Overheard a plumber at the supply house say he uses a $5 aquarium pump to test dishwasher drain solenoids

He said it mimics the real water pressure and you can hear the valve click, which saved me from replacing a good solenoid on a KitchenAid last Friday.

4 comments

4 Comments

rayadams2mo ago

Water pressure" from a pump? That's just air flow.

the_wesley2mo agoMost Upvoted

Actually saw a video once where a guy explained how pumps work. They move fluid by creating a difference in pressure, not just pushing air. The impeller or piston physically displaces the water. Calling it just air flow misses the whole mechanical action. Pretty basic fluid dynamics, really.

rose_allen602mo ago

Rayadams might want to stick with plumbing, not fluid dynamics.

-2

shanec611d ago

Funny you mention that @rose_allen60, I had a buddy who swore a shop vac could drain his pool... until he actually looked at the specs on a real pump. That video the_wesley mentioned is spot on though. I messed around with a small submersible pump in a bucket once, and seeing the impeller spin made it click for me. You can feel the water getting pushed, not just pulled by some air trick. It's one of those things where the simple explanation works way better than trying to sound clever.