[Joanh@wny.twcbc.com]

My dishwasher turned on BT ITSELF yesterday! i unplugged it and it stopped, In the same outlet was my garbage disposal, which initially still worked fine...THEN the disposal started itself and now both [vital] appliances are unusable.
i need a reasonably priced electrician ASAP - or a psychic!!
Any recommendations?

[dewilson58]

Lenhart Electric

[raynan]

We've used Pike's for 10 years. Very efficient and reasonable.

[New Englander]

You don't need an electrician, you need Ghost Busters!

[rjm1cc]

Be sure to explain your problem when you call the repairman. Sounds impossible. You want them to say they can fix it.
My guess is you have a lose wire in the outlet and just need to turn off the circuit breaker and then remove the receptacle and tighten up the screws and make sure bare wires can not touch each other. I think this is reasonable for the garbage disposal but not the washer. After you do that try pushing a few buttons on the washer and see if it returns to normal operation.

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by Joanh@wny.twcbc.com

My dishwasher turned on BT ITSELF yesterday! i unplugged it and it stopped, In the same outlet was my garbage disposal, which initially still worked fine...THEN the disposal started itself and now both [vital] appliances are unusable.
i need a reasonably priced electrician ASAP - or a psychic!!
Any recommendations?

Your post is very confusing. Typically, the dishwasher is hardwired, not plugged into an outlet. The disposal is plugged into an outlet with a wall switch to turn it on and off. These two appliances are usually on separate 20 amp circuit breakers. I don't understand how the disposal could run if the wall switch is off. Did you check the electrical panel to see if the circuit breakers are not tripped? Also, the problem could be that your dishwasher is defective, in which case, an electrician will charge you for a service call, but will probably not be able to repair it. You will need an appliance repair technician. And, if the disposal is broken, you will need a plumber.

I would suggest that you have a neighbor look at your situation to determine who you need to call.

[Cupcake57]

Originally Posted by Joanh@wny.twcbc.com

My dishwasher turned on BT ITSELF yesterday! i unplugged it and it stopped, In the same outlet was my garbage disposal, which initially still worked fine...THEN the disposal started itself and now both [vital] appliances are unusable.
i need a reasonably priced electrician ASAP - or a psychic!!
Any recommendations?

Perhaps the delay start button was inadvertantly pressed. My buttons are on the top of the door and sometimes I press all kinds of buttons accidentally when reaching into the dishwasher.

[airdale2]

Bad ground somewhere

[TC_Arch]

Martin McMurtrie of Grace Electric. 239.248.0000

[Sandy and Ed]

Pike’s Electric. Interesting, with the problem in Texas SECO and Pike’s were used.

[Brondrisek]

Mike Scott Plumbing.

[oneclickplus]

Originally Posted by Joanh@wny.twcbc.com

My dishwasher turned on BT ITSELF yesterday! i unplugged it and it stopped, In the same outlet was my garbage disposal, which initially still worked fine...THEN the disposal started itself and now both [vital] appliances are unusable.
i need a reasonably priced electrician ASAP - or a psychic!!
Any recommendations?

This doesn't seem possible. An outlet is "live" all the time. Electricity is available when call upon by a switch of some sort. The dish washer "switch" is internal and subject to the buttons you push. There could be a fault inside the dish washer such that the switch got flipped and power was applied.

But the garbage disposal is a whole other story. It has its own separate MANUALLY flipped switch on the wall. Unless you flip that switch, no power can reach it.

While is it unlikely that switches on both appliances failed at the same time, I suppose that COULD occur. I think that the fact that they are connected to the same outlet is a false lead. Being connected to power is not what turns on appliances. It doesn't seem like the outlet can be the fault here.

If you had a lamp going on by itself, you would look at the switch, not the outlet. There is always power at the outlet. If a lamp switch is in the off position and you repeatedly connect and disconnect it from the wall outlet, it would NOT go on and off. Same with dish washers and garbage disposals.

Have you tried Ghost Busters?

[Tmarkwald]

I'm an electrician, and I've never heard of anything like this.

[airstreamingypsy]

You need an exorcist.

[Rodneysblue]

Call ghost busters!