Fixed: Samsung Dishwasher Not Drying

By Cory White

If your dishes are still wet at the end of a heat cycle, your Samsung dishwasher is not drying them properly and that can be frustrating. Here are a few steps that you should follow to make sure that your dishwasher can resume drying your dishes properly.

Follow these steps with the aid of your dishwasher user manual.

1. Add rinse aid to help the dishwasher

Rinse aid helps your dishes dry faster in your Samsung dishwasher. Check the dishwasher’s panel to see if there’s a Rinse Aid symbol and if it’s lighting, that’s a sign that your dishwasher needs a refill of rinse aid. 

You can also adjust your rinse aid control to increase or decrease the rinse aid intake of your dishwasher. 

Depending on the number of dishes you have, you will need to adjust the amount of rinse aid accordingly. When washing a lot of dishes, you will need more rinse aid. Fewer dishes don’t require you to dispense a lot of rinse aid. 

2. Open the door after the cycle ends 

After the heat cycle, open the Samsung dishwasher door to allow the steam to leave the dishwasher. This will help in drying the dishes faster. Slightly open your dishwasher door for about 2 inches to ease evaporation of the steam inside the machine. Your dishes will be dry in a short time. 

If your dishwasher does not open automatically after a cycle has completed, you need to open the door manually. Newer models have AutoRelease and the door automatically opens when the cycle completes.

If your AutoRelease function is not working, the door latch could have a problem. It could just need lubricating or replacing the door latch and AutoRelease should start working again.

3. Check your hot water line

Your Samsung dishwasher was made to use hot water.

Hot water removes stubborn grease from your dishes which ensures that your dishes don’t come out dirty. 

Greasy dishes can’t easily be dried so you can’t rely on your cold water line. If you’ve been using the cold water line, now you know why your dishes haven’t been drying. 

Make sure you use hot water in your Samsung dishwasher. 

This helps to dry dishes faster because the hot water evaporates faster than cold water at the end of a wash cycle. 

4. Make sure to load the dishwasher correctly (no overcrowding)

It’s easy to be tempted to put so many dishes in your dishwasher so that you get done with them in one cycle.

This could be the reason why your dishes are not drying. When loading your dishes, leave some spaces in between dishes and make sure they are not touching. 

Plastic dishes dry at a slower speed compared to other dishes. 

Put the cutlery in their designated part on your rack. This will also ensure that they don’t fly around during a wash cycle and cause damage. 

Dishes with deep bases like your cereal bowls should be loaded in while facing down. 

5. Check error codes

If your Samsung dishwasher is not drying dishes well, there’s a possibility that the cycle was interrupted and it did not complete because of an error code. 

Newer models show codes on the display panel but older models use blinking lights to show the problem. 

If there is no error code on your dishwasher, a dish inside the dishwasher may have banged the door. This tricks the machine into thinking you were trying to open the door. 

Remember the dishwasher can’t do a cycle when the door is open. This is why it is wise to load the dishes correctly as described in the above step. 

6. Utilize the advanced dishwasher drying features

New Samsung dishwashers have advanced features that aid in drying dishes at a faster rate. They are outlined below.  

  1. Hi-Temp Wash. 

If you have this feature on your dishwasher, use it to enable the dishwasher to use hotter water during the entire wash cycle. This means the water will evaporate faster and the dishes will dry faster. 

  1. Heated Dry. 

If you have this feature on your dishwasher, it means your dishwasher has a heater. Use this feature to aid in drying the dishes faster in addition if you don’t want to rely on evaporation only. 

  1. Dry+.

This feature elongates the drying time of your dishwasher. Your dishes will dry properly. 

7. Unloading order also helps

Before you unload your Samsung dishwasher, make sure the machine has finished washing your dishes.

If you hear any sound inside the machine, the dishwasher is not yet done!

To prevent water from dripping on the dishes when unloading the racks of your Samsung dishwasher, you should unload the lower rack first. This will ensure that you have dry dishes.

8. Seeking professional help

Samsung dishwashers are usually durable but if you have followed our troubleshooting guide and your dishwasher is still not drying, it’s possible that a part inside has broken.

In this case, please seek professional help from a qualified technician to help you fix and repair broken parts. 

Conclusion

A Samsung dishwasher that is not drying rarely needs a repairman. 

Look out for error codes and make sure you have followed all the above troubleshooting steps. If you’ve followed them, please repeat each step once again. 

Skipping one step will highly reduce the chances of your dishwasher drying dishes again.

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