Perlick Glasswasher Troubleshooting If your dishwasher isn’t working properly, you can’t get clean wares to serve your customers. Today, Parts Town is delving into our library of manuals to help you troubleshoot a Perlick PKBR24 rotary glasswasher.
Perlick Glasswasher Troubleshooting Solutions
This guide includes PKBR24 and its variants, PKBR24L and PKBR24R.
Machine Does Not Operate
The standard problems apply here as do a few other causes. It can seem tedious, but it’s always smart to verify the most basic problems aren’t the cause of your issue. Likely causes of this problem are:
- Circuit breaker tripped
- Power switch set to “off”
- Electrical cord unplugged
- Water supply turned off
- Divider not parallel with front of glasswasher
Now that we’ve ruled out the basic issues, let’s move on to other issues.
Glasses Not Clean
There are a few reasons for this problem. First, it helps to know about water quality. If you have hard water, it will take more detergent to clean dishes properly.
The likely causes of dirty glasses after washing are:
- Water temperature too low: check temperature gauge on unit to make sure water is above 130 degrees Fahrenheit
- Detergent setting too low
- Top wash tank screen needs to be cleaned
Low Water Light is Solid Red (Not Flashing)
This means there is insufficient water in the machine. First, visually verify there actually is insufficient water in the tank. To do this, remove a glass rack from the divider and open it. Remove the top wash tank screen and the baffle on top of the overflow tube. If the water level is not within roughly 1/2” of the overflow tube, the machine will shut down due to low water.
The water level should be no more than 1/2″ below the overflow tube shown above.
Next, you must determine when the low water light shutdown is being triggered. To do this, restart the machine by turning the on-off-drain switch off and then on again. The machine will start a new wash cycle from the beginning.
Typically, the low water shutdown is triggered during the rinse portion of the cycle, at 91-95 seconds. In this case, there is not enough water getting into the wash tank in the allotted time.
Here are some causes of the problem:
- Insufficient water pressure (30 PSIG minimum during fill mode)
- Insufficient flow rate to the machine during fill (4 GPM minimum required)
- Supply line to the machine is too small (pipe must be 1/2” I.D.)
- Screen restricted in the machine’s water inlet valve
- Valves in the supply line are not fully open
- Heavy usage of water elsewhere at the exact time the washer is filling
- Overflow baffle not in place
- Top wash tank screen not in place (for serial nos. 0 to 443593 use this top wash tank screen)
- Flat strainer or wash tank filter missing
- A leaking or faulty drain valve
- A restricted top wash tank screen—in this case there would be enough water in the tank, but the screen hinders water flow back into the tank at a sufficient rate to keep the float up.
- Glasses loaded pointed up in the washer, or washing items that collect water
- A combination of the above
Note the location of the filter screen inside the water inlet valve. Sometimes this screen can become clogged and will require cleaning.
In some other cases the low water shutdown will be triggered during the first 60 seconds of the cycle, either during the initial fill or during another time.
Some causes of insufficient water during the initial fill are:
- Float missing or detached from low level float switch
- Insufficient water pressure
- Insufficient flow rate
- Supply line to the machine is too small
- Restricted screen in the machine’s water inlet valve
- Valves in the supply lines not fully open
- Screens or filters in the house supply lines are restricted
- Heavy usage of water during the exact time the washer is filling
Some causes of insufficient water after the initial fill, but before the rinse cycle are:
- A leaking drain valve
- Debris stuck in drain valve
- A worn seal
- Top wash tank screen restricted
- Too much water has evaporated out of the tank (unlikely, would take hours for enough water to evaporate)
- Glasses loaded facing up, or washing items that collect water
- A combination of above problems
Other possible causes:
- The divider has been rotated during drain cycle
- A faulty wash water level switch (relatively rare)
- Drain valve that didn’t close properly
Low Water Light Flashing Red
A flashing low water light means the tank did not drain properly. The most obvious reason for this is a clogged/restricted drain. Restart the machine by turning it off and back on again. Next, verify there is water still in the tank after the fault trips. Remove the glass rack from the divider and open it. Remove the top wash tank screen. There should not be water in the tank—if there is, the drain is plugged.
Causes for improper drainage include:
- A clogged drain either within the machine or in the pipes leading to the building’s drain system
- Blockage at the elbow on the outlet of the drain valve—commonly swizzle sticks, fruit rinds, corks, and glass
Another cause is a failure of the drain valve to open, or open sufficiently, which could be caused by the following:
- Burned out coil on valve motor
- Loose or corroded electrical connection
- Loose motor on drain valve
- Faulty mechanism on drain valve