Dishwasher doesn't clean dishes

[condo owner]

My Frigidaire Gallery dishwasher no longer cleans anything very well.

Drinking glasses come out cloudy and etched; silverware isn't shiny; plates, saucers and coffee cups aren't clean; and pots and pans still have left-over food in them.

I'm on my city's water system.

I've tried using Cascade Gel Dishwasher Detergent, Cascade liquid dishwasher detergen, Finish dishwasher pods, Finish Jet-Dry Rinse Aid, etc.

Inside the dishwasher:

I've replaced the detergent dispenser.

I've used a coat-hanger wire to clean out debris clogging the holes in the upper- and lower spray arms.

At the bottom of the dishwasher, I've cleaned broken glass, chicken bones, apple stems, plastic bits and other gunk from the mesh screen, the glass-trap and the sump.

I've filled a shallow bowl with white vinegar, placed the bowl on the top rack and run the empty dishwasher thru an entire cycle. I've done this at various cycles, settings and water temperatures.

but nothing has improved the dishwasher's cleaning performance.

Any suggestions?

[Jack Klompus]

What kind of idiot puts chicken bones in a dishwasher?

[Ed Pawlowski]

Good chance the pump is not putting out proper water pressure. Could be blockage, could just be wear on the pump. If it is 10 years or more, I'd replace it rather than pour money into it.

I'd also keep some of that crap out ofit too. It can take some soft garbage but the hard stuff can damage the pump.

[trader_4]

IDK why you'd replace it if it gets loaded with detergent, closes properly and winds up empty. If it did that, then it's probably working.

Are they visibly clear and stay that way? Especially the ones on the tips of the arms which are used to propel it to move around. If one or both of them are clogged, the spray arm won't rotate.

Sounds like you may be abusing it a bit. Some stuff is inevitable, but you shouldn't be putting plates, pots, etc with substantial food on it, especially stuff like apple stems and chicken bones into ti.

The commercial cleaners use mostly citric acid I think. I would think it's not much different than vinegar, it will dissolve mineral deposits. But I just buy citric acid powder, which you can get at Walmart in the canning supplies, but I rarely use it. If you're using vinegar though, I'd wait for the second cycle before putting it in. The first is a quick rinse and the vinegar is being pumped out before it has much time to work. I guess you could put some in on each of a few cycles too.

How hot is the water going into it? Should be ~130F. If it's cold because you start it with cold water in the pipes, etc, that can be an issue. Does it have a heated dry? Does that work? If so, then the heating element must be working. How much they use the internal heat element during washing, IDK, but I know on mine if I put it on an extra heat cycle, it will pause in one cycle, presumably as it's heating the water itself. If the heater is shot, that could be an issue. Does it sound like it should, you can hear water flying around inside like it always did? I guess the pump could become partially clogged or the impeller disintegrate.

How old it it? MAybe it's time for a new one?

[Wade Garrett]

Don't know anything about that dishwasher but I have a Frigidaire Gallery allegedly "top of the line" slide in range/oven with matching microwave/range vent above it. Both are dogs: design-wise, performance-wise, and reliability-wise.

We had trouble with them right from the get-go when they were both installed as part of a total kitchen remodel a few years back. The retailer and the manufacturer were uncooperative- both essentially telling me to stick it in my ear.

I was dealing with a major health issue and some business issues at the time and didn't have it in me to take on another fight- so I just let it go.

The Frigidaire brand is owned by European giant Electrolux. Things are back on an even keel for me these days and I might just take a run at them ;-)

[Frank]

That is comical. We always wipe or rinse off food residue before putting in the dishwasher. Maybe that is why we've had no problems with it.

[trader_4]

There are extremes in both directions. I know people who basically wash the dishes first, then put them in the dishwasher. I'm not one of them, it makes no sense to me, you're just wasting water doing it twice. But I also don't put dishes, pots, etc with anything that won't wash off and dissolve, nothing too greasy, no chunks of food, certainly no bones. I recently cleaned mine because I was having a similar problem. On mine one of the upper arm nozzles at the end that makes it spin was clogged. And there were a few odd things on the screen, a sheet metal screw, a small nut, a washer. Those must have come from working on some things while they were on the counter with dishwasher door open and they fell inside. At least I think that's where they came from, hopefully not out of the food that was left on the plates. :) I think the problem was caused by the arm not spinning properly because of the clogged jet.

[Ed Pawlowski]

Frigidaire used to be a division of General Motors and a top brand about

50 years ago. They were sold off and cheapened everything. There were a customer of ours about a dozen years ago and after a few years of dealing with them and product development and engineering, I'd never buy their products.

[Wayne Boatwright]

On Mon 23 Jul 2018 01:09:01p, Jack Klompus told us...

That kind of idiot.

