I haven't paid atttention to the newer KA units, but the old ones like mine that have a grinder in them can become blocked over time by 'stuff' that doesn't go through the grinder well, like bits of glass or paper. It requires one to disassemble the spray part in the bottom and cleaning it out. There are videos of this on youtube, usually about cleaning or replacing the screen. If you have the proper Torx screwdriver and don't have a bad back, it is a straightforward DIY project.

update: indeed it was a fuse but that had blown because an outlet did. The repairman said "outlet's blown, can't fix it" and I said, 'let's hook it up to an outlet we know works with an xtension cord and check whether the machine is also in trouble', to which he responded "oh yeah, good idea" ?!

I am very glad I did this because he would have left and the blown fuse in the machine would have gone undetected necessitating another 2 full days waiting for the repairer -- so annoying, but another story!

Anyway - thanks for the suggestion, weeds. It wasn't the filters, that I did check. I think it was my husband fiddling around with wiring and/or crawling under the house. It took a *lot* of nagging, but he's restored all to right.

However, I remain completely confused about water hardness issues that I'll post on a separate thread in a sec.

Thanks!

p.s. For others and future reference, the fuse is located in the door, which is where the panel and motherboard for these fancy new machines is hiding. Remove the screws around the permimeter. It looks sort of like a capacitor, not what I'm used to. I would never have even guessed that was a fuse even if I'd opened up the door. Pictures and instructions are probably online and it was simple to do, you've just got to know/think to do it. In my case I wouldn't have for several other reasons, but I encourage anyone with a screwdriver, computer and no warrantee to go for it!