OT(ish) dishwasher grumble

[David]

Investigating poor dish washing performance (yes, doing it myself) and I discovered tat the spray arms were clogged with bits of egg shell.

Leaving aside the fact that the filter shouldn't allow bits that large through the pump and into the spray arms, I can't see any easy way to clean stuff out once the arms are blocked.

Logical design would have a piece which would clip off to allow access to the inside.

As far as I can tell the only way is to keep poking the bits back into the arm and rinsing and shaking to hopefully get the stuff out of the main water connection; not the easiest of things to do.

So a grumble about poor design (possibly based on the assumption that it won't be a problem because the filter will catch all the large bits) plus a hope that someone has found a better way to do this.

Grump

Dave R

[Chris Hogg]

Question: why didn't the filter catch these bits of eggshell, and what else didn't it catch? Is there a hole in it, or is it not seating properly. Is there actually a filter in there at all, or has it got mislaid, someone forgot to put it back, etc.

Try back-flushing the arms, using a bit of flexible polythene tube and holding it hard up against each hole in turn.

Alternatively, try soaking the whole spray arm in vinegar for an hour or ten. If vinegar won't shift it, brick acid will, but might damage the rest of the arm if any metal bits on it. But neither will readily shift clots of grease, hair etc. (see question above). Caustic soda probably will, but the same caveat applies.

Another possibility: Mr Muscle plughole cleaner or similar, introduced through the main water inlet on the arm.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Loading a dishwasher is not what I'd call DIY dish washing. ;-)

[Davidm]

I've found it works better if you dry the arm out thoroughly (eg. on top of a radiator), then poke the bits out of the holes, stuff a tissue or bit of paper towel into one side of the inlet hole so that you can hold the arm vertical and shake loose bits down onto the tissue and out. Repeat for the other end. If there's a plastic "connector" piece in the arm where it plugs in to the dishwsher, sometimes these can be unclipped from the arm to give better access.

[David]

Interesting approach; may try that next time.

Thanks

Dave R

[David]

All rather brutal, methinks.

I suspect that the filter in the floor of the dishwasher may be poorly designed and allow a corner to lift and let solids under.

Previous problems have been with long thin stringy stuff which may pass through the filter but stick in the jets on the arm.

I have seen this problem on two different dishwashers so it is probably not uncommon.

Mainly grumbling because servicing should be easier; penny pinching design.

Cheers

Dave R

[spuorgelgoog]

Can you attach a vacuum cleaner to the water inlet and block the sprays in turn, thus sucking the bits out?

Owain