Dishwasher cleaning arms plug up

[Canadaloon]

Hi all, I have a Maytag WC204 dishwasher. The holes in the spray arms continually clog with pieces of food and debris from plates etc.

I have taken the PUMP & MOTOR ASSEMBLY apart and everything seems to be in place, including the filter.

I find I have to clean them at least once a month, and we wash our pots and pans by hand. and scrape our dishes before putting them in.

BTW, I had converted it from a stand alone model to a built in using the Maytag conversion kit, if this may have a bearing on the problem

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Canadaloon

[Joe Bobst]

A dishwasher isn't a garbage grinder. Give the poor thing a break and scrape the debri off into the garbage pail first. After all, you don't sink wash dishes in that messy a fashion do you? My similar Maytag has run for years without this problem because the Commander-in-Chief of that department at our house rinses debris first. Try it..you'll like it. HTH

Joe

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Modern models have soft food disposers. Why, I have no idea. While we don't go overboard rinsing the dishes, any hunks and chunks are washed off under the faucet. Takes only 4 to 6 seconds and no slop slinging around in the machine that is trying to wash the dishes.

Aside from that, if you don't do the dishes right away, do you really want that garbage sitting in the machine on your later to be cleaned dishes? Ed [e-mail]

[Canadaloon]

Joe, If you read the post it says that "we wash our pots and pans by hand. and scrape our dishes before putting them in."

If we have to "wash" our dishes before putting them in, why bother using a dishwasher? BTW, we have family and friends who are much less careful and don't have this clogging problem.

regards,

Canadaloon

[Nick Hull]

My solution is to SOAK all dished, all day until I'm ready to run the dishwasher.

[Edwin Pawlowski]

There are a couple of possibilities. There are only three possible points of entry for the food.

1.The hot water is contaminated

1. It is going in when the door is open
2. It is getting backed up from the garbage disposal into the drain line.

Number 1 is highly unlikely

Number 2 is a strong possibility. While the OP says they clean off the dishes, it is possible that one of the kids or the visiting mother-in-law dumps who know what in there. Errant babysitter?

Number 3, who knows? I've never heard of it happening, but that does not meat it won't. The drain is usually closed tight by a solenoid valve. That would prevent any backup, but if the valve hangs up or is otherwise defective, a little ground food could get in there. An air gap, if installed, would prevent that.