FIXED Samsung Waterwall Dishwasher (DW80J7550US and others): How to fix Waterwall Problems, C7/E7 Error Code, Dirty Dishes on Bottom Rack

[Mackeprang]

Wonderful writeup. Thanks!
I'll share my story
I moved into a house 2 years ago that has a DW80J7550US/AA (I believe this was the initial version). s/w version 7136 (which is odd, since 7134 is supposed to be initial). The dw never washed well, and one day I noticed a magnet in the bottom. I put my phone in a waterproof pouch and recorded what was going on inside. Found the waterwall never moved. Found all the posts about magnets, and realized the magnet I found was supposed to be attached to the vane.

I positioned it there, and the water wall started working. It would move when starting the dw, but made a loud grinding sound when the waterwall cycle was running. I observed the waterwall cycle would run for one minute out of a 60 minute express wash cycle, which was not good. I tried blocking the waterwall motion with my hand and realized it was really easy to prevent it from moving. So, the waterwall will move when there is no spray hitting it (which happens at the start of the cycle, when the dw is testing it), but when spray is hitting it, it gets stuck, and the dw realizes it is not functional.

So that's why I got only one minute of waterwall use out of the 60 minute wash cycle. I got a used motor on ebay, and tested it when it arrived. It too was easy to stop the motor when running (just held the shaft with my fingers while it was running -- I connected AC to the white plug connections). So, it was not going to be any better than the motor in my dw.

I followed Matt Rampone's instructions in his great video:



But just used gorilla super glue (cyanoacrylate) to glue the white plastic disk to the white plastic drum inside the motor (instead of epoxy). Worked great! The motor could no longer be stopped with my fingers holding the shaft when running. I put the new motor in my dw and life is now grand. I now get 3 minutes of waterwall, alternating with 3 minutes of top wash.

(I could probably have made the same repair to my original motor, rather than getting a new used one, but having an extra made things easier).

Thank you so much for your post! I had just about given up on my dishwasher, when I stumbled upon this.
And now it is running again. At least for the time being.

 

[Jackchilin]

Hello folks. Reading your posts and problems, my issue is a little different. I've run into a wall and seeking your help. My Water wall was not working, so I ordered a new water wall assembly (Samsung DD97-00484A). This assembly has a new motor, vane, and, I believe, a new sensor. After a successful installation, the water wall does the same thing. It moves all the way forward and stays in that position. I also installed a new magnet (OEM) under the waterfall arm. I am not sure what other parts is required changing and what is causing the water wall to not work. I ran a diagnostics and received a 7C error code. I for sure thought the motor was the issue; it was rusted on top and the side where the wire came out. Any advice or help is appreciated. thank you!

Model Samsung DW80M9550US

 

[JeffGwynn]

HI Jack,

I used the attached service manual - starting at page 52. My dishwasher is a different model but it was close enough. You might have to search out the specific key combinations for your model to get into the service mode. I was receiving different error codes - one code if I attempted to run a cycle vs another when running the service test mode. Using the service test mode I then ran each of "n" test until I reached the one that failed which helped me narrow things down a bit. My solve was replacing a bad ground and the yellow wire coming off the soap dispenser - probably not your solution but this manual was very helpful to me with finding the problem.

 

[Jackchilin]

Jeff, thank you for pointing me to where to start. I'll work on it later tonight and get back to you with my diagnostic results. - J

 

[Jackchilin]

Jeff, I tried the instruction in the manual. The washer will not go into service mode. I was able to enable diagnostics mode and begin the test. After about a minute of the test starting, I receive a 7C error, and the washer beeps 4 times. Again I had the full water wall assembly replaced with a new one.

 

[logicturnip]

Jackchilin, I have the exact same problem as you, did you ever manage to resolve it?

I have the DW89R9950US which I think has the same mechanism. I replaced the whole assembly (also had a rusted through motor) and it does the same thing - drives to the front and clicks away until the dishwasher disables the waterwall. It does this regardless of the starting position.

Does anyone know how it detects when it is at the front of the dishwasher? I'm guessing it just goes a defined distance based on it's home position, then reverses? If anyone has the service manual for the 'R' generation of this series that would be much appreciated. I have the 'M' service manual and it is similar enough, but there are some things that don't seem to correlate.

I did also flip one of the motor coil circuits, which made it go to the back, but then it just keeps on going into the back without stopping, so I don't think it's that.

Also - could someone confirm when the test back and forth starts relative to the drain pump? Do they start simultaneously? The reason I ask is that I wonder whether the 'reverse' relay is faulty, and so it can never get to the home position.

