Insinkerator CL-3000

[christyb]

Hi, I have an ISE CL-3000 and black goop is accumulating in the bottom. This picture is just after running it. The dishes appear to come out clean, but the bottom of the dishwasher looks gross. Awhile back my husband scraped out the goop but it has returned. Any ideas on what might be wrong?

The dishwasher was installed by the previous owner of our house and we've had it for almost nine years now with no issues except this.

 

[dnastrau]

Dishwasher sludge - food residue?

Greetings Cristy:

My thought is that the sludge could be food residue that for some reason is not being flushed away when the machine drains. Perhaps there is a problem with the pump, or the water level when the machine is running.

I am not directly familiar with this model, but I believe they share a lot with concurrent KitchenAid models (which is great). Perhaps other members here will have some suggestions.

You could also try a dishwasher cleaner like the one in the link, but a properly operating dishwasher really shouldn't need this in my experience.

Andrew S.

https://www.kroger.com/p/lemi-shine-dishwasher-cleaner/0070307400307

 

[rp2813]

The wash arm can be removed by lifting it straight up and off.   With that removed, you can extract the coarse filter (the black piece on the right in the picture), which just snaps into place, and the fine mesh filter (the big round thing under the wash arm).  This may reveal what's causing the sludge to build up.

 

[christyb]

Thank you so much! We'll try that this weekend. Given all the horror stories I've heard from friends and family about new appliances, I'm really hoping this can be fixed.

 

[rp2813]

Also Christy, while you have the wash arm out of the machine, check all of the spray holes to make sure they're not clogged.  There's a hole on the underside of one of the four-way arms too, which directs a stream downward to flush the fine mesh filter.  If that one is clogged, it could be the cause of the problem or at least a contributing factor. 

 

I forgot to mention that there's yet another finer mesh filter under the big round one.  If that one is torn or otherwise deteriorated, you'll need to try and find a replacement.  There might be a Hobart part number for it, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's still available from them.

 

And don't be surprised if you find things down in the sludgy sump area as you remove the various components, such as shards from glasses that broke long ago, or other stray items.

 

Keep us posted on how it's going.

 

[askolover]

How hot is your water and what kind of detergent are you using???  Do you have hard or soft water?

 

[combo52]

Reply number five

Hi Greg, yes this is the question that should be asked and answered whenever there’s a wash ability or residue or buildup problem in a dishwasher or washing machine for that matter.

But I would suspect there’s a problem with the amount of detergent you’re using probably too little you might be using an eco-detergent which often don’t work well and you definitely should add some chlorine to the detergent if you’re getting any type of black buildup in your machine periodically.

I may have some more Pacific advice once we find out the answers to reply number 5

John

 

[rp2813]

Agreed about water temperature and detergent. 

 

I had an ISE Classic Supreme for a while, but after phosphates were removed from automatic dishwasher detergents, performance took a hit.

 

Tap water at the kitchen faucet should be at its hottest before you start the dishwasher, and you should track down some Cascade Fryer Boil-Out, which still contains phosphates, on line or at an institutional supplies retailer if you have one near you.

 

[vacman1961]

Are you sure the machine is hooked up to hot water, or is your water going into the machine at least 130 degrees? It appears to be a grease build up caused by the water not being hot enough to soften the grease and flush it away. Are you using a good powder or liquid detergent such as Cascade? Are you filling both dispenser cups on the door with detergent? The wash arm, fine filter and coarse filter are all easily removable to wash them in the sink. The arm simply lifts off and the fine strainer, which is the large black run is also removed by lifting it up and the coarse strainer has 2 grips that need to be squeezed and it will pull out. Once everything is out you can clean the bottom of the machine with soft scrub with bleach. The best way to keep to keep the porcelain tank looking good is to go to either an old time drug store or hardware store and buy some citrus crystals and fill both cups and run the machine on a heavy cycle with heated wash or sani rinse on. Do this monthly.

 

[chachp]

Heating element

 

<span style="font-family: helvetica;">Is it possible the heating element is not working?</span>

 

[chachp]

Heating element

 

<span style="font-family: helvetica;">Is it possible the heating element is not working?</span>

 

[christyb]

Thank you for all the responses! We haven't had a chance to clean it out yet (life is crazy at the moment), but hopefully this weekend.

Let me see if I have this straight -- when we clean we should check the following:

1. The coarse filter which is at the black thing at the right of the picture
2. The big black fine mesh filter which is under the wash arm
3. The fine filter located under #2
4. The spray holes for the wash arms

When we run the dishwasher we always let the kitchen tap get hot first (it's set to 132 degrees). We fill both trays usually about 3/4 full with powdered Cascade Complete. Sounds like we should fill them all the way? And for adding chlorine to the detergent, do you mean like pouring bleach in?

The dishes are definitely hot when the washer is finished. It fills fairly slowly and since we have lower hot water pressure (corroded stainless steel water pipes -- a whole other issue for the future) I'm assuming the slow fill means it's hooked up to the hot water supply. Not sure how to tell if the element works.

 

[DADoES]

 
Your problem may be a low water flow rate, low fill level.

Post a photo of the water level in the tub when fill is finished for the main wash period.

 

[christyb]

So it's been a few months since my husband cleaned out the dishwasher and the black gunk hasn't reappeared! He said that none of the filters looked super clogged but he cleaned out what gunk there was. We also have been running an empty cycle every now and again using the heating element (which we don't usually use) so perhaps the extra heat has helped clear out whatever the clog was.

Thank you all for the advice and suggestions!