a GE tech. come out to see what's going on.

 

[395Sierra]

Thanks for the feedback Jake!
I am happy to hear that the scratch&dent store is of no significance for warranty. Unfortunately, if the 12-month term is based on production date and not on purchase date, then I am outside the warranty period. The serial number indicates June 2021, but I bought the unit March 2022. The dishwasher sat in the garage until recently when the remodel was completed. Looks like I should have tested things earlier.

Any idea on the purpose of this vent? If all else fails maybe I’ll try to find a any to extend/lengthen the funnel so the splashes/spray don’t make it out.

 

[Jake]

Usually its a steam vent for the dry cycle, this is a brand new style model I have not even seen as of yet, I don't have any info on it either, so its still best to get GE to come out and see what's going on.

 

[donohoea]

I just pulled my dishwasher out to install a new counter top after approx. 2.5 years of use. It's a Haier QDT125SSLSS but I believe its very similar if not the same model re-branded as Haier. It's been leaking slowly from the vent funnel. Causing water damage to the adjacent cupboard and leaving residue on the floor. As mine is out of warranty I have not got a satisfactory response for Haier customer support. In short I wouldn't install it unless you can figure out a solution and let me know if you do find one.

 

[donohoea]

Given the staining I believe the vent funnel needs to be at least 4 inches longer, but is it standard to vent steam into the enclosed cabinet behind the dishwasher? This seems like a recipe for moisture build up.

 

[395Sierra]

Wow donohoea - Unfortunately you have the exact issue I was concerned about. I thought maybe mine was missing a part or had a defect that let it leak, but your experience makes it look more like a design flaw. Seems like a strange design to have this thing vent behind the cabinet with no way to escape/dry.

 

[donohoea]

Yeah I was hoping I could replace the parts and it would fix the issue but I'm not so sure it'll make a difference. I was hoping to find some info that they had extended the vent funnel. But this is the only post I've see related to this issue. I only discovered it because I pulled the machine out so I imagine it's more common but it's a small enough leak not to be discovered. Frustrating that customer service is not more helpful, not sure where to go from here other than to cut my losses and buy something else.

 

[donohoea]

After leaving a bad review I got a response that seemed promising that I might get a resolution form appliancesupport@geappliances.com but as soon as they realized I was in Canada they couldn't help me any more. 395Sierra maybe worth a shot for you as you're in the US.

 

[KatieS321]

I had this same problem with the Haier model #QDT125SSL0SS which I can confirm is exactly the same as the GE just under the other brand name. I noticed a small amount of water dripping down the side of the unit onto my floor and couldn't identify where it was coming from so pulled the unit out and realized it was water droplets spraying out of the vent during the wash cycle. I bought it new from Home Depot but their return policy is only 2 days and I couldn't get it installed in that time by a plumber so by the time I discovered the water droplets spraying out of the vent it was too late to return. It was covered under warranty though so I was able to have a tech come out the service the unit. He said he'd never seen the issue, called back to the engineering team, they didn't know what to do and so suggested ordering a new lower spray arm incase it was just spraying in a weird angle right into the vent. It took a while to get the part and when the tech came back to install it the issue still persisted so the engineering team again didn't know what to try and so suggested ordering a new upper spray arm, lower spray arm, and vent funnel assembly. A tech came out a third time to put those new parts in and the issue still happened so it was deemed irreparable. I called GE but they couldn't refund since I bought it at HD and they only have the 1 model of the 18 inch so I couldn't swap for a different model. I decided to get a replacement in case it was just the one unit even though I had already found this posting and was pretty certain it was a more widespread issue.
The people came to install the replacement brand new dishwasher a few days ago and it had the exact same issue. After a very length back and forth with HD and lots of time on the phone, my local HD store manager was kind enough to allow me to bring it in and return it. I had it sitting out in my kitchen for 3 months waiting for this to be resolved. Would not recommend anyone purchase this dishwasher and will be posting on as many review sites as I can. It is definitely a design flaw, I'm wondering how no one noticed it during the design phase. Maybe it has to do with different humidity levels? Either way there is no way they should be selling this and I wonder how many people will pull out there dishwashers in a few years and have a lot of mold or destroyed floors on their hands.