D.J Healy, Obviously you're having some extreme problems. My DishDrawer is now past 12 years of age and has not had any such continual/recurring problems are you've experienced. I surely don't have to prewash or postwash anything. I would love to get a hands-on look at your machine and your usage habits to see what may factors may be contributing to your dissatisfaction. I'm in TX but about 5.5 hrs from DFW area. A couple months ago I noticed water leaking on the floor to varying degrees after running loads at various times in both the upper and lower drawers. Upon investigating I found that both drain hoses had developed cracks -- both were cracked behind the DishDrawer where they made a sharp bend toward the opening in the cabinetry partition to the sink plumbing, the lower hose was also cracked a few inches from where it attached to the pump. The drain hoses flex every time the drawers are open/closed so it's not unusual that a crack may occur after years of use. I have experience working on appliances so can DIY pretty much any repair (except refrigeration!). F&P parts are available from a couple online sources. The backlight on the upper drawer's LCD panel had gone out a year or so earlier (which didn't prevent the unit from working, the operational icons and cycle time were displayed, just not lit from behind) so I took the parts-order opportunity to replace it. There have been updates on the lid motors (mine were still working at 12 years) and hose/wiring supports (upper had broken a couple years ago, I patched it with a zip-tie) so I also got a kit package to update my older unit on those points. No other repairs for the 12-years duration to that point. Regards to cleaning performance, below are some examples of what I load-in and how it comes out. I didn't take these pictures just now, I have them on-hand from previous discussion posts. Baked chicken (sat for several days before washing). Boiled-over oatmeal with raspberry jam. Microwaved pasta & sauce.

There are some seals involved. They don't need recurring maintenance but of course a failure can occur. The heating element/pump/motor assembly mounts into an opening in the bottom of the drawer/tub, which of course has a seal around the circumference. The drain hose connects to a fitting at bottom of the pump/motor, under the motor cover.

If the rhythm of the sound is fairly slow, corresponding roughly to the rate of the arm rotation, then it's a lightweight item jiggling from the water spray. Run a Rinse/Hold with no dishes, it probably won't make the noise. If it does, then something else is the cause ...

UPDATE After reading comments here, I thought it worth my while to read the service manual cover to cover. Enduring's suggestion to see if there was an error code displayed lead me to try reprogramming the top drawer to turn on when the drawer was opened (like the bottom drawer would do). In trying to do this, I discovered that I couldn't; I also read in the manual that there were two separate circuit panels (duh, one for each drawer). Since the top drawer wasn't responding to re-programming, I felt the circuit panel was bad. So when the F/P serviceman showed up this morning, I told him this; he also tried to program the top drawer and was unsuccessful. He ended up replacing the circuit panel in the top drawer and was able to get it to work. He stated the circuit panel was weak and that's what was causing the problem with the top drawer turning on, but not starting. He ran a rinse cycle and everything worked like it should (Houston we have lift-off!) No sooner did he leave, I ran a fast cycle and so happy with the result- sparkling, clean dishes. Thanks one and all for your support and help! PS I did buy the service contract with Sears; just for peace of mind...PQ