Dirty Glasses

[retro-man]

So for the last 2 weeks the glasses on the top rack of my Whirlpool quiet parnter 1 have not been coming out clean. All kinds of small residue on the insides. I have been running pots and pans with high temp wash and sani rinse and still they were not coming out clean. Last night after unloading it there were at least 10 glasses that had this stuff in it. Decided while it was empty to do a rinse hold run. I don't know where or what this stuff was but it looked like i had run a lint filter from the dryer through it. No i didn't. So i ran another rinse hold and still more stuff appeared. Ran it a third time with about 3/4 cup of bleach and then ran it again to clear out the bleach. It sounds like it did when it was installed. I guess the pressure without any dishes or glasses in it allowed it to work out anything in its system. We shall try again tomorrow to see how well it does, but i think the problem cleared itself out. Maybe someone else is having this problem and give it a try to see if this helps them out.
Jon

 

[mrb627]

Old Rag

Take a damp sponge or rag and run it along the inside bottom of the door and see what comes off.  More times than not, there is a layer of food scum left by the water line in the machine.  I did this on my Sister-in-law's machine and it was gross!

 

Malcolm

 

[cuffs054]

Speaking of gross, it is amazing how nasty the drain cover and "inerds" of the Natulis get. You would think it would stay clean with the detergent but nasty crap builds up in and around there and needs to be cleaned monthly. Maybe your WP has similar areas.

 

[amyswasher]

Every-once In Awhile I have to take apart the bottom of my Dishwasher. It's real easy to do. The dishwasher doesn't get the crud below the spray arm. I have to get an old toothbrush and go along the bottom and make sure there nothing stuck where the grinder is (it happened once) and the rubber piece that looked like a head and shoulder silhouette. Now that I use STPP it doesn't happen near as often. Everybody is right, you would not believe what is under there.

 

[toggleswitch]

It may be that the machine is not filling up as much as it used to due to a dirty inlet screen on the water inlet solenoid valve.

 

[ricky5050]

this may help

My friends whirlpool was doing similar, it was because the top rack had a connector at the rear which fed the upper spray arm, and even though the top rack pushed in normally it was not connecting with the outlet on the back wall of the machine, if you jiggled the rack up and down and pushed hard the rack engaged correctly and and correct pressure was resumed in top rack. This had to be done each time it was used, they had put up with the poor cleaning by always using the intensive wash and under loading it assuming that was what needed, and therefore the lower wash arm was probably doing most of the cleaning. This may be worth checking as well as all the other suggestions

Richard

 

[mysteryclock]

Ran into that problem a while back when using the Cascade All-In-One packs - always seemed to be the glasses in the back corners of the upper rack ended up with dried-on crud inside them that wasn't there when they went in. Switched over to the (at the time phosphated) Finish Quantum Powerball pacs and all of the sudden, glasses were clean and sparkly again! When phosphates went away I went back to trying the Cascade pacs since the FQB P-free pacs weren't working as well (cloudy glasses), and that improved things... but the sticky bits on the glasses eventually came back. Finally switched back to the FQP-free pacs with 1/2 tsp STPP in pre- and main-wash and now it is as good as it was originally.

I think the FQP pacs must have a better rinse-agent onboard to keep that stuff from getting into and sticking on the glasses.

 

[mrb627]

Gel-Pac

I wonder if it is possible that the gel pac carrier isn't completely dissolving completely and bits of it are being carried through the wash system causing blockages...

 

Malcolm

 

[combo52]

GEL PACKS NOT DISSOLVING

Only likely if you are washing in cold water LOL

 

[retropia]

Have you tried running a load with your glasses in the bottom rack? If so, did they come out clean? Is it only items in the top rack not getting clean?

A problem we had with our older Kenmore-by-Whirlpool dishwasher is that the rubber tube, connecting the spray arm below the top rack to the connector on the back wall of the dishwasher, had rotted away along the bottom of the tube. You couldn't see it unless you bent down near the floor, and looked up at the bottom of the upper rack.

This greatly diminished the amount of water getting to items on the upper rack. I purchased a section of vinyl tubing at a hardware store to replace the old rubber tube. It was easy to install and it worked fine after that.

 

[retro-man]

thanks for all the suggestions. I have been using the "new cascade" powder for about 8 months and did not have the problem until a few weeks ago. Never used a gel pack type detergent. The water level is fine i check on that while running. There shouldn't be any rot of the tube since the dishwasher is not 2 years old yet. My hot water is set to between 140-150 degrees and the heater is right under the kitchen sink. I did check the alignment of the rack to the inlet in the back and it seems to match up correctly. I should be running a load today and will check on the glasses to see if it is corrected. With all the snow we have had i have been out straight plowing every day, which i am going out in an hour to do it again. It wasn't just the glasses in the corner but the entire top rack would have glasses in different areas that had this stuff in them. Hopefully whatever was coming out after running the rinse hold 4 or 5 times solved the problem will let you know the results.
Jon

 

[dj-gabriele]

If the diswasher is less than 2 years old why don't you call the seller and ask for a free repair under warranty?

 

[combo52]

ASK FOR A FREE REPAIR

The warranty only lasts for one year and it is likely not a DW fault anyway, but I would consider calling for professional help if you cannot resolve the issue on your own.

 

[coldspot66]

Sounds like you water may be too hot????? I thought enzyme detergents work best at lower temps.

 

[retro-man]

I finally got to running the first load friday night and unloaded it saturday afternoon and everything came out spotless and dry. No residue on any glasses. I guess there was a clog in the tube for the upper wash arm. It flushed itself out and its working like new again.
Jon

 

[1972lkdishwash]

Water TOO HOT?

Is there really such a possible problem with water too HOT? We keep our hot water VERY HOT....and the Ka Superba DW (daily driver built in, energy saver V) still heats water in Sani-Cycle and Pots & Pans=Soak & Scrub...!!!! TELL ME>>..about this...????

 

[whirlcool]

If your gel packs are not disolving make sure that you don't have any large pots on the bottom rack below the detergent dispenser.

Our neighbor had this problem with her WP DW. I told her to make sure there is a little bit of room on the lower rack under the dispenser so that the wash water can flush out the dispenser. 

 She followed my advice and had no more problems.

 

[mrb627]

Too Cold.

I would suspect that water being too cold would more likely be the culprit.  Some dishwashers don't pause the timer to allow for water heating to a preset temperature.  Others do.  Some dishwashers, if you turn the heating element off for drying, it also prevents it from heating water during washing and rinsing.  My Aunt had an old Whirlpool back in the 70's that was configured this way.

 

Malcolm

 

[toploader55]

In Commercial Applications...

The Wash Water should never be more than 165 F. Anything above will bake on stubborn food soil. The Final Rinse should never be more than 193-195F. This High Temp will cause Blue Streaks on Glasses and Flatware. And Possibly on Dishes as well. As I understand Very High Water Temperatures in combination with the Drying Agent will produce the Blue Streaks.

This is in a Commercial Application.