Indesit Dishwasher Lower Spray Arm not spinning

cradleyblade

Hi all, hope someone can help. I have an Indesit Dishwasher DFG 15B1 UK. 36832382700 Serial number 703070346 and the lower spray arm is not spinning.  I have had it all to bits to see if I could determine why it wasn't spinning.  The recirculating motor is working OK (the top arm spins OK and that is fed by the same pump so I am assuming that if there is enough power in the pump to lift the water and drive the upper arm there should be enough to spin the lower one), the Y shaped feed tube that feeds both the upper and lower spray arms that comes out of the recirculating pump housing is clear as is the tube that feeds the lower spray arm and the spray arm itself.  There is no mechanical or electrical control valve between the spray arm and the pump, in fact there is nothing to obstruct the flow of water to either the upper or lower spray arm so there is no logical reason why the upper spray arm should spin but not the bottom spray arm.  I am at a total loss as to why the upper spray arm is spinning but not the lower one.  Anyone any suggestions?

Thanks

molerat

Are you sure all the spray nozzles are clear ?

shaun_from_Africa

Have you removed the spray arm to see if there is anything jamming it?
It may well simply lift off. If not, try lifting it gently whilst turning it in the opposite direction that it normally rotates in. The arm may be partially blocked so there's not enough of a jet to make it rotate correctly.

cradleyblade

Thanks for your quick replies Molerat and Shaun. The arm just clips off and I've run a hosepipe through the spray arm and water comes out of all the holes in the arm so that's not blocked and there are no other signs of leaks on the arm. The arm spins freely when it is inserted back into its location.

The arm does move slightly sometimes (maybe a few degrees) when the machine is running but it is very difficult to see what is happenning because as soon as you open the door the machine stops. I've noticed that the top arm continues to rotate for about a quarter of a turn whilst the bottom arm has not moved (or only occasionaly very slightly) from the position I put it in. I cannot understand this as they are fed from the same pump via the Y tube with a clear run through to the arm so why is the top arm spinning but not the bottom?  I could understand if it was the other way around because that could be due to the recirculating pump not providing enough pressure to feed the top arm but not this way around.  As I said I'm completely baffled by this.

Ganga

Can you block the feed hose to the top arm and see if it works then? might be lack of flow/pressure.

cradleyblade

Just tried blocking off the top arm and the bottom arm does spin.  When I've now tried it with the top arm unblocked both still appear to be spinning. Not sure what is going on here!!!! I'll give it a couple of washes and see if it is still working.  Can't see how it could be lack of pressure as I would have thought it would be the top arm that didn't spin if pressure was low (ie faulty pump).  Can anyone explain or am I missing something very basic? As I said in my previous posts there is nothing restricting the flow between either the top or bottom arm and they are both fed by the same pump!!!

Le_Kirk

I had this recently, although with a Bosch (10 years old) and it was the top that wouldn't spin/clean.  I priced up a set of replacement parts as it was suggested by quite a few sites that the seals on the arms had failed and the total came to almost the cost of a new machine.  It didn't really but it was a significant chunk and I decided , having thought about what if it isn't the arms and seals and I have to go delving into pumps etc (more cost), that, whilst not totally MSE a new one would give me more benefits and peace of mind than spending out over 50% of the cost of a replacement would.  Even if I had fixed it, it would still be 10 years old!

getmore4less

Give the arm a good shake and see if you can hear anything, bits sometimes don't lodge in the holes when you run water through. 

If careful you can run with the door slightly open manually setting the door switch.

Also check the top arm is not leaking and the seal where the basket pushes in, that used to be the problem with my Indesit.
Part was just a few £.

Will have look at your model later.