My dishes don’t come out very clean, but I don’t know if it’s all in my head or if it really has been getting much worse lately. I’m handy and I figure it’s a mechanical device, if something’s wrong with it I should be able to fix it, but nothing seems to be wrong with it and I’ve thoroughly cleaned it out. It’s 10 years old. Is it just time for a new one?
You can do some simple checks first. Check the buttons on the front to make sure that Hot Wash is selected. Assuming it is, when the cycle is going and you open the door, is the water hot and steamy? If it’s not, then the heating coil you can see in the bottom may have gone bad. Fixing that is pretty easy. Another common problem is that the pump doesn’t have enough pressure to wash the dishes. This may be because it has gone bad or something is blocking it. Do you see standing water in the bottom when the cycle is done? That may be an indication of a bad pump. That would be more of a hassle to fix.
If you have the money, I would consider getting a new one. Although the fix is probably simple, you may waste a lot of time trying to track down the problem if you aren’t experienced in fixing dishwashers. But if you find that kind of thing fun and interesting, give it a try!
for starters, know that dishwasher detergent is about 50% as good as it used to be compared to when it had phosphates in it. although I’m probably overstating the difference, in mine & most people’s i knows opinion it’s more than noticeable
beyond that, several different dishwashers have internal filters or screens at the sump area in the bottom of the dishwasher that are supposed to be removed and cleaned occasionally. remove and clean those, go ahead and take your spray arm(s) off and clean those too.
make sure when it drains each time that it doesn’t back flush into the dishwasher when the pump cycle is done.
make sure your water temperature is in the 125-140 degree range.
make sure to not overload the dishwasher.
make sure your water isn’t hard. there are test kits for this.
after all that, if you still don’t like it, you can get another one. unfortunately though, due to the detergents not having the phosphate’s in there now, they will never be as good as they used to.
- some people are going to chime in and say theirs works even better now since the change in detergent ingredients, say they’ve never seen such clear sparkly glasses. awesome for them, that just hasn’t been my experience.
I won’t say detergent works better without phosphates, but I’ll say it’s possible to still get a load of dishes completely, sparkling-clean with the right dishwasher/detergent combination. For us, it’s a bottom-of-the-line Bosch and those little pre-made dissolving packets of powder. There’s never any residue on the dishes, and I don’t prewash or even usually presoak them.
Thanks for the info mr h, I learned a lot about detergents today. I’m going to give citric acid a shot and if that doesn’t work, take filmore’s advice and buy my way out of a headache.
IME, 10 years is a pretty normal lifetime for a dishwasher.
If you buy a new dishwasher and you don’t feel comfortable installing it yourself, make sure you ask what the price is, including delivery and installation, when you shop.
I recently replaced an old dishwasher with a new one - not the most expensive, but not the cheapest, either - and I was floored by how much more quiet the new one is compared to the old.
Gets the dishes spotlessly clean, too.
This is exactly what I do. I’m not sure if mine is bottom-of-the-line or not, but it is a Bosch, and I use those little pucks, and I have been gradually loading more and more dishes into the dishwasher before considering it full and doing less and less pre-scraping.
There’s a magic place in my dishwasher that I have to leave clear, or the trap door that that detergent goes in won’t spring open. Amazingly, even when this has happened, the dishes have come out looking spotless. (I ran it again since I can’t imagine they’re truly clean without detergent.)
That’s what occurred to me too; the new one is worth it for the advances in quieterness.
One other way to check the pump is to run the empty washer and listen for how forcefully the water is hitting the insides. It should sound like powerful water from a hose hitting a bucket. Open the door quickly (with towels on the kitchen floor) and you should see the sprayers spinning around. If the water pressure seems weak, that points to the pump or a blockage in the piping.
If the problem seems obvious, it might be worth trying to fix it yourself. It won’t be much more work than replacing it altogether and might only cost $30-50. If it’s the pump, you’ll want to take the washer to your garage or patio where water can spill. Once out there, you can test out your fix by supplying water to the washer with a garden hose. Look for the part online rather than a local retail store, as the retail part store charges a lot to the general public.