 

[JeffGwynn]

I apologize for the slow response, I was not aware you posted back. Hopefully you have it fixed by now. The attached manual is the best service manual I could find. I have a DW80M9550US but this got me in the right direction. Look at page 40 - running the service test in manual mode. To enter service mode you delay start to 17h and then hold the hi temp wash button until it displays "As". The manual mode can help rule out what is not the problem. The manual also describes what is being checked during each part of the test. As a last resort maybe try to ohm out the wires from the front door to their final destination at their molar connectors... my 7c problem was solved by replacing a bad wire in the main harness. Try to ohm out wires on main wiring harness at the molar connectors.

 

[JeffGwynn]

And one last test - I had the two connectors on the drive motor reversed after reassembling and that caused an error.

 

[NRsloan]

And one last test - I had the two connectors on the drive motor reversed after reassembling and that caused an error.

Hi Jeff. I have the same issue where my goes forward when I start a cycle and gets stuck in the front. It seems like the motor is running backward. I recently replaced a faulty motor with a new one and now I have this issue. I tried switching the red and black pins in the motor connector, however, upon starting a new cycle, when the waterwall is suppose to move I hear an audible "click" and then nothing happens. Which two connectors did you happen to switch to fix your issue?

 

[JeffGwynn]

Hi, My experience was the waterwall would perform normally and would travel to the front and then return to back as it should. Water would begin to flow into the dishwasher and the rotating arm would start to spin like a normal cycle should and then I had to close the door to keep water from spraying everywhere. Once I closed the door it would error out. I don't remember the error code but it was a different error code vs the code I would get when the running diagnostic process. After messing around with it for a stupid number of hours I noticed it would error out when the door was closed past a certain point. I began checking the wire harnesses at that point. I replaced two but it might have only been one that was bad - It was the yellow or orange wire coming from the soap dispenser and the ground on the front door. The yellow or orange wire was bad somewhere between the connector at the dispenser and the molex connector inside where the main wiring harness passes thru the door. That was easy to find by ohming (if that is a word) out the wires in the main harness to the connectors. When I replaced the wire and put everything back together certain that everything was ready, I ran the test mode received a different error. Then I realized I had the two connectors in in this picture reversed. Switched them and things have worked since. I think it was by using the service process where you manually step thru the "n" diagnostic mode that helped me discover at which point in the test cycle it would fail which pointed me to the component associated with that process. I did a lot of forum searching and did come across another person that had similar issue with the wire harness. It could have also just been pure luck and something reset or there was loose connecter that got connected back while messing around with it but it was worked fine since. Best of luck, hope this helps you or someone else. I got lucky, I think it would have been a costly repair for tech because they would start replacing parts (Motors and control board) that were fine and it would have been multiple trips because the issue was so random based on the door position.

 

[NRsloan]

Hi, My experience was the waterwall would perform normally and would travel to the front and then return to back as it should. Water would begin to flow into the dishwasher and the rotating arm would start to spin like a normal cycle should and then I had to close the door to keep water from spraying everywhere. Once I closed the door it would error out. I don't remember the error code but it was a different error code vs the code I would get when the running diagnostic process. After messing around with it for a stupid number of hours I noticed it would error out when the door was closed past a certain point. I began checking the wire harnesses at that point. I replaced two but it might have only been one that was bad - It was the yellow or orange wire coming from the soap dispenser and the ground on the front door. The yellow or orange wire was bad somewhere between the connector at the dispenser and the molex connector inside where the main wiring harness passes thru the door. That was easy to find by ohming (if that is a word) out the wires in the main harness to the connectors. When I replaced the wire and put everything back together certain that everything was ready, I ran the test mode received a different error. Then I realized I had the two connectors in in this picture reversed. Switched them and things have worked since. I think it was by using the service process where you manually step thru the "n" diagnostic mode that helped me discover at which point in the test cycle it would fail which pointed me to the component associated with that process. I did a lot of forum searching and did come across another person that had similar issue with the wire harness. It could have also just been pure luck and something reset or there was loose connecter that got connected back while messing around with it but it was worked fine since. Best of luck, hope this helps you or someone else. I got lucky, I think it would have been a costly repair for tech because they would start replacing parts (Motors and control board) that were fine and it would have been multiple trips because the issue was so random based on the door position.



