Patent ID: 7776159

Claim:
A control system for controlling a liquid load of a dishwasher having a pump, a pump motor driving the pump, and a valve for controlling the flow of water to the dishwasher, said control system comprising: a monitoring device configured to be coupled to at least one of the pump and the pump motor, said monitoring device comprising a sensor configured to receive and analyze at least one of a voltage and a current from the at least one of the pump and the pump motor, said sensor further configured to generate an output relating to at least one of an operating current and a speed of the pump motor; and a controller configured to be operatively coupled to the valve, said controller configured to: receive the output of said sensor; count a number of times said controller identifies an existence of a non-surge condition based on the output; determine that a fill condition of the dishwasher has been met after a count exceeds a predefined number of counts; close the valve based on a determination that the fill condition has been met; and transmit a signal back to said sensor to discharge said sensor.