Dishwasher that doesn't wash

pigpen

Do not use finish tablets.. they are notorious for not dissolving.. they have to be dissolved in very hot water and nearly all DW's are cold fill ( I attached mine to be hot fill). They then only break down to small particles which clog and block in the pump and drainage pipes. Lidl ones are ok though and I use Fairy tablets in mine and they are fantastic dissolve really quickly and work really well.

Go to the local repair shop and explain to them what is going on.. you can buy fabulous machine cleaning stuff.. about 10 times better than the stuff from the supermarket and way cheaper.. it isn't terribly fantastic for the environment but then neither is using gallons of water and electricity rewashing pots. This cleans the black slime and gunge from all the pipes. If you don't have a shop locally just ring any machine repair place and they will no doubt stock them and post some out.. they are about £10-£15 for a years supply.. one clean a month keeps them clear and functional.

Take the arms out of the machine and leave them until they are completely dry then bash the dried bits of food and gunk and limescale out of them. Take out and scrub any bits that you can..

I use mine 3-4 times a DAY and after 4 years it is still going strong it shouldn't be fit for the scrapheap yet!

Jack's_mummy

I would give all little holes a clean. Check you aren't putting anything in it with mashed potato on it (mine never gets that clean and just spreads it around), check the salt level and try using Fairy active bursts. They are the only detergent that work properly in my DW

clairehi

Sounds like you have tried most common sense fixes, have you phoned the manufacturer for advice?failing this I would get a local repair shop out to have a look, would be cheaper than a new DW.

dillydilly

at risk of repeating the above, I really would recommend the hole clearing solution before spending any money. This has happened to me many times with many different dishwashers and I've always solved it by picking the sweetcorn out of the holes at the ends of the main arms. If these aren't clear there is no momentum to make the arms spin. You have to take the arm out (just twist it off) and pour tap water into the central hole to reveal the sweetcorn, or eggs shells, then poke them out with a pin...
as for Tesco value tablets - they work a treat in our dishwasher, as recommended by Which magazine I believe...

sarahs999

I have dishwasher cover (SO worth it as mine is crap!) and have had this problem. The guy replaced all the little sprinkler bits and now it's great - they get so clogged that you just can't clean them, even if you can get them off. If you can afford it I'd get an engineer out to check yer bits (as it were)

TomsMom

mattogier wrote: »

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.

Good to read that someone else does this, I've done this since the first day I had my dishwasher (free when I bought a kitchen from MFI about 12 years ago so it was just a cheapy Hygena DW). I just scrape anything solid into the bin, swill off any grease/sauce/etc, use Lidl W5 cheapy dishwasher powder, and use the economy setting on the DW. Never had any blockages nor had to use any type of cleaner nor had any smell and everything comes out sparkling clean.

larmy16

I keep a large jar of water to place knives, forks, etc in as I find that if they get too dry the food does not wash off properly. I also soak stuff in a bowl of water before putting in DW. I use Lidl tablets (recommended in Which), Tesco Value (recommended in Which) and vinegar in the rinse aid - no problems. Mine definitely goes funny if the salt is not topped up - the stuff has a kind of greasy film on it which is damp.

Once a month I run the DW with a whole bottle of white vinegar (cheap at 58p compared to the brand ones) and it keeps everything fresh and shiny.

julieq

There are only a very few things that can go wrong with dishwashers.

First one is the filter at the bottom getting clogged with gunk. You pull the cover off, take out the little basket and dig around it with your fingers, it's lusciously disgusting and gloopy. That fixes a lot of problems as if it can't drain it just swishes around dirty water. Draining problems do cause problems with the tablets or powder being used, because the filling mechanism checks for water already there and doesn't pour more in over the tabs, so I'd think this may be what the problem is.

As has been mentioned, the arms have little holes in for water distribution and they get clogged up sometimes.

Then there are mechanical problems you can have, basically there are two things that go wrong, the outlet pump and the switch on the inlet valve. One leads to pooling in the bottom of the dw and it won't empty - usually there is a horrific grinding noise, the other one causes no water to go in.

paddy's_mum

Ours did this on occasion until the day it started messing about when I had a houseful coming to visit. I lost my temper with it and yelled to hubby "fix it or it's out!"

It turned out to be the pipe that feeds water to top and bottom arms and from them into the outlet. It was periodically working loose which meant that no real force of water was spraying from the arms.

Hubby fixed it with superglue - he glued the pipe permanently into it's opening. It doesn't work loose any more and I've never had a problem with the machine since. Hope that helps cos it is frustrating, isn't it?!

sandraroffey

when my dishwasher broke down and an engineer came out, he said to never use the tablets. they block the filters and the sump he said.

as previously said, the whirly arms are the worse culprit, they get blocked with all sorts. also, even if your powder/tablets has salt added, it isnt enough salt and without salt, it just doesnt work. salt softens the water, and the whole process works on softened water. check the filter in the botton bit, and check the outlets pipes cos the get silted up as well.

if you open the door very slightly while the machine is running, you may see that water is/isnt coming out of the holes on the whirly arms. its the holes right at the ends that drive the arms around with a force of water.

also try stacking the plates not so close together, one will shield the other from the water. hope that helps. xx