Water in dishwasher filter

Yazmina

I've searched these forums (fora?) and Google, and I can't find an explanation for the water that is building up in my dishwasher filter.  It's not blocked, because we rinse the dishes before putting them in. The dishwasher is less than a year old. 

Any ideas?  Thanks.

Southend_2

It's normal for some water to be in the sump, or whatever it's called. And you shouldn't rinse things before putting them in, it makes the detergent less effective. Just scrape any solids into your food waste bin before popping things in the washer.

Cheslea2010

The water is there to prevent odour from coming from the waste pipe. Same principal as a trap on a sink.

Section62

Southend_2 said:

It's normal for some water to be in the sump, or whatever it's called. And you shouldn't rinse things before putting them in, it makes the detergent less effective. Just scrape any solids into your food waste bin before popping things in the washer.

How does that work?  Given the first thing dishwashers usually do (after pumping out any excess water in the sump) is to start filling up with water.

Why would the detergent be less effective if the things in the dishwasher are cleaner at the start of the programme?

Rinsing stuff before it goes in the dishwasher is often a waste of water (and energy if you use hot) but I wasn't aware it had any impact on the performance of the detergent.

Section62

Yazmina said:

I've searched these forums (fora?) and Google, and I can't find an explanation for the water that is building up in my dishwasher filter.  It's not blocked, because we rinse the dishes before putting them in. The dishwasher is less than a year old. 

When you say "building up" do you mean there is an increasing amount of water left behind each time, or is the amount the same?  The filters will need cleaning from time to time whether or not the dishes are rinsed.

Tiexen

Some modern dishwashers contain sensors to detect how dirty dishes are. If you rinse all the residue off, they may appear cleaner than they are and may not get a thorough wash.

Rinsing also uses water unnecessarily. Since the dishwasher cleans dishes, there’s no need to use extra water rinsing them.

Section62

Tiexen said:

Some modern dishwashers contain sensors to detect how dirty dishes are. If you rinse all the residue off, they may appear cleaner than they are and may not get a thorough wash.

Surely the manufacturers have programmed their dishwashers to do the right amount of washing according to how dirty the contents of the machine are?

Is there anything from the manufacturers themselves saying you need to put really dirty plates in the machine to make sure it works properly?

giraffe69

Perhaps hand wash clothes before putting them in the washing machine?

GDB2222

In our house, we have blue jobs and pink jobs. Cleaning the dishwasher filter is a blue job, so I am all in favour of washing the worst of of the  debris off the plates before putting them in the dishwasher. 

BikingBud

If there is excessive and dirty water, not just a little bit below the coarse filter, then you might want to check that the drain pipe goes over 900mm and with a clear fall to the waste outlet to ensure it is not syphoning back.

EssexExile

BikingBud said:

If there is excessive and dirty water, not just a little bit below the coarse filter, then you might want to check that the drain pipe goes over 900mm and with a clear fall to the waste outlet to ensure it is not syphoning back.

Or if the waste pipe is connected to the sink waste, that water draining from the sink isn't going into the dishwasher. The dishwasher waste should loop up as high as possible before going down to the connector under the sink.