Dishwasher not working as well as it used to

[spidey07]

It's not cleaning as well, dishes are coming out with crusty food on them. And it's not drying everything thoroughly and need to be hand dried some afterwards.

It thought it might be calcium buildup so I ran a cycle with some CLR in it months ago but that didn't seem to help. It's 9 years old so I would expect it to last much longer than this.

Anything to check? Do I need to manually clean the dryer coils? It still makes plenty of sloshing noise when running so I assume the jets are working.

 

[Syringer]

Tell your wife to quit whining and step it up!

 

[Jzero]

Is the detergent being released correctly? Mine has a little flip-door that jams sometimes, with pretty much the exact results you describe.

 

[highland145]

Tell your wife to quit whining and step it up!

That's what she told me.

 

[boomerang]

The first thing that popped into my head is whether the water is hot enough. In our ranch home, I have to run the water at the sink for a good long while to get hot water out.

If you typically just close the door and start it, the water may not be getting hot enough now. The same coil that dries the dishes will also heat the water for you if it isn't up to temp. That could be your whole problem. That coil is bad or the circuitry that controls it.

Just a guess.

Edit: Is there an energy saver button? One that once pressed is always in force? That could prevent the water from being heated and heated drying to happen.

 

[chusteczka]

waterflow, heat, or possibly a clogged outlet filter. I would look to see if it has a filter on the bottom of the inside of the washer. If it does have a filter, this may need to be cleaned or replaced.

 

[olds]

Did you recently turn the water hear down? They need HOT water.
Is there an air gap? Flush it out if so. (let washer partially fill, remove air gap cover, place heavy coffee cup over air gap, run drain cycle to allow water to push debris out of air gap)

 

[dquan97]

Wondering if this applies to you:

http://www.businessweek.com/news/20...calling-1-7-million-dishwashers-update1-.html

 

[BoomerD]

IMO, dishwashers don't do a good job if the dishes are put in them still crusted with food. Rinse all the food off before loading the dishwasher.

The "put dishes in with food on them...get clean dishes out" is just to sell dishwashers to housewives. Even the Sears repair guys will tell you this. A "bit of gravy" on a plate is one thing...still crusted with dinner...you're gonna get dirty dishes after the cycle.

 

[spidey07]

Did you recently turn the water hear down? They need HOT water.
Is there an air gap? Flush it out if so. (let washer partially fill, remove air gap cover, place heavy coffee cup over air gap, run drain cycle to allow water to push debris out of air gap)

You may be onto something. I have never drained my water heater. The water is hot though but it does take about 1 minute from the sink faucet to get blazing hot. The washer is fed from the sink. I'll check try what you suggested.

 

[kalrith]

I always run my kitchen faucet until the water gets hot before turning on the dishwasher. You could try that as well. They also make cleaner specifically for dishwashers that might have better results than CLR.

Have you check the dishwasher filters? A lot of times there's the big filter you can see and then smaller filter(s) underneath that. I'd take a look inside the dishwasher, take some parts off, and see if there's food built up somewhere.

 

[Gibson486]

does it catch on fire?

 

[Crusty]

IMO, dishwashers don't do a good job if the dishes are put in them still crusted with food. Rinse all the food off before loading the dishwasher.

The "put dishes in with food on them...get clean dishes out" is just to sell dishwashers to housewives. Even the Sears repair guys will tell you this. A "bit of gravy" on a plate is one thing...still crusted with dinner...you're gonna get dirty dishes after the cycle.

Get a better dishwasher? My roommate will put in pots and pans that are a week old into the dishwasher and they come out just fine.

 

[theknight571]

Try cleaning it with Tang.

You can Google it, but I've seen it presented 2 ways:
1) Start the dishwasher let it run for a min or two... open the door and put the Tang powder in the water that's in the bottom and then complete the wash cycle
2) Put the Tang powder in the soap dispenser and run it through a wash cycle

I don't know if it'll help your situation, but it does keep it clean.

 

[spidey07]

Evening crew bump. Tang?

 

[mizzou]

put a child in there and have it report the problem after the cycle has finished

 

[Twista]

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2079686

 

[spidey07]

put a child in there and have it report the problem after the cycle has finished

The kid caught on fire and was unable to report. Dishwasher still isn't cleaning or drying dishes for crap.

 

[pontifex]

Tell your wife to quit whining and step it up!

She needs more elbow grease! ()

 

[DrPizza]

Possibly a clogged filter. The previous models of dishwashers I've owned had two filters - the outer filter was a larger mesh. 2 or 3 screws to remove & under that was a much finer filter. At our old house, that got clogged a couple of times with little pieces of saran wrap that somehow (I have kids) got into the dishwasher. Tiny pieces, less than a square inch - had that filter 90% blocked. It's a 5 minute thing to check & fix.

 

[CKent]

Tell your wife to quit whining and step it up!

Try cleaning it with Tang.

No seriously I had this issue and the specialized cleaner someone mentioned worked well. YMMV, different problems can produce similar symptoms.

