The dishwasher plumbing needs both a supply line and a drain line. In order to accept these items, you can retrofit the existing plumbing.
This may sound complicated, but there are certain products designed to help you in making these changes to plumbing.
Also, while choosing the location for a new built-in dishwasher, ensure to place it beside a sink so that you can easily access the water supply, an existing drain, and electrical connections.
How To Plumb A Dishwasher
- Add water supply valve. Use the meter key for shutting off the water at an outside meter or try turning off the main water supply that is coming into your home. Then open the faucet close to the shut-off or open the outside faucet that is close to a meter. This helps in draining excess water from plumbing lines.
- Clean out from beneath a sink for gaining access to a hot water supply valve. Consider using pliers for loosening a compression nut on a valve that connects a supply to a faucet. Note that some water may begin draining from the supply line once you remove it.
- Loosen a compression nut that holds a hot water supply valve to a copper pipe beneath the sink by using the adjustable wrench. Pull a supply valve off a pipe along with a compression nut as well as a copper ferrule beneath a nut.
- Hand-tighten a compression nut back onto a supply valve. Now attach the tubing cutter to a copper pipe directly behind a compression nut. Then tighten a handle clockwise on a cutter until a blade rests against a copper pipe.
- Twist a tubing cutter around a copper pipe. With every rotation, tighten a handle a little. Keep rotating a tubing cutter around a copper pipe in order to cut through a pipe and release a supply valve. Use a deburring blade attached to a pipe cutter for smoothing the inside edges of a cut pipe.
- Clean the copper pipe’s outside with emery cloth for removing any deposits. Try using a clean cloth so that you can wipe emery residue from a pipe.
- Slide a compression nut from the dual shut-off/outlet valve over a copper pipe while ensuring that threads face forward. Now slip a brass ferrule that came alongside with a new shut-off valve onto a pipe. Try slipping a new dual shut-off/ outlet valve onto a pipe. Slide a ferrule against a new valve. Slide a compression nut over a ferrule and onto threads of a new valve. Then tighten a compression nut by hand.
- Try attaching an adjustable wrench to a new supply valve in order to hold it stable. Then use another adjustable wrench for tightening a valve compression nut clockwise.
- To complete this process successfully, a hot water faucet supply line needs to be connected to one of those dual shut-off valves, which leaves a remaining valve for a dishwasher supply line. Finally, try turning both valves handles clockwise till tight to make sure that both valves remain in the “Off” position.
Power Is Also Must Have While Plumbing A Dishwasher
In most cases, local codes require the dishwasher to be on a different circuit that can be shared with the garbage disposal.
The sizes of both wire and circuit breaker depend on the load a dishwasher draws. To ensure safety, twelve-gauge wire is usually used in order to run to the duplex plug all the while being protected by the twenty-circuit breaker.
In case an electrical box is a surface-mounted one, you should use an armored cable for running the line. But note that this can be the part of a job that isn’t often appropriate for the do-it-yourself project.
However, it still depends on one’s experience as well as level of comfort when it comes to working with the electrical wiring.
With water, electrical, and drainage in place, you can then read a dishwasher manual for the hookup instructions. However, since there’s some question regarding whether the air gap is needed and there’s new wiring involved as well, you should get the permit and also have a job inspected.
Final Thoughts
Many people assume that plumbing dishwater is a complicated process, and while it can certainly be for some, dealing with it all by yourself isn’t all that difficult if you know how to carefully follow the instructions.
Nevertheless, if you find it rather time-consuming or simply don’t want to deal with it, the best thing you can do is contact the professional who can assist you.
