Patent ID: 7998280

Claim:
A dishwasher, comprising: a tub that receives items to be washed; a sump positioned below the tub, wherein the sump receives and stores wash fluid; a pump that pumps the wash fluid from the sump; a plurality of nozzles that receive wash fluid from the pump and spray the received wash fluid onto the items received in the tub; a fluid level detector that measures a fluid level in the sump; and a controller that controls operation of the pump, wherein the controller determines that one or more of the plurality of nozzles are clogged if the measured fluid level in the sump exceeds a reference fluid level in a selected cycle and terminates operation of the pump for a first predefined amount of time and then resumes operation of the pump in the selected cycle after the first predefined amount of time has elapsed when the controller determines that one or more of the plurality of nozzles are clogged.