Dishwasher not cleaning properly

Electra_King

As the title says I have a Baumatic dishwasher which is about 5 years old and is currently not cleaning properly. Before I call out an Engineer I was hoping somebody on here could give me some advice.

This is what I have done so far;

I have checked the pipes for blockages.
I have cleaned out the filters.
I have cleaned the rotating arms and ensured the holes are free.
I have put it on the longest wash cycle without dishes.
I have put it on another wash cycle again without dishes adding a cupful of vinegar part way through (as per the manual).
I have bought/used different types of tablets.

When the wash finishes there is always steam coming out when I open the door so I am assuming the heating element is still working.

Any help would be appreciated.

Chunks

'....not cleaning properly' can you expand since you appear to have covered most things?

I get poor results when I overload/poorly fill and/or stack the dirty dishes/don't top up rinse aid/ditto salt.

Electra_King

Sorry, when I say not cleaning properly I mean food still attached. I have even put only a few dishes in at one time on a cycle to see if I was indeed overloading but they too did not come out completely clean.

Whenever the warning light comes on for the rinse or salt I top it up straight away.

In the past when hubby has loaded the dishwasher he usually overloads with dishes but even then they were still coming out clean.

Chunks

No worries E K. If the spinning parts of the machine are spinning freely and the water supply is being delivered into the unit...all other things being equal, it should work (they are relatively simple pieces of kit). Can you open yours mid wash (I can with mine)? You have to be careful (obviously) but you should be able to see that a) there's water in the machine; and b) the spinning parts are spinning (if you catch it right).

Electra_King

I have been able to open the machine mid cycle and there is water in the bottom. I have not however witnessed the arms rotating but I do release the door then wait until fully opening.

I am running out of ideas what to do next?

Would an Engineer be able to determine what is wrong when everything else seems to be in working order?

hethmar

Sounds silly, but have you used a dishwasher cleaner in it? It made a big difference to mine.

Electra_King

No it does not sound silly, that is the reason I came on here to get advice. Yes I have used a dishwasher cleaner. (Sorry, I should have added that to the list as well )

Chunks

If the arms are revolving freely (all holes cleaned and are not catching on something having from the basket) since you have verified that water is present, then you have ruled out all the obvious areas. Time to pick up the phone.....

notbritishgas

What noise do you hear when the dishwasher is "supposedly" washing.
Are they the same noises as when it used to work. On my d/washer I can hear the water swishing around (technical term) and presumably the sound of the pump working.

Electra_King

Yes I can here the 'swishing' sound and to be honest it sounds pretty much the same as it did before. I am not really sure what the pump sounds like so I can't answer that one.

Chunks, I think to be honest I knew from the beginning that it was time to call in the "professionals" I was just hoping I had not missed something obvious.

Thank you all for you help. :T

Alfrescodave

Are you sure that the salt and rinse aid reservoirs are topped up - if their refill light has failed then you wouldn't know that they were empty.

Bit of a long shot answer but you've covered the obvious ones