Arduino Controlled Dishwasher

Davide Gomba — May 26th, 2011

Arduino Forum User [UnaClocker] shared a cool hack on its Maytag dishwasher:

The control panel on the front of it died, it failed from corrosion getting into the laminated plastic PCB that it’s made up of. Not really repairable, just meant to be replaced, except that it’s a $150 part. From what I could find online, it seems to be a common failure, so why buy an overpriced part that’s just going to fail all over again?This is one of the things I love about the Arduino, it allows me to consider alternatives that I’d have NEVER been able to consider before. If I had to program a controller in assembly, or flat do it with just discrete chips, I’d have never considered this as an option. But with the Arduino, not only can I build my own controller, but it’s almost stupidly simple to do.

via [Arduino Forum] source [NeonSquirt] with Code!

This entry was posted by Davide Gomba on Thursday, May 26th, 2011 and is filed under Actuators, Coding, eHome, Hacks, Hardware, Home Hacks, Machine Hacks, PCB, Relay, sensors. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

7 Responses to “Arduino Controlled Dishwasher”

1. Anders Says:
   May 26th, 2011 at 09:34:48

   This is so cool, i love it. I just started to build/write arduino components for my apartment and there is so much to do. I love the idea of extending existing functionality or repair things that work but the logic board is gone.

   What you could do is to build a scheduling service so the dishwasher runs when the electricity price is at its lowest (at least here in Switzerland the price depend on the electricity demand so its cheeper to use during the night).

   Cool project.

2. d.gomba@arduino.cc Says:
   May 26th, 2011 at 11:16:25

   I agree!
   Once you can develop your own interface / hack the design of your device you are free of schedule it’s work and so on.
   But I want Arduino-Ready (Serial-Ready / OSC-Ready) home devices.
   I know it less hacky / challenging, but in 2011 we badly need home devices to be controlled in some way.

   Thanks for commenting,
   davide

3. Marcel Says:
   May 26th, 2011 at 11:41:28

   Right on! Absolutely right on!

   Good job. Well done!

   I’m not sure I’d have the mentals to tackle such a project yet but I really dig the idea — especially having been done over in the past for a washing machine PCB!

   I suppose economics come into play at some point – the parts may be cheaper but your time to do the development would be the big expense. (if you want to think of it that way)

   Thanks for documenting so well and indeed sharing your code. More electrons to your elbow I say!

4. John42 Says:
   May 26th, 2011 at 12:10:59

   Actually, $150 is not that much. If we add up the costs of developing and implementing a custom, micro controller solution, your time would probably be worth more.

   Of course, since it’s your hobby, and it’s fun, it was economically feasible for you.

5. Arduino Controlled Dishwasher « adafruit industries blog Says:
   May 26th, 2011 at 15:02:32

   [...] Controlled Dishwasher via Arduino blog. The control panel on the front of it died, it failed from corrosion getting into the laminated [...]

6. mwangi Says:
   May 27th, 2011 at 15:12:17

   true true

7. Yury Gitman Says:
   June 8th, 2011 at 00:11:48

   Absolutely radical.

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