[condo owner]

I like the "Cascade Platinum" TV commercial in which the little girl discus ses her mom's method of dish-washing. Not only does her Mom hand-wash the dishes BEFORE putting them in the dishwasher, she re-hand-washes the dishes AFTER they come out if they are "gross". This leads the girl to ask, "What does the dishwasher do?"

========================= ==

My dishwasher is almost 15 years old.

Would the dishwasher and/or the low- or no-phosphate detergent cause the dr inking glasses to be cloudy and etched and the silverware to be discolored?

For a dishwasher that old, should I be using dry detergent (powder or pods) or liquid (gel) detergent?

I suppose I should buy a new dishwasher.

Now, how can I "un-cloud and un-etch" the glasses and "un-discolor" the sil verware or will a new dishwasher and correct detergent do that automaticall y?

[trader_4]

usses her mom's method of dish-washing. Not only does her Mom hand-wash th e dishes BEFORE putting them in the dishwasher, she re-hand-washes the dish es AFTER they come out if they are "gross". This leads the girl to ask, "Wh at does the dishwasher do?"

===

drinking glasses to be cloudy and etched and the silverware to be discolore d?

Cloudy I understand, what is etching? It takes hydrofluric acid to etch glass, doesn't it? It can't be the detergent, you've said you tried many of them and it made no difference. I've used everything from the cheapest supermarket house brand to Cascade and haven't seen any obvious difference. Not saying that one may not be better, I haven't done a real close inspecti on, but just from normal use, no observable difference.

s) or liquid (gel) detergent?

I don't think it matters and you've tried a bunch, right?

Bingo. You've done the obvious. Like others said, it may be a pump problem or it may be several things. Not worth screwing around with to try to figure out on a 15 year old machine.

ilverware or will a new dishwasher and correct detergent do that automatica lly?

I'd try just running it through on the longest, hottest cycle in the new washer first. Also, this still is a mystery. I can see how a malfunctioni ng dishwasher would leave glasses cloudy, dishes still with some food on, etc. I don't see how it etches glass and discolors silverware. By silverware I assume you mean typical stainless, not real silver? Unless maybe because it's old some metal components of it are deteriorating and starting to interact with the water? IDK, but I bet a new one solves it al l.

[trader_4]

usses her mom's method of dish-washing. Not only does her Mom hand-wash th e dishes BEFORE putting them in the dishwasher, she re-hand-washes the dish es AFTER they come out if they are "gross". This leads the girl to ask, "Wh at does the dishwasher do?"

===

drinking glasses to be cloudy and etched and the silverware to be discolore d?

s) or liquid (gel) detergent?

ilverware or will a new dishwasher and correct detergent do that automatica lly?

Update. Just had another disappointing run in my dishwasher here that I thought I had cleared of all problems. I forgot about the very upper arm. I could see it had two holes plugged. It was too hard to get at, so I removed one screw and took it off. I used the air compressor to blow it out and boy, was there a lot of stuff in there. About a teaspoon of white, gritty stuff came out one end. Seems likely it's either detergen t or some of the citric acid I ran in there the other day. Without an air compressor it would be difficult to get out.

Will see what the next run does. IDK how that could be the problem here though either. It's the smaller, upper arm and what was coming out dirty was plates, glasses that get washed from the middle arm, etc. These things are a bit of a mystery.

[Tekkie®]

trader_4 posted for all of us...

Go Pro or just bore a hole and use an inspection cam... ;-)

[Ed Pawlowski]

Depending how bad the glasses are, good detergent may help. I use Cascade Platinum and everything comes out sparkling clear. If the glass is etched, there may be no saving it. The no-phosphate stuff is crap. I have a jug of it and won't use it any more since I discovered Platinum.

At 15 years, the pump may not be putting out the pressure needed, the heating element my not be heating. Try a couple of loads with Cascade Platinum. If it works better, great. If not, get a new machine.

[Bud]

This post sounds like an advertisment for Cascade Platinum. Now we know who is paying the poster to post this.

Dishwashers serve one purpose. They are intended to fill space inside a person's home. They usually succeed at doing that. They are also a great way to enlarge someone's utility bills, by wasting lots of water and electricity. Besides that, they give boring women something to brag about at dull home parties.

[Ed Pawlowski]

Tests have show they actually save water.

But thanks for mentioning it. It gave me another opportunity to talk about Cascade Platinum and get another payment for it.

[trader_4]

+1

I've seen the same thing online and it makes sense. People have no idea of how much water they use while washing dishes by hand vs by using the dishwasher. For starters, the dishwasher holds a whole lot of dishes and uses the same amount of water to wash them all. The exception would be one of the newer machines that may run extra cycles based on water clarity. I'm sure if you accumulated the same amount of dishes and took steps to minimize how much water you used when washing, you could use less water. But the typical household isn't doing that when washing dishes.

I'm off to the store now to buy Cascase Platinum.