dishwasher poor wash, run out of ideas

[reg091]

Sorry for the long post! Whirlpool dishwasher ADG 8410 FD Not even a year old and has been rubbish from day one!

I cannot get this to clean glasses at all well. They ALWAYS come out misted/white filmy, OFTEN they come out with sand-like deposits on them. I use Finish Quantum tablets but have tried cheap tabs/gel, expensive gel, everything on the market! I am not talking about fancy crystal glasses, standard "pub" pint glasses for example are now completely ruined. Bottom line is you put a sparkly clean glass in and it comes out permanently ruined, the white misting will not wash off. So far I have:

1. Tried repositioning them (including putting them on the lower rack in the Power Clean position).
2. Tried every wash cycle.
3. Tried using rinse aid (tried every setting from 1 - 6 in the dispenser). Tried no rinse aