TDB210RFB7A Tappan Dishwasher - Instructions

My daughter held the flashlight steady as a rock as I hooked not one, but two new hinges in place. Throughout the whole ordeal neither of us complained or lost our resolve. We conquered!

Our dishwasher handle was broken and I stumbled upon PartSelect's YouTube video that described how to change the Latch Assembly while looking for a new dishwasher. It looked easy so I thought that I would give it a try. The hardest part of the installation was finding which circuit breaker shut off the dishwasher. That being said, our dishwasher was slightly different from the model shown in the video. When we unscrewed the screws on the inside of the door the top part of our dishwasher did not come off and fall forward as it did in the video. Our control panel was longer and continued beneath the front panel. We could not access the latch assembly until we removed two small screws near the bottom of the dishwasher door and popped the front panel off. Other than that it was exactly as the video showed. EXCELLENT service. I ordered the part and received it the next day. WOW. I would recommend this website to anyone who needs appliance parts.

I removed the kick panel at the bottom front of the dishwasher. Then using a flashlight and a cross point screwdriver, I removed the thermostat from about the middle left. It requires a short screwdriver, but not quite as short as a stubby. I unplugged the wires, noting that one of them was a little burnt looking. The burnt looking connector was still okay. I then installed the new one, with the green dot on the thermostat having the slightly burnt looking connector. Then I ran a load of dishes and the dishwasher worked as it was supposed to. It has worked okay twice since then.

I just did the repair just like the video suggests to fix it. I disconnected the power cord, shut off and took apart the water inlet line, and drain line. Unscrewed the top of the washer from the cabinet and pulled out the dishwasher. Tilted the washer to better get to the bottom and took off the connecting wires (red and white.) Unscrewed the brass nuts holding the heating element and removed the element from the machine. Took out the bottom sprayer arm. Replaced the element, replaced the brass nuts and connected the wires back up. Put the sprayer arm back in. Pushed the machine back into place and re-secured the top to the cabinet. Hooked all water, drain, and power lines back up and all was good again.

The replacement hose was not as long and the original and therefore did not fit into the track made for the original one. Though it was long enough to work, an additional 4 inches would have been an exact fit.
As a result, the replacement had to be duct taped to the side of the dishwasher to hold it in place. Otherwise, the new hose was of better quality that the flimsy original. All in all, I could have picked up 3 feet of rubber hose from an auto parts or hardware store cheaper and done the job just as well, if not better.

For both parts replaced, I simply followed the instructions from your on-line videos. These videos are a great help to make sure that you are installing the part the correct way. Saved us several hundred dollars vs. calling a repairman. Thanks

Internet search found high limit switch as primary failure, removed dishwasher existing part looked new, no signs of wear as was expected. Second failure was the heating element, I ordered the part; At the same time I found a random youtube video, that had me check the continuity of the heater and tested good. Then the video indicated the heater relay may have one leg that has lost the solder and stops the heater element from working. I took the control panel a part and the heater relay had the same failure, one leg had a missing solder joint. Using some flux, solder and soldering iron I repaired the connection and added some addition solder to the circuit. Reassembled and the dishwasher is heating as it was before everything is working as expected!
(P.S. The heater relay failure appears to be a common problem, but the actual root cause [relay failure due to poor solder joint] is never reported back to the company, they just hear the heater element stopped working and they never fix the real issue because the customers are throwing out the dishwasher, when it could have been repaired with a simple fix. More importantly it should be something that is investigated as it may needs an engineering redesign. but can't fix what you don't know about or fail to investigate. I did purchase a new relay to replace the existing one, to be installed upon arrival).
Once again a random youtube video identifies and resolves a problem, that would have had me purchasing a new dishwasher, and maybe this is all planned engineering obsolescence.
When will get smart dishwasher that have sensors or at least codes that report the failures correctly, to make DIY repairs?

First point of leakage was the door. Turns out that a gasket at the bottom of the door functions as a wave trap. As the bottom sprayer spins it sprays against the door and creates a small wave of water this gasket was starting to disintegrate, it was letting water surge over the small tray at the doors bottom. Easy to replace just pull down and remove press fit on inside door bottom. Only when this was replaced did I find the real leak but not until I guessed at the tub seal as the leak. Very hard to see where the water really comes from! Turns out it was not the tub seal but a clip that holds the heater element got smashed down from a dropped dish rack at some earlier time and this caused the heat to increase at the clip and eventually heat the clip to extent it melted the tub directly under it. JB Weld to the rescue and we have a waterproof tub again. Well almost! The tub gasket resisted my best efforts to seat correctly and thus required a new tub gasket, still hard to seat but after 2-3 attempts we have a winner. Total cost about 50 bucks vs. 6-700 for a new unit. Wife is happy!!

Used pliers to remove old seal. Keep seal in position, note the notch facing the hole. Align the new seal, press it in, the notch helps align. Mine slipped in easy

After moving the dishwasher out from the cabinetry, I removed the screws holding the pump in place. Pulling the pump from the formed plastic opening, I found a toothpick lodged in the pump housing. At the same time I noticed that the front o-ring was deformed due to being the incorrect size (too large). It was installed at the factory this way.

I went online to search for new parts. PartSelect was the second or third listing on the search page. I submitted the dishwasher model number and was taken to a set of parts illustrations. I was easily able to find the o-rings I needed.

We ordered the correct part, it came in perfect condition. We took out the rusted rack, rolled in the new one and it fit perfectly! We are thrilled!

Removed the bottom panel, and I had to disconnect the water supply, which did NOT use flexible tubing (much to my disappointment), removed the screws holding the diswasher in the cabinet. Slid it out, took the old springs off, put the new ones on.

It was pretty straightforward -- no big deal.

Removed damaged strike plate from dishwasher and screwed new part into place. Tested and dishwasher worked fine. Took less than 15 minutes to get the job done. Was very pleased with how fast the part was delivered.

Turned off elecrtic and water to dishwasher and pulled dishwasher out from under cabinet. Removed broken hose using pliers to open hose clamps.
installed new hose.

I followed the previous repairers instructions.
-Remove the screws around the door panel
-Remove the door panel face
-disconnect the wires
-reconnect wires to the new Latch Assy
-tighten the screws and reassemble the door panel.