Dishwasher that doesn't wash

ANGELB

Hi would be really grateful if someone could advise me on this very annoying issue. We have a zanussi dishwasher that is about 4 years old. The tablets that we use or the Finish powerball with calgon etc. But the dishes still come out with food stains on them and look like they haven't been washed at all. The water goes in, you can hear it swishing etc but the tablet is still practically whole (if a little mushy) at the bottom of the machine. So obviously the dishes are not going to be clean. We can't put the tablet in the dispenser as it gets 'stuck' then doesn't melt at all. I have cleaned the filter and used the dishwasher cleaner to clean the machine thoroughly but all to no avail. I even got rid of some plates that were slightly larger causing the 'arm' to stop rotating thinking that this would cure it, but no it is still the same. I really feel like throwing the machine away as it is costing a fortune in electric and not to mention the water used to wash them again. I've even started to take the dirty ones out and handwash them the good old fashioned way. Could anyone recommend a good liquid to use instead of these expensive tablets?

Raksha

Have you tried ensuring the holes in the swirly arms aren't blocked (sweetcorn is usually the guilty party in this house)?

JAZ63

Are you sure your dishwasher salt container is fully topped up with salt ?, we have had similar probs with dirty plates ,but found salt level was low.
also if we stack things badly on lower rack the water doesnt circulate as well.
hope this helps and hope you dont have to splash out on a new machine !!

loocyloo

Raksha wrote: »

Have you tried ensuring the holes in the swirly arms aren't blocked (sweetcorn is usually the guilty party in this house)?

its rice in our house!!! LOL

soappie

Try changing to loose powder and see'f that makes a difference. I stopped using the tablets years ago because of this very problem...

lill

try a glug of cheep bio washing liquid the stuff you wash your clothes with, the cheaper the better as less likely to have perfumes in.

mattogier

ANGELB wrote: »

I really feel like throwing the machine away as it is costing a fortune in electric and not to mention the water used to wash them again.

TBH you MAY be better off in the long term to get rid and buy anew - the latest generation of dish washers use a fraction of the water and energy that the old ones do - even just 4 years old. Look for an AA rated one.

As a tip - I ALWAYS rinse the dishes after eating and before dish washing - this uses ONE bowl of water (sometimes left over from the veg prep) that the dishes go straight into and then brush off excess food and any stubborn items (melted cheese & cereal being the worst). This means I can use the quickest wash cycle and maintains the efficiency of the dish washer. I then use this same bowl of water to soak the heavy soil items (stew, rice pudding etc) before washing them.

It's also worth cleaning it once a month at least - wash the filter in the bottom and run it with a proprietary cleaning solution that can be bought from any supermarket.

There are 9 of us in the house (2 adults & 7 kids - we foster) and generally I only run the dish washer (standard size AA rated Siemens) once a day and use 3 or 4 bowls of washing up water.

dND

Hi AngelB,

I had a small zanussi and if it didn't wash then it was usually because something I'd put in had jammed one of the water arms. Spoon handles and the like can drop through the cutlery rack and stop the bottom arm while things can drop down through the upper rack and stop that arm or something large in the lower tray can move and stop the arm. Failing that it was usually a blocked filter because someone had put in an unscraped plate - I don't pre-rince just scrape.

I also had problems with the machine throwing out the dishwasher tablet as my plates were large enough to stop the flap opening. I got around this by waiting when I'd switched on the dishwasher and when I hear the flap open I'd open the door enough to let the tablet out then close it to let it finish washing.

As long as I was careful about the above -it was the slimline version and I always overfilled it - it washed really well.

Good luck, I hope one of our sugestions sorts the problem for you.

bestpud

We periodically have to clear out the arms too so that is definitely worth trying.

The door for the tablet hasn't worked for ages on ours so we put the tablet on the top shelf, on top of a mug or bowl - this seems the best spot for getting everything clean.

But we bought some tabs (on offer) with gel stuff inside them (Fairy I think) and found they dissolve too quickly. So when we use them, we wait until the first cold rinse has finished and just open the door and chuck a tablet in.

We've found having the tablet in the main part works much better than when the door was working properly though tbh. We don't sluice things first.

Also, Tesco own brand tabs are less than useless in our washer...

I wait now until one of the better brands are on offer and stock up with them instead.

belfastgirl23

for us the biggest problem is that the pipe at the bottom of the dishwasher comes out fairly regularly and has to be popped back in - this leads to exactly the problem you've described. If anyone has any ideas for how to seal it up so that it doesn't pop out I'd love to hear them btw!

I'd recommend Lidl dishwasher tabs by the way, they're the only ones that fully dissolve in my machine. All of the powerwash type ones are worse than useless unless I'm doing a boil wash.

sproggi

I have got a 3 year old Indesit that does exactly the same thing.
I have tried all manner of tablets, powders and liquids, put numerous amounts of cleaners through it and still no luck.

I have resorted back to my old dishwasher, he might need a lot of nagging, but at least he is cheaper and does get the dishes clean first time!