Dishwasher not broken after all

With the ever-so-brief history of the tenant in House #2, I had this thought in the back of my mind that the dishwasher wasn't broke - that maybe, just maybe, it was a problem we experienced a few times before. However, listening to the tenant, it certainly made it sound as though the dishwasher was truly broken.

So, I went to House #2 after work, met the tenant, and proceeded to determine the cause of the dishwasher's problem. The dishwasher was closed and the tenant showed me the switch was on. She then showed me a blinking light on the "Start/Reset" button located in the front. Immediately, I determined there was not an electrical problem (e.g., breaker or light switch). The tenant then touched the "Start/Reset" button, and the dishwasher started, which startled the tenant. However, after about 20 secs, it again stopped.

At this point, I knew what the "problem" was. I immediately asked the tenant when the problem first happened if she heard a loud beeping noise. she said "yes", which confirmed my diagnosis.

It turns out that this same thing happened to us many times when we lived in the house. It took me several times to actually figure out what was going on as the manual for the dishwasher didn't mention this specific problem. The problem occurs when an object - such as a large pot lid, pan, or whatever - is resting against the soap dispenser. When the machine opens the soap dispenser, it can't, so it starts going bezerk. The only way I found to "reset" it (i.e., the "Reset" button doesn't do the trick) is to:

1. Open the machine in order to move the object out of the way of the soap dispenser.
2. Close the soap dispenser and the machine itself.
3. Turn the switch off (usually located on the wall near the dishwasher or under the sink, and looks like a regular light switch), and leave it off for several minutes.
4. Turn the switch back on.
5. Start the dishwasher.

Sure enough, we did this and the dishwasher was functioning as normal. Problem solved.