rust deposit on dishes in new DW; cold tap runs warm; related?

[Nelly W]

2-3 month old d/w. Worked pretty good (absolutely fabulous by comparison to what it replaced). One day noticed some of lower rack wasn't getting clean. Even after all these weeks I still think it is rust since it's still some on plates ...a 30-minute soaking in near-hot vinegar + salt removed some, not all. Don't know how to test the spots for rust? Only happened on lower rack, and then only on lower half of those plates. Frigidaire sent someonw who replaced the computer gizmo (I think?) and the lower sprayer arm last week. Seems ok enough so far.

Anyhow. Today I was running water when I noticed the water on the cold side of kit faucet kept running warm (92°F to be exact). No matter how long I ran it. Isn't even that warm in dead of summer here (SoFlo). It finally straightened itself out; but I wonder if one could've had something to do with the other. Either that or that the stupid disposal has been jury rigged so much. The tech who replaced the components did raise up the disposal on his first visit, "so it'll have to work that much harder" to backwash gunk into the DW. It really did look like the schmutz in there, but never came off w/o chemical help and even then not all.

The faucet is a cheap POS that has also been jury rigged a couple or more times. It's one that you lift the lever & swing it whichever way.

[Nelly W]

Oh, forgot to mention I'm in a condo building.

[trader_4]

How old is the house and what kind of water pipes does it have? PVC? Galvanized steel? Municipal water or well? Any rust problems anywhere else in the house? Neighbors? Seems rather odd that rust would only show up at the dishwasher.

Warm water in the cold could, any chance there is a loop in the hot water line to the kitchen to get hot water there faster. Those use the cold water line as the return filling it with warm water. Maybe the faucet is screwed up, but I don't think there is a common failure where a cartridge type faucet can be in the cold position and have hot water come out. Only failures I've seen are leaks or drips.

[Ed Pawlowski]

Something is messed up. The DW is being damaged by the rust. Even the cheapest DW will do an excellent job of leaving rust free, clean dishes. The rust can be coming from city pipes, your pipes, or a deteriorating water heater. The cold water is getting a mix of hot from something too.It could be the cartridge in the faucet.

Sounds like you need a competent person to take a look. Do yu see any rust in other sinks or toilets? Does the water run hot elsewhere?

[trader_4]

She said it's a condo. Still don't know if she has her own water heater or if it's shared. If it's shared, the warm tap water could be from some other unit having a recirculating pump to deliver hot water quickly. They generally pump it back into the cold.

[Nelly W]

Condo bldg, mid 70's probably. Ours is our own water heater, guess you can assume the rest. "Even the cheapest" is the exact DW that was thankfully replaced. Something's messed up? Oh no. Need a competent person? Oh, ****!. (Sometimes it does pay to be a renter down here.) I did not notice anything amiss elsewhere, but could've easily enough overlooked it I guess. Especially in the black toilet and the black sink. The hot in the cold kitchen tap was short lived enough, wish I'd thought to check elsewhere but I guess I was too busy being completely bewildered :-s Ah well, I need more room for my new hobby anyway; time to move. Have to say how happily surprised I was to find some of the old guard still here. -How can you all stand it? I'd get carpal tunnel again if I tried to trashcan all the offenders here.