Dishwasher Problems

My old 1986 Dishwasher died a few Months ago. We went a bought a new GE Dishwasher from the HD. The problem is The dishes are having trouble getting clean. We have run it on the different cycles trying to find the one that works best. Does any one know of any problems with the new style Dish washers. My wife wishes we never bought the thing.

It keeps leaving food on some plates and cups. It doesn't seem to do the job like the old ones.

Does any one have any pointers that might help with this none Plumbing problem.

Thank you

When I install new dishwashers, I always fill the rinse aid compartment.
http://www.cascadeclean.com/en_US/cascade/crystalclear/home.do

I find that some detergents don't clean well, Cascade does.

Thank you for the help Terry. We will give that a try.

What is your water temperature? If the DW has a heater switch, turn it on. This is especially important if the water temp is not very hot and you use a powdered detergent...it just does't disolve and work well.

If the thing has an accessable filter, check it and clean if necessary.

We are starting it now. I made sure the water temp was about 125. We are trying it with out the gel soap. I think it is one of the cube's with the power ball in it.(shows what I know about these things)Wife check the machine and she could feel the gel on the inside of the machine. That stuff doesn't seem to rinse very well.
I might set the water heater temp up for the next test.

Thank you all and my wife thanks you too

The DW's from HD would not have been my first choice. They are the cheaper models that barely wash clean dishes. You need to rinse your dishes first with any model sold by the big box stores.

Get you some Cascade Complete or Cascade 2in1 action pacs. These 2 brands seem to do the best. I also had an old GE and now have a Kenmore Elite. This one does fine but takes MUCH longer running time. They have much less pressure now (IMO) so that they are quieter. The Electrasol Tabs with the powerball inthem seem to have a tendency to "suds" more than other brands, at least for me, but I know that water hardness has something to do with this as my water is soft.

I have read that gels have a tendency to build up. Something you can do is get you some Dishwasher Magic(at W/Mart) and run through it ever so often. I do this for mine as it cleans out the pump and filter. Cleans out mineral build up etc.

Hope you get your problem resolved,but the new GE's(or any other) doesn't work like the old ones did. Now they use 1/2 the water of the old ones and sometimes just 1/2 do the job..

If the DW does not have an auxilliary heater to bring the water up to snuff, you will get poor results unless you turn up your WH. The instructions often say what the minimum incoming water temp needs to be. Keep in mind that this is problematic unless you have a recirculation system, since these things don't use all that much water, and if run on the timer in the middle of the night, the water in the pipes has cooled off, and without a heater, you may only have lukewarm water in the thing...that will NOT produce a clean load of dishes!

Try this, just prior to turning the DW on, run the nearest faucet to get the hottest possible water, then turn the DW on. THen, at least the first wash will be reasonable. For economy and safety, many people do not have the WH as hot as it needs to be for the DW to work properly; this is why many come with a heating element. They also use the heating element to dry the dishes at the end faster. Not all of them enable that element to heat the water during a wash cycle though. The use of that element is almost always be controlled by a switch or mode control - make sure it is on. If the water is hot enough, it will dissolve the powdered detergents.

Last, run your hot water until it is as hot as it gets...then stick a thermometer into it while running and let us know what that temp is.

krow said:

The DW's from HD would not have been my first choice. They are the cheaper models that barely wash clean dishes. You need to rinse your dishes first with any model sold by the big box stores.

Click to expand...

I disagree. The GE Triton we bought 3 years ago at a big box store has worked well. Now if there is a LOT of stuff on the dishes I'll put it through the rinse cycle first.

dw

The water heater temperature setting often has little to do with the water temperature in the dishwasher, because the DW may be filled and shut off before the hot water from the heater even gets to it, unless the water heater is very, very close to the dishwasher.

I've had far better luck with Cascade powder than with any of the tablet-type cleaners. Unless the unit has a built-in disposer/grinder, flush the plates off in the sink first. Your dishes may be sterile, but you can just keep recycling the food.

We tried a tab pack with not sure of the brand. Ran the kitchen sink hot water till it was hot (just a few sec.) That made a huge Diff. The inside of the dish washer looked alot cleaner and the dishes were clean. I'm dropping the Electrasol gel. We have used other brands(what ever brand on sale) with little or fewer problems. The wife was thinking it was the dishwasher and i had not a clue. I am sure this will be an ongoing experiment.

My wife says thank you to all that has given great info. She is so glad Terry has such a great resource for people to get great advise. I might be a Plumber, but I know I don't know everything. Having a place like this to ask the questions I or we don't know is priceless.

Thank You Terry
and
Thank you everybody

Dishwasher detergents need very hot water. It is best to run the faucet for a minute just before starting the DW, to insure that hot water is present. This may cost less than relying on the electric boost in the DW.