I agree with this, especially if you have hard water. We got rid of our not so old dishwasher since it was doing such an awful job. We bought a middle high end Bosch and were really disappointed that wasn’t doing much better of a job (it sure is quiet though). I did some research and found out about the change in phosphates.
A little bit of looking found that it is still fine to have them in comercial dishwashers so a quick check of the internet and I found a company that sells to comercial kitchens, but it sure does seem convenient packaging for home use. It has a stupid name (and they know it) called Bubble Bandit. I ordered some and sure enough everything came out great. I’ve ordered it ever since.
After washing a load of dishes, is the bottom of the dishwasher dry? If there’s an inch or so of water still there, that’s a problem. Fortunately it’s a pretty easy fix. Many GE-branded dishwashers and others like them have this problem. There’s a little valve towards the lower back which is usually under a screen. Replace it.
As others have mentioned above, how hot is the water? I believe that you want it to be at least 120°F but not more than 150°F.
I’ve found that Cascade Platinum dishwasher packets work very well especially for getting glass clean.
Also too much soap can be just as bad as too little. The soap can buildup over time and restrict the plumbing. Some cleaning vinegar can help this; however, I like to use a dishwasher cleaner made for the job.
Interesting. I’ve only gotten a dishwasher for the first time in my life just over a year ago, so I have no point of reference, but, as far as I’m concerned, the damned devices are miracles. I can’t believe how good a job they do, and I don’t pre-rinse dishes or any of that. I just shake off any large chunks of food, stick the sucker in there, and two to three hours later it comes out looking like it came fresh from the factory. We do have soft water here in Chicago, though, so maybe that makes a big difference. What is it about phosphates that they’re not sold anymore in consumer dishwashing detergent?
Honestly it has been a long time since I’ve looked into it, but the issue has to do with promoting algae blooms in lakes and streams. One side says residential use has a significant impact and the other says that Industrial and Agricultural industries are the major culperates with farm run off and mining being the major contributors and residential is a tiny factor.
My conclusion is that it was probably an overreaction to ban the use in residential applications while the industrial sides haven’t been limited to my knowledge, but I don’t claim to be an expert and I do normally favor environmental issues.
What I do know is that we have hard water and this solved my problem much better than buying the expensive DW did.
If it’s a Samsung dishwasher it’s crap. Throw it away.
Everyone I know who likes their dishwasher has a Bosch or one from Ikea. YMMV
I wonder about the straight story on this. Excess phosphates cause algae blooms in water and that reduces the oxygen level in the water. Plus it’s pretty disgusting to look at and leaves green slime everywhere. But household and commercial cleaning use is where the phosphates could be removed through water treatment while runoff can’t be. I recall some water treatment plants were overwhelmed in the 70s with population density changes and increasing use of phosphates in detergents, so maybe it’s not practical to try to treat municipal waste water anymore and of course the big industrial and agricultural produces can pay to have the laws favor them.
The thing about getting rid of an old dishwasher is she’ll take half the marital assets with her … maybe better to just do the dishes yourself? …
I postponed getting a new one. The old one never cleaned right and I had to be careful where I placed items. Finally got a new one, what a difference. I can get 2 to 3 times as many dishes in it and get them all clean. It also has a grinder instead of a filter which will grind particles and after the cycle dispose of them.
It’s time for a new one if it’s not getting the dishes clean. I think they’re much better now. I am actually something of an expert on buying dishwashers. They seem to last me about 8-10 years, but one of them only lasted 3 years and the most recently replaced one lasted 7 years. (And the KitchenAid that was in my first house when I moved in lasted for 20 years, including the time I used it, as long as the dishes were rinsed perfectly clean before you put them in. I wish I had known then what I know now. Buy a new one!)
PS-the one that lasted 7 years was a Bosch, and it always smelled funny. I have heard great things about them, but I am not a fan.
Before you spend a lot of money try out a different detergent. We switched from the cheap finish tabs to the cascade complete packets and it made a world of difference. We have very hard water, not sure if that makes a difference.