My GE GLD500 Dishwasher Arms Are Not Turning

Symptoms

• Sometimes it’s obvious that your GE GLD500 dishwasher’s arms aren’t working. If you open your unit during the cleaning cycle and the arms aren't moving even slightly, you know something is wrong. Other indicators are more subtle, such as if the dishes come out dirty even though they’ve been through a whole cycle. In some cases, you may notice that certain dishes are clean but the rest are dirty, indicating that the sprayer arms didn’t move at all during the cycle.

Electrical Problem

• The first thing to check is to make sure that the unit is receiving power. Your dishwasher may be affected by two different breaker switches, leaving it to run certain processes but not others if one of the breakers blows. Go to your breaker box, reset any blown switches, then try your GE GLD500 again.

Positioning the Dishes

• Another reason the sprayer arms in your GLD500 dishwasher aren't turning may be that the dishes are blocking them. Remember to load your dishwasher by grouping objects of a similar size and shape together. Before you close the dishwasher door, spin the sprayer arms to make sure they’re not obstructed by any of the dishes.

Service

• If there's no problem with the circuit breaker or the positioning of the dishes, the sprayer arms could be malfunctioning for a number of reasons, including a wire short or an obstruction in the sprayer arm assembly. You may need the service manual or parts in some cases, which you can get by contacting GE customer service. If you’re handy, you can use the service manual to dissemble the GLD500 to diagnose the problem. If you’re not comfortable doing that, you can contact GE customer service to arrange a service call. If the dishwasher is still under warranty, you don’t have a choice because working on the machine yourself can void the warranty.