 

[Paperdoc]

Check boomerang's Edit: many dishwashers have an "Energy Saver" pushbutton. If it is NOT pushed the heater element comes on during the wash cycle and the timer motor is stopped until the water inside is heated up to setpoint; THEN the timer continues on. At the end of the cycle the same heater is used to heat the interior to help dry the dishes. I never use it - I always push in the Energy Saver button to defeat this use of the heating element. How have you been using your machine?

Here's another idea my wife found. We had similar issues - dishes were not getting as clean as they used to. Our machine has a large central housing at bottom center from which the main water stream is sprayed out through a hollow tower when operating. It is held together with about a dozen screws around its edge. My wife found that the screws had all come loose. We looked inside and that's also where the filter is on used water being fed to the pump for recirculation. We cleaned out the filter and re-tightened the screws, and all was well again in the dishwasher world! It seems the upper half of the housing was so loose that most of the water flow was leaking out around the edges at the bottom UNDER the lower dish rack, instead of blasting up to the dishes on top.

 

[spidey07]

Paperdoc/all,

Thanks a lot. It seems I have a lot to look for. I've been opening and watching what it's doing through a cycle this evening. There is indeed an indicator light on the front for "heating water", and that doesn't seem to make the water all that hot. It does this during the initial cycle, before soap is opened, and again afterward.

So I think I've got a few things wrong.

Water not hot enough going in - very possible.
Heating element coated or other heating element problem - maybe?
Drain and filters clogged - easy fix, why not investigate

Is it too much to ask for a 9 year old dishwasher to last? When I periodically checked the water temp by opening it at various stages to check the heat and there isn't a whole lot in there. It's hot, but not hot enough that I can't stand the heat from the water or environment.

I'm thinking this may all go back to me not draining/cleaning my water heater for the last 9 years.

 

[chusteczka]

I'm thinking this may all go back to me not draining/cleaning my water heater for the last 9 years.

The silt and gunk in your uncleaned water heater will accumulate at the bottom of the heater. The water outlet is at the top of the water heater. Therefore, an uncleaned water heater will not affect your dishwasher. The only effect an unclean water heater will have is reduced efficiency when heating the water.

I have seen your exact symptoms due to a dirty food filter at the inside bottom of the washer where the water drains out to the piping. Clean or replace that filter and you should be good.

Let us know the make and model of the dishwasher so we can search through the online owner's manual to see if there is a drain filter.

Some of those drain filters cannot be cleaned, since they are enclosed. Filters designed like this need to be replaced every few years.

 

[desert_dweller5]

IMO, dishwashers don't do a good job if the dishes are put in them still crusted with food. Rinse all the food off before loading the dishwasher.

The "put dishes in with food on them...get clean dishes out" is just to sell dishwashers to housewives. Even the Sears repair guys will tell you this. A "bit of gravy" on a plate is one thing...still crusted with dinner...you're gonna get dirty dishes after the cycle.

WHY can't we have a dishwasher that actually does its job?? the reason i have a dishwasher is to avoid having to do anything with dishes. I want a dishwasher that clears the table for you puts away spare food, scrapes off the rest, then automatcially fills the dispenser with detergent loads itself runs and then puts away the dishes for you. I know it's possible today. Roboticists are there. Why can't we have the house of the future now? I mean for goodness sake it's 2010 where the hell is my flying electric non-poluting transportation device? This is ridiculous. and where the hell is the full service laundry machine?? you know, the one with the big hopper you just put clothes in and it sorts, washes, dries, and folds? where the hell is that machine? I really hate chores. I have way to many other important things to do with my life other than mundane tasks that should be handled by machines. where the hell is my domestic helper bot that makes me dinner? and the fridge that restocks itself? I waste more time at the damn grocery store, not to mention money on gas and the headache of finding all the items. why can't we have internet based ordering systems for grocery chains required world wide so that your fridge will know to order what you are craving for dinner, and when you get home your full auto kitchen has it prepared for you. I'm not asking that much. Why should we be spending years of our lives doing chores that could be spending earning more income or enjoying our lives with our families and friends? Technology is the answer. why did the caveman invent stone tools? he hated not having a way to do tasks and craved a better life for himself and his family. I'm sure that there is a market out there for these machines. I don't know why no one has invented them yet? I'm sure i'm not the first one to want one. I'm sure people for generations have craved machines to do their work for them. why did we invent the chain saw? because regular saws are backbreaking. I want a better life. I want a stress free life. Chores have to go. invent a dishwasher as the name implies. I propose we call them dish sanitizer because really if we have to wipe the dishes off first then the machine that we call a dishwasher is really a dish sanitizer. A dish washer actually washes the dishes and actually gets off any thing that you put on it. Why can't a dishwasher have powerful sensors that have the ability to see the dish and then scrub it with a scrubbing apparatus? I'm sure it's not that hard. and why can't we have a dishwasher that adapts to the dishes we put in it? why can't they be big enough to fit every dish you own in one load and get all of them clean in one go. but also able to clean one or two dishes and not wastes water? I can't believe this has not been invented yet! It's time that we start addressing these major problems in contemporary life. I'm sure that we can do it. any suggestions please send them my way.