Dishwasher upper spray arm not turning despite water flowing

[Usenet]

Hi,

I have a Beko "DE 2541 FX" slimline dishwasher. The upper arm is not turning/spinning/rotating, even though water pours out the spray arm's holes.

I have thoroughly cleaned the entire dishwasher compartment: the door, the inside walls, the sump and filters, the upper and lower trays, the arms, just about everything.

Now the bottom spray arm works fine, goes merrily round and round spraying just dandy. If I give the bottom spray arm a good flick of the thumb, it spins freely and will do nine or ten complete revolutions until it stops. The upper arm is harder to turn, I can get it to rotate two or three times at most. I couldn't really say under oath that it turns "freely".

Should the upper spray arm rotate more freely?

The two arms are differently designed. The bottom spray arm is simpler -- it's all plastic and just "clicks" into position. The upper spray arm is slightly more complicated. The central hub is formed of three interlocking snap-together parts: 1) the long arm; 2) the bayonet-lock disc with o-ring; 3) the centre hole piece. The upper spray arm has a bayonet/"screw on" way of being attached. When I cleaned the upper arm, I had to pull out six or so hairs that were wrapped around the bayonet disc and centre-hole piece that form the hub. When the arm is assembled at the factory, the centre-hole snaps into the arm -- trapping and securing the bayonet-lock disc -- in such a way that you can't get at the snaps again to disassemble it. It makes it a bugger to clean the hub of hairs that have gotten wrapped around there! I have soaked the upper spray arm in hot vinegar for 12 hours.

**** If anyone has a Beko dishwasher, I would be most grateful if you could post the results of flicking the upper and lower spray arms on your machine. (Be prepared for a few drops of water to fly out!) How many complete revolutions does each do when you give a good flick with the thumb or finger? ****

With kind regards,

Sandy

[Graham.]

turning/spinning/rotating, even though water pours out

inside walls, the sump and filters, the upper and

just dandy. If I give the bottom spray arm a good

revolutions until it stops. The upper arm is harder to turn,

under oath that it turns "freely".

it's all plastic and just "clicks" into position.

of three interlocking snap-together parts: 1) the

upper spray arm has a bayonet/"screw on" way of

hairs that were wrapped around the bayonet disc and

the centre-hole snaps into the arm -- trapping and

snaps again to disassemble it. It makes it a bugger to

the upper spray arm in hot vinegar for 12 hours.

could post the results of flicking the upper and lower

out!) How many complete revolutions does each do when

I had almost the exact same symptoms on my dishwasher, unknown make but not Beco, and also posted here. Had the same concerns as you about friction etc. I could find no actual fault and a cure was found by cleaning out the sump filter and running the machine empty (of dishes) for a few cycles. I think it was a build-up of grease in the pipe that feeds the water spigot at the top of the machine. It looked as though the volume of water pouring into the top spray-arm was sufficient, but clearly it needed a little more to rotate it reliably.

[hrhofmann]

al-september.org...

m is not turning/spinning/rotating, even though water pours out

e door, the inside walls, the sump and filters, the upper and

nd spraying just dandy. =A0If I give the bottom spray arm a good

volutions until it stops. =A0The upper arm is harder to turn,

say under oath that it turns "freely".

is simpler -- it's all plastic and just "clicks" into position.

formed of three interlocking snap-together parts: 1) the

e. =A0The upper spray arm has a bayonet/"screw on" way of

or so hairs that were wrapped around the bayonet disc and

actory, the centre-hole snaps into the arm -- trapping and

he snaps again to disassemble it. =A0It makes it a bugger to

aked the upper spray arm in hot vinegar for 12 hours.

if you could post the results of flicking the upper and lower

fly out!) =A0How many complete revolutions does each do when

d a little more

Does the upper arm get its water from a tube from the main pump, or does it get its water from an extendable center post that comes up from the center of the bottom washer arm when the water is under pressure. The upper arm should spin "freely". How do you get hairs in a dishwasher???

[Bod]

messagenews:hkkvvq$fpg$ [e-mail]...

turning/spinning/rotating, even though water pours out

the inside walls, the sump and filters, the upper and

spraying just dandy. If I give the bottom spray arm a good

revolutions until it stops. The upper arm is harder to turn,

under oath that it turns "freely".

