Countertop Dishwasher

Overview

A countertop dishwasher does the same job as a built-in unit at a fraction of the size, sitting on a kitchen counter and connecting to the sink faucet. It washes four to six place settings by spraying a small charge of heated, detergent-laden water over the dishes, recirculating it, then draining and repeating. Its small water volume is the whole trick: only about five liters is heated and pumped, so a wash finishes quickly and cheaply.

The Cabinet & Tub is a sheet-metal housing wrapped around a Wash Tub that drains into a Sump Well at the bottom. A removable Food Filter Screen sits over the sump to catch food debris so it isn't pumped back over the dishes. Items load into a single Dish Rack with a cutlery basket, behind a front Door sealed by a gasket.

How it works

A cycle begins when the Water System opens its inlet valve, switched by a relay, and lets in a measured fill. The in-sump Heating Element warms the water, watched by a Thermal Fuse that cuts power if it ever overheats dry. The Wash System then runs: the Wash Pump drives water up a feed tube into the rotating Spray Arm, whose angled nozzles both blast the dishes and spin the arm by reaction. The water falls back to the sump and is pumped around again for the length of the wash.

When the wash and rinse are done, the Drain Pump evacuates the dirty water through the drain hose. Drying is passive: the dishes were rinsed hot, and the residual heat evaporates the remaining moisture, which condenses on the cooler tub walls.

The Control Board board sequences fill, wash, drain, and rinse for the chosen program. Its Touch Digitizer panel reads the user's selection, a thermistor reports water temperature, and the door's interlock switch prevents the pump and heater from running while the door is open.