Whirlpool dishwasher: rinse aid symbol

Joy123

This dishwasher was in the house when we bought it; it is integrated and there was no instruction leaflet about it. I looked up online manuals for Whirlpool dishwashers so found out which buttons to press for normal washing and for dirtier dishes. However, I cannot find an answer to my question which is: is it normal for the rinse aid symbol to light up only two or three weeks after I have put the rinse aid in its container?

neilmcl

All depends on how quickly it's getting through the rinse aid. Are you in a hard water area? My dad lives in Lincolnshire and he has to top up his rinse aid every few weeks and salt provably every other month.

You should be able to physically see if the rinse aid is low and also a lot of dishwashers let you adjust the dosage used. Maybe you've got it set too high.

Le_Kirk

If it is lasting 2 to 3 weeks after topping up, you are doing well.  Mine (Bosch) seems to go through rinse aid rather quickly despite turning the dosing control down to nearly minimum.   If  you use "all-in-one" dishwasher tablets like I do, there should be no need for a high dosage.

Joy123

Thank you for your replies.
We are in a hard water area. Unfortunately we cannot see if the rinse aid is too low and do not know how to change the setting.
We do use the "all-in-one" dishwasher tablets.
We open the dishwasher by a door handle on the front of its wooden door enclosing it; the only settings we can see are the button to press for the number of the programme and one to show that all-in-one tablets are being used.

rach_k

We're in hard water and I top up the rinse aid at least every other week, with a wash or two a day.  We do use AIO tablets but I find the results are still better with extra salt and rinse aid.  

400ml of supermarket rinse aid is around £1.30.  The machine takes around 1/3 of a bottle, so I don't think that's too much for two weeks of better results.  If you don't think the rinse aid is worth it, just leave it out and ensure you select that you're using AIO tablets.  

EssexExile

Every two or three weeks is quite normal. There will be a procedure for changing the dose by some complicated pressing of buttons in the right order, it will all be in the user handbook if can find one.

Apintplease

Just buy a cheep bottle of rinse aid and keep it topped up every 2 weeks. I used to just fill mine till it run out. With Whirlpool, the dry cycle on some models won't work unless the rinse aid is topped up