I've got a dishwasher about 5 years old, model SGI57M05GB. It's not cleaning the pots too good any longer and it seems that the spray arms are not getting enough pressure.
I've done the usual cleaning operations to remove gunge in the sump, the spray arms and the duct up to the top arm. I've also checked the incoming supply filter.
If you set it running, you can open the door to see what's happening. It immediately switches off of course but there's water coming out of either the top or bottom spray arms - they seem to work alternately. The bottom spray arm rotates but not the top one, which just leaks water downwards.
Before I have it in bits on the kitchen floor are there any things I can check?
Remove the filters and have a look in the sump. Depending on the model there will be a screw you can remove which reveals the pump impeller and, further back, a rubber thing you can pull out...
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they snap at the neck, then the water doesn't go where it should.
Also check that the fine filter isn't damaged and pull the rotor arms off and have a look for debris (often sweetcorn) in the holes.
Thanks John. Mr Skipweasel you are too modest - those pictures are a fantastic resource! I can now probably describe better what my problem is.
In picture 30 captioned "the engine will be full of slops.." we can see the two outlets which feed the top and bottom spray arms. I've cleaned everything mentioned and run it without the bottom arm and the duct to the top arm. If you run the machine and quickly open the door and look in, there is water coming out of both outlets in turn but the one to the top spray bar is a less powerful jet.
I'm assuming that there is a solenoid which directs water from the pump to one or other of the spray arms. I can't tell for sure but it seems that the bottom spray bar is operating longer than the top one.
I've checked the impeller under the cover in the sump but I'm guessing that this is what empties the machine. It seems quite puny compared to the one in pic 34 attached directly to the main motor. I can't work out this bit about the rubber thing though. Is that the thing behind the grey plastic cover? If so this will be attached to the spindle of the main motor.
One more thing. There's another connection to the sump at 6 o'clock heading to the left. I'm assuming this is the fill pipe? I don't think I have a problem with filling and emptying, though there seems to be a bit of sludge down the pipe if i stick my finger in.
plug back on the wrong terminals of the microswitch. You can see it right in an earlier pic, so it's redundant anyway. It's wrong in both the last two photos but right in the one that says "The hat on the float assembly lifts off." - you could just substitute that one, I guess.
Seconded - I'm sure I'll be in there when my Bosch next throws a wobbler!
OP - have you tried simply degunging with one of those hideously expensive bottles of concentrated dishwasher cleaner? I'd always thought they were 'snake oil' but was recommended them by an engineer who once took about 70 quid off me when my Bosch went wrong with similar symptoms. Ours has certainly been fine ever since we started using them every couple of months. A lot easier than stripping down the machine!
Good tip. After doing all the degunging I could and still not getting any improvement, I put a bottle of Finish dishwasher cleaner in the bottom tray and let it run. Remarkably it all seems OK now.
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