View attachment 71903

Hi Jeff, thanks for getting back to me! So I checked those connections and they seem to be working fine. The issue with mine seems to be something with the vane sensor. The waterwall arm goes to the back but then keeps trying to go back instead of going forward. Here is a link to my Waterwall Malfunction. I replaced both the motor and the sensor, but it is still doing this. I've been checking all of the connections and they all seem fine. I tried using some strong rare earth magnets to trigger the sensor, but it doesn't seem to trigger it. Any ideas what might be going on? Possibly a whole new control board?

 

[JeffGwynn]

I wish had something to help but I don't know, I can only offer understanding of how aggravating it is. Best of luck, maybe keep searching the forums because it seems like a common problem across many models,

 

[keithD]

Method 1:
If you want to remove just the motor you need to unscrew the two screws holding it in place. Since there are three rubber hoses blocking your way you will have to remove those first. I would do that by first going in through the rear access panel and using plyers to squeeze and lower the metal clips holding the hoses in place, then pulling the rubber hoses down and off of the plastic tubes they're attached to. While you're back there detach the 4-wire connector leading to the motor you'll soon be replacing. Then carefully lay the dishwasher flat on the back and go in through the access panel on the bottom of the unit. The three black hoses will be attached to three plastic tubes on this end as well. Remove the hoses from these tubes the same way you did on the other side and lay them aside, keeping track of which one goes with which tube. Not sure it's that critical you match them up perfectly, but each has been playing its part effectively up until now so no good reason to change them up. At this point you'll have better access to the motor and should be able to unscrew the two screws holding it in place. You should be able to just pull the old motor out and either repair it or swap in a replacement for it. Note that when inserting the replacement there's a good chance it won't align properly (you'll see the shaft has a slit removed to allow it to turn the mechanism it attaches to). To resolve this apply pressure to the motor to push its shaft into the hole, while having a helper move the waterwall along its path until it causes the shaft and the mechanism to line up and the motor slip in. Tighten the screws, reattach the rubber tubes (from both ends), snap the connector for the new motor into place, and you should be done with the replacement. See below for a discussion on replacement VS repair of the motor:

Method 2:
This is slightly more involved and how I ended up doing it based on a Youtube video I watched, but not horrible. Basically, instead of removing the motor from the plastic assembly it is attached to this method removes the entire plastic assembly from the dishwasher first and then you would replace/service the motor. Why would you want to do all that extra work when Method 1 should be sufficient? Economics are one consideration. If you've decided you want to replace the motor rather than repair it then a new motor will run you ~$100, while a replacement motor, sensor, and the plastic assembly they both attach to won't cost you that much more money and it's all put together for you for a more complete repair. But let's just get into it...
For this method you start by going in through the rear access panel. You first remove the rubber hoses from the plastic tubes as you would in method 1 and then you unscrew the plastic fasteners from where the tubes extend up into the body of the dishwasher. This is easily done by twisting them part of a turn to get them to release, but the direction you turn them is the opposite you would expect to free them.
With the hoses detached from the tubes you'll now be able to reach the motor and note that the plastic assembly its connected to also has a plastic fastener ring, only much larger and on much tighter. This one should loosen counter-clockwise, unlike the smaller ones. You may be able to get it off by pushing a flathead screwdriver against the grooves around the edges or perhaps you have a fancy tool that lets you twist such objects. Once that is removed/free be sure to unsnap both the wiring connection to both the motor and the sensor.
Now go inside of the dishwasher, remove the trays, use a small flathead screwdriver to snap a pair of rubber covers off of the top of the plastic assembly with the waterwall jets in the rear of the unit. These can be tricky to see at first, but if you look closely you'll see them. Once they're snapped off unscrew the two screws underneath. In lifting up the piece you just unscrewed you'll noticed that it's attached to a metal guide that extends to the front of the dishwasher and at that point is only attached by a rubber snap that is easy to pull it away from.
With that assembly out of the way you'll still have a plastic tube extending up along the rear wall of the dishwasher, all the way to the top. This is held in place by small metal clips on the top and rear of the dishwasher that you can push to the side with a screwdriver, while pulling the plastic tube away from them, finally lifting it out of the unit.
With that piece removed the last remaining hunk of plastic in the rear of the dishwasher is the assembly the motor and sensor are attached to and will lift right out.
When reassembling you can mostly just reverse these steps, but I'd suggest saving the steps that involve reattaching stuff to the inside of the washing area of the dishwasher for last, securing the plastic assembly with the motor on it and locking it in place first. It's also important that the plastic fasteners are reattached snugly. The smaller three shouldn't need to be tightened more than by hand, but for the larger one that fits around the motor you're going to want to give that one a little more force, otherwise it will pop right off during dishwasher operation, you'll get an LC (leak) error, and you'll find yourself having to go in through the bottom access panel again to fix that. My suggestion for tightening the larger of the plastic fasteners is to attempt it through the bottom access panel (removing rubber hoses if necessary for leverage). Shine a flashlight at it and ensure that the plastic locks are turned far enough clockwise that it's going to stay in place and won't pop back off with minimal force.

