How to replace a dishwasher?

Question

I went to replace my dishwasher and when I went to take off old one, I got stuck on the electrical part because on instructions it states that I have to install black on black and white on white wiring but the old was one was black on white and white on black? what do I do? do I follow the way it was installed before or can I do it the "right" way it says to do it? I dont want it to start on fire or something. Help!!

Answer 1

if the old one was working fine then i would follow the way the old one was wired, it will work either way but it will not be grounded properly

Answer 2

please call the professionals

electricity & water don't mix.

Answer 3

Obviously no electricians here.  Yes, swapping hot and neutral is an issue.

Was the old dishwasher hardwired, or was the appliance plug on the old unit miswired?

If the current setup is hardwired with a whip, I'd suggest wiring a receptacle into that junction box and using an appliance cord to connect the DW.  Use a "plug tester" (looks like a plug with 3 LED's - about $10) to verify that the receptacle is wired correctly.  If the new DW didn't include an applicance cord, you can get them at Lowes/HomeDepot.  They're labeled as an appliance cord, and they're heavy gauge and grounded.

If the old DW used an applince cord but was miswired, wire the new DW correctly, and use a plug tester to verify the receptacle is wired correctly.  If you find that the receptacle is miswired, turn off the breaker and correct the wiring at the receptacle.

Answer 4

Heh, if Gary did it for a living I'm surprised he's still alive... Jeffe on the other hand is dead on - Swapping Active and Neutral is a big no no and won't always trip a circuit breaker - it can pretty much have the potential to turn your whole earthing system hot...

If you're silly enough to do your own electrical work, take Jeffe's advice, if you're smart let a qualified electrician do the work he's trained to do and make sure it's all safe and correct - because remember, if you wire it and it blows up - there goes your warranty...or maybe even you...

Answer 5

It doesn't really matter...but please make sure the power is off...if you've done anything wrong, the circuit breaker will "trip off" and you can correct it then.  Once you've tightened everything back on the "new" one, leave the lower cover off and let the washer run awhile to make sure you have no leaks.

Answer 6

The reason for the wiring black to black and white to white is because the d/w has a board in it and needs proper polarity or you can damage the electronics!