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.



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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,