-- it's all plastic and just "clicks" into position.

of three interlocking snap-together parts: 1) the

The upper spray arm has a bayonet/"screw on" way of

hairs that were wrapped around the bayonet disc and

factory, the centre-hole snaps into the arm -- trapping and

snaps again to disassemble it. It makes it a bugger to

the upper spray arm in hot vinegar for 12 hours.

could post the results of flicking the upper and lower

out!) How many complete revolutions does each do when

little more

Stop washing your dog in the machine? :-)

Bod

[Lobster]

I'd still strongly recommend you run it on an empty cycle using one of those 'deep clean' bottles of dishwasher cleaner on as hot/long a cycle as possible. I was very scornful of those until I was advised to use them every couple of months by a dishwasher engineer after I was suffering similar symptoms to you.... when he visited to repair ours, he found pipes almost completely clogged with grease, which you wouldn't get at unless you took the machine apart.

I now use them regularly with much better results than before.

David

[Tim Watts]

Lobster wibbled on Sunday 07 February 2010 09:45

I do mine once per month - taking the filter assembly out the bottom and arranging on the shelf.

I don't know what's in the cleaner but it does shift the crap. Another tip is to stop the machine once it's up to temperature and the bottle has dispensed the cleaner - use a j-cloth or sponge soaked in the cleaner to go round the door seals and hinges.

[HeyBub]

Second that. My dishwasher occasionally leaked and it was a devil to find.

Turned out the water-level sensor was so caked with grease, chicken-fat, raisin rinds, and other effluvia that the float would STICK in the down position and more water would be supplied, eventually running out on the floor!

There's nasty down in there. Nasty with a capital NAS.

[Tim Watts]

HeyBub wibbled on Sunday 07 February 2010 18:11

Yeah - many dishwashers have a funky head exchanger "matrix" through which the waste water and incoming clean water pass, moving otherwise wasted heat into the incoming water. The one I've seen on my Bosch is quite tortuous inside so if anything is going to suffer, that will be one of the first waterways to get skanked up.

[spamlet]

I expect you will find, for future reference, that the plastic whirly bits all pull out for cleaning quite easily - ours do - then the holes can be poked out before steeping them in acid. Our local Asian 'delis' sell citric by the kilo, and I find a 20% solution of this is great for cleaning all sorts of things - sprayed on taps/bath etc. Mind u it is a good idea to descale the parts of the m/c you can't get at, your way too.

Once stayed somewhere where the dishwasher stank if it wasn't used every day. Ordinary bleach seemed to get at the parts official cleaners couldn't reach, when used instead of the detergent, and did eventually get rid of the stink.

S

[ss]

Have had similar (not spinning well) on a couple of machines, in both cases it was gunk inside the arm that had blocked some of the jets. It wasnt obvious at first as they looked clear but the pressure of the water when the machine was running pushed the gunk forward to block some of the jets and then slid back when idle. I eventually managed to disassmble the arm and in both they were full of crap. I also have to look out for my other half as i am sure she thinks the machine doubles as a waste disposal unit or she puts things that are too high and stops the arm spinning, those problems I cant cure :-(

[HeyBub]

Add TSP to the dishwashing powder.

[Steve Barker]

And white vinegar to the load, preferably at rinse time if you're so inclined to watch it. (one cup)

[Attila.Iskander]

What's TSP ?

[N8N]

Trisodium Phosphate, useta be a common ingredient in detergents, and also sold in powder form for paint-prep cleanup. Works really well. Unfortunately, being a phosphate, it acts as a fertilizer when it gets into waterways, so it is banned in many areas (like mine.) Unfortunately, a suitable replacement has yet to be found, so laundry and washing dishes is more challenging these days.

nate

[tom]

[Erik]

More here:

Erik

[notbob]

Yep. I think Spic n' Span use to be mostly TSP. I was not aware of the pollution issue, though. It was still available at Och Sply H/W stores last I looked, but the price was up by a factor of 15X. The same box I used to buy for less than a dollar now costs closer the $15!!

nb

[Harry K]

Iuse the tablets. How would I go about adding TSP to the machine and how much per dose?

Harry K

[tom]

Iuse the tablets. How would I go about adding TSP to the machine and how much per dose?

I put about half a teaspoon on the liquid dishwashing soap I use and it makes a notable difference.

[Stormin Mormon]

With a tablespoon. Try one spoonful per load, to start.

Christopher A. Young Learn more about Jesus

.

Iuse the tablets. How would I go about adding TSP to the machine and how much per dose?

Harry K