Plastic fell on dishwasher element and melted

[jonv112]

I don't know exactly how this happened, but earlier this week before I went to bed I went to the kitchen and realized there was this burning smell. I tracked it to the dishwasher (Kenmore 1st gen Turbozone). I pulled out the bottom rack and saw my plastic-like Ikea whisk had fallen on the element and had been melted in half by the element (the dishwasher had just finished drying). I got as much of the melted plastic off of the element and ran the dishwasher to get the smell off the dishes, but there's still that smell inside the tub after every cycle.

Is there anyway I can get rid of the smell and the rest of the plastic burned onto the element? Will it gradually go away?

 

[dj-gabriele]

Try scrubbing the part with the melted plastic with some kind of hard solvent (like paint thinner or gasoline) to get rid of the remaning plastic and then use some vinegar in a hot wash to get rid of the remaining smell too, I used white wine vinegar when my dishwasher got smelly after a fish dinner once, it left it really fresh and clean too.

 

[jonv112]

Do you mean off the element itself or the tub? The interior is stainless. There are only traces of it left on the element, but it still has the smell every time the element is on.

 

[SactoTeddyBear]

Re: Someone might think this being crazy but:

I'm going to ask Gabriele "dj-gabriele" about your Fish Dinner. Did you mean that you Cooked your Fish in the Dishwasher, or you meant that your Dishwasher smelled after Washing all of your Dinnerware and Cookware, after your Fish Meal?

I've actually have heard of people doing that, but I'm not a real big Fish Eater, other than a smaller amount at a Restaurant or at some Families or Friends.

Anyway, you place your Fish on a large piece of Heavy-Duty Broiler-Cooking Aluminum Foil and wrap the Fish pretty tight. Place the Fish on the Upper Rack of the Dishwasher and start it on the Normal Cycle, with Heated Dry.

"BTW" naturally, one does not put any Dishwashing Detergent in the Dishwasher, while Cooking their Fish this way. It comes out quite well, according to what I've had people tell me, as well as reading some articles in a Magazine some time ago about this also.

Good Luck "jonv112" with your Dishwasher Plastic removal and getting the Burndt Smell out of the Dishwasher.

Peace and Great Eating, Steve
SactoTeddyBear & SactoTeddyRanger...

 

[jonv112]

I just checked a couple of minutes ago and it looks like the last bits of plastic were heated up so many times that they just flaked off. Hopefully the smell goes away now.

 

[dj-gabriele]

Fish dinner...

Nope, I cooked the fish in a traditional oven but after the wash everything was still smelling... figures tasting salmon smelling glasses, yuk! So after what I read around I tried vinegar, put a glass filled with it in the top rack and then run the machine on a normal cycle.

I too read an article somewhere about this chef preparing salmon in the dishwasher, that seems a neat idea! But since my machine is condendor drying the maximum temperature it goes is 70°C (158°F) in the pots&pans cycle so I don't think that cooking will actually work even if said cycle is 2 hours long... anybody actually tried cooking fish this way?

TO: jonv112 - I hope it will! Good to know that the plastic just flaked away.

 

[MrX]

Gently remove as much of the plastic as you can by hand. DO NOT scrub the element under any circumstances.

The element's own heat will take care of the rest.

Just don't run the machine unattended until you're happy that the element's free from plastic as it can cause smoke and flames!

Encapsulated elements, as found on the likes of Bosch etc, are a much better solution as you avoid all of these problems.

 

[MrX]

The smell...

See if you can get your hands on some dishwasher cleaner. I'm not sure what brands it sells under in the US and Canada, but in Ireland you can get two types:

Finish (Reckitt Benckiser) have one that comes in a little bottle with a wax plug that you put into your cutlery (silverware) basket. When the machine reaches the correct temp. the plug melts and releases the liquid into the wash. This will remove most deposits from the machine (limescale, fats etc) and also produces a really nice smell.

Sun (Unilever) also produce a similar product which is formulated as a powder. You just empty a sachet into the detergent dispenser and run a long hot wash e.g. Intensive.

Both products produce excellent results if your machine's become a little "whiffy" for whatever reason.

You use these products in an empty dishwasher i.e. do not load in dishes/cutlery.

I'm sure there must be something similar on the market in Canada.