HELP! New dishwasher not dissolving powder detergent!

[washerdude]

Oh thats what you meant LOL. But I have something else that makes this even more strange. On our old dishwasher, everything would look clean with powder. But, the glasses from visual also looked good. But when you filled them with water, suds would form on the sides.

 

[logixx]

Off topic

So I went to sears.com and searched for the Kenmore 15113. Why is it that Sears put Consumer Report's "dosen't clean or dry and is noisy - we hate it" review right on top of the product description? Don't they want to sell their products?

 

[washerdude]

I've noticed that to. From what ive noticed is the complete opposite.

Dosen't Clean: For us it cleaned better then our old maytag one.

Dosen't Dry: Oh it will be bone dry if you use rinse aid. Everything inside it, not even one place was wet. Except there were minor drops inside the dishwasher celling and a few at the bottom but if the dishes are dry. We don't care.

Noisy: Its only noisy if its empty cause the water bounces off the plastic forcully. When its loaded, its quiet.

But i've noticed some reviews say that its loud due to improper installtion.

 

[mich]

I used to own a Kenmore Ultrawash...

And the Prewash lasts exactly 14 minutes. After that, it drains, and refills for the main wash, the heating element kicks on, and the detergent tray pops open (it's a loud click) and the wash arms start. 

 

I kinda wonder, if you were waiting long enough for it to even open? I mean, that maybe your problem right there. Another thing is Powder, doesn't all just fall out, some of the time it sticks in the cup, and takes about 4-5 minutes, to fully dissolve from the water from the top spray arm. 

 

Set a timer for 35 minutes, and see if it's fully dissolved than. If it's not, you need to switch to detergents, probably best to try a Liquid, or Gel first, and then packets. 

 

TL;DR - Give the machine more time for detergent to dissolve. If it's still not working, switch to Liquid, or Gel detergent. 

 

[washerdude]

Just re-read the manual. Apprantly they refere to my new dishwasher as a kenmore ultra wash dishwasher. Its says it right on the front page. And it recommended me to use tabs insted of powder because the tabs have a better performance then the powder. It also notes that the phosphates form detergents were removed which i already knew.

 

[murando531]

I think Kenmore has called every dishwasher an Ultra Wash for as long as I can remember. My granddad has a Kenmore Elite dishwasher with the Point Voyager design (tall tub, round sump at the bottom with large arch shaped holes in the grate, and the Thunderbolt shaped stainless steel wash arm) and even it's called an Ultra Wash on the manual for some reason. I believe what they're referring to above is the original UltraWash, which was synonymous and identical to the Whirlpool PowerClean module systems. These are standard tub, with the large pump and filter system that is above tub rather than hidden beneath the machine. Sears Kenmore probably liked the sound of it and never changed it from the manuals lol.

Still, with the upper arm having jets that spray outward to both propel it and spray directly towards the detergent cup, it's odd that everything wouldn't dissolve. I'd try Finish Powerball tabs. They seem to work the best and have no problem dissolving in ours. I opened the door without realizing the cup had already opened, because they Maytag's is quiet when it pops, and I couldn't find the tab anywhere. It smelled really nice in there though