dishwasher fix

[davemchine]

This time I'm posting about a fix rather than asking for help. My dishwasher hasn't been washing the dishes very well and I've resorted to using the pots and pans setting and still not satisfied. Looking at the top spinning wand with jets I noticed six of the ten holes were completely plugged with some sort of hard water sediment. I cleared them out and will run a load today. I assume they will eventually plug again but am hoping for an improvement today.

[space-time]

so you haven't tested it yet. You hope you fixed it. please let us know.

on my crappy dishwasher I learned that I better take all removable parts out once a year for cleaning.

that made a huge difference.

works better than I would have ever imagined.

[davemchine]

What did you use to clean the parts?

[space-time]

old toothbrush, toothpicks (to get the deposits out of holes), dishwashing detergent and some lite elbow grease

takes me about 45 minutes including disassembly, washing and re-assembly.

[cbelt3]

LIme-Away is a good cleaner for hard water stains. However, may kill plastic parts, so caution is advisable. Good tip !

[Buzz]

kinda 'spensive, but if you use 'Dishwasher Magic', Finish Dishwasher Cleaner, or something similar, every month or so, your dishwasher ought to stay in pretty good shape... alternatively, if you run a cup of white vinegar thru once a week, or maybe use Affresh Dishwasher Cleaner tabs (cheaper per use than the other cleaners noted above) mixed in every few weeks instead of the vinegar, you can use the heavier duty stuff only three to four times a year. Assumes stainless steel tub, and that you manually wipe down seals after vinegar treatment, and runs about $30-$40 year.

[Racer X]

Mine get plugged up with rice grains.

[WHiiP]

Racer X wrote:
Mine get plugged up with rice grains.

Then rinse your freakin' dishes before you put them in. . .

[Racer X]

I do, the kids won't. It has a food grinder built in, but rice will pass through and get cycled through the wash arms.

[modelamac]

davemchine wrote:
This time I'm posting about a fix rather than asking for help. My dishwasher hasn't been washing the dishes very well and I've resorted to using the pots and pans setting and still not satisfied. Looking at the top spinning wand with jets I noticed six of the ten holes were completely plugged with some sort of hard water sediment. I cleared them out and will run a load today. I assume they will eventually plug again but am hoping for an improvement today.

If the spray bar holes were plugged with hard water residue, there is more in the filter that resides in the sump.

Get some CLR and pour it in and let it sit over night. Then run the d/w on a rinse setting. You may have to do this twice, depending on how much has built up.

From now on, add some vinegar to the wash cycle very 10 days or so to prevent repeated build up. A cup of vinegar will do.