Repair VS Replace Motor Considerations:
There's a Youtube video posted by Matt Rampone in which he walks you through the process of repairing the Waterwall Vane motor: It's a simple AC motor, but designed with a very weak piece of plastic in it that's likely to break over time, causing the motor to lose strength or fail completely. It's not clear whether this design flaw has been corrected so if you replace the motor it's not unreasonable to imagine the new one could fail again in another few years. If you don't mind tearing your dishwasher apart every few years and swapping out motors then simply swapping in a new motor is fine; however, Matt's repair suggestion should lead to a more durable, longer-lasting motor if you're not scared of attempting what he does. And if you screw up along the way, ruining your already-broken motor further it's not like you're out anything more than you would have had you just replaced it. I'm not going to go through his full repair procedure here, but in a nutshell, he disassembles the motor, uses epoxy to repair the weak piece of plastic, and also uses epoxy to permanently affix it to the permanent magnet inside of the motor, which should greatly reduce the chance of it failing in the future. The only real risk I can see to his method would be if it made the motor too strong, to the point where a future failed sensor/magnet in your dishwasher caused it to tear the belt when if it continued to drive it past its end-point. The other warning I'll give is that Matt follows what I've called Method 2 of removing the motor from the dishwasher, which does introduce the minor leak/error code LC risk I described earlier.

I personally tried to follow along with his example, somehow reversed the polarity of the motor due to not taking my time, tried to disassemble it again to resolve that, ended up stripping a screw hole in the plastic assembly it attaches to, and opted to replace the full assembly with motor and sensor (method 2 above) instead of attempting further repair on the motor.

Final thoughts:
What a poorly designed and documented feature by Samsung. The Waterwall concept sounds neat, but it's unfortunate that there are three separate components (that all would be expected to degrade over time) and any one of them failing make the bottom row and utensil racks of the dishwater largely useless. Then to further frustrate matters, if the sensor or magnet fail, both presumably would put more wear and tear on the motor (when it doesn't stop at the home position), causing it to fail sooner too. If you're having a problem with waterwall operation it might not be the worst idea to just replace all 3 pieces at the same time, while you're already working on it anyway.

I have a question about the waterwall system. I have done the suggested diagnostic test and went through and worked as it should. Now when we run an actual cycle it never moves from its home position. Any suggestions on which direction to go from here?

 

[JeffGwynn]

Hi Keith - It's been a while so my appliance repair skill has faded a bit but happy to pass along what I remember. Have you attempted to run a cycle with door partially open so that you can observe the start of the test cycle? The water vane should move from the back to the front and then return the back. You can jam a knife in the door close sensor to trick it into thinking it is closed or I just removed the front door and then operated the close mechanism relay by hand which was easier to do. If the water vane moves forward and returns I think you can rule of the motor as being the problem. After the vane returns to the rear position (which is the n1 check in the manual) water should begin to fill the tub which is the start of the n2 check in the service manual and the cycle would start which meant that I then had to close the door because the spinning middle arm would begin to throw water everywhere. When I closed the door is when the machine would error out. After many trial runs I noticed that this would happen when closing the door when it reached a certain position which then had me checking the wire harness and looking for a loose wire or something grounding out. The wires were easily identified (start with the wires coming from the soap dispenser from the initial connection to where it connects to the molex connector inside the machine on the bottom right where the harness passes through the door. Manually stepping through the service test mode in the attached manual starting on page 38 also helped me rule out what was not the problem. I also disassembled and reassembled many of the components using the manual as a guide just to confirm everything was connected correctly so maybe just luck played a part as well and I inadvertently fixed something without knowing it. Jost my experience how I lived it - I am not a service technician so I can't be sure that I am sharing the best or even correct information. Thinking back, ruling out the vane motor by watching the initial start process (service inspection step n1) was helpful and helped me move past the motor as being the problem and look at the next stop in the process that is being checked when you start a cycle... n1, n2 n3 and it will show on the display which check is being done (on my model at least). Hopefully something in here helps, my washer was relatively new and just two months past the warranty period, so I was not expecting major component failure. Best of luck

 

[wstt]

I am so frustrated with this dishwasher. I called Samsung to ask how to get into diagnostic mode and they said to call an authorized repair person. They pretty much guaranteed I'll never buy Samsung again.
I have a DW80J7550US which beeps 3 times for 5 minutes before starting and then the dishes come out mostly dirty. I don't know if it's broken or if it's just a poor dishwasher. I tried putting my cellphone in a plastic bag facing down from the top rack, running the bottom rack cycle to video to see what happens, and it appears the waterwall doesn't move back and forth when it starts. (eventually water droplet start hitting the touchscreen of the phone stopping the video, but in five minutes of recording the actual cycles, normal and express. I never saw spray coming out of the water wall and never saw it move, (but I did see sometimes the waterwall was in the front, and sometimes in the back. ))
When I do the diagnostic mode, it gives me one code. Is there a way to get a second code if there is more than one? I get bC2. Either I'm doing something wrong, or there is more than one code, or I'm looking up the code incorrectly because that says the touchpad isn't working but it works fine.
Any help would be much appreciated with figuring out what is wrong. Or even how to get the correct or second error codes. Thanks

 

[wstt]

Here's a link to a video I shot of the waterwall barely moving. Seems like it's not an easy fix.

 

[JeffGwynn]

I am so frustrated with this dishwasher. I called Samsung to ask how to get into diagnostic mode and they said to call an authorized repair person. They pretty much guaranteed I'll never buy Samsung again.
I have a DW80J7550US which beeps 3 times for 5 minutes before starting and then the dishes come out mostly dirty. I don't know if it's broken or if it's just a poor dishwasher. I tried putting my cellphone in a plastic bag facing down from the top rack, running the bottom rack cycle to video to see what happens, and it appears the waterwall doesn't move back and forth when it starts. (eventually water droplet start hitting the touchscreen of the phone stopping the video, but in five minutes of recording the actual cycles, normal and express. I never saw spray coming out of the water wall and never saw it move, (but I did see sometimes the waterwall was in the front, and sometimes in the back. ))
When I do the diagnostic mode, it gives me one code. Is there a way to get a second code if there is more than one? I get bC2. Either I'm doing something wrong, or there is more than one code, or I'm looking up the code incorrectly because that says the touchpad isn't working but it works fine.
Any help would be much appreciated with figuring out what is wrong. Or even how to get the correct or second error codes. Thanks

In the manual above page 45 troubleshooting, it has bC2 could indicate condensation on the PCB or maybe a loose connection or possible wire issue on the touch control module. I would get different error codes when attempting to run a regular cycle or when running a diagnostic check, I never understood the reason why though. My guess would be to make sure the main control board is dry and there is no condensation in or around the connections to it as the easy first check but it is probably more likely a loose or bad wire / connection on the main wire harness inside the door. I have zero Applicance repair knowledge other than fixing my dishwasher so please keep that in mind, I am just working from one experience and that was a bad wire that probably resulted from open and closing of the door over time that crimped, or the wires were being pulled / stretched. Hope that helps some. Checking the continuity of the wires with a voltmeter is pretty quick check that could at least rule that out as being an issue or could quickly identify an easy fix.

 

[JeffGwynn]

Yes, that sounds pretty bad. I have no idea what it means but after seeing the above video my post is probably not the right answer. I looks / sound like something to do with the motor. Diagnostic mode on my dishwasher is described above on page 38 - Power on, set the delay wash to 17 hours and the press and hold the Hi-Temp button. Could be different on yours though.

 

[chrispitude]

Hello friends!

Well, my patched-up sprayer arm motor lasted a bit over two years; it seized up this week.

Here are some relevant numbers I found:

Guide rail, belt, sprayer - DD97-00204C​

Vane - DD97-00206B​

Nozzle cover w/ motor - DD97-00216A​

Motor (bare) - DD31-00013B​

The nozzle cover assembly includes both a new motor and shaft seal. I found an Ebay listing for a "new OEM" assembly at a suspiciously good price, so I ordered it. I've seen mentions that some non-OE motors have plain steel shafts instead of stainless, so I'll check that when I get it.

I'll follow up here with my findings and the outcome.

 

[KBeckley]

Back in November 2019, we made the mistake of purchasing this particular Samsung dishwasher as well as other Samsung kitchen appliances. That decision was very regrettable. We had the same problem with the waterfall bar as well as issues with the other appliances. My advice is, if one is considering purchasing a Samsung appliance, run away as fast as you can. It’s the only way to avoid serious buyer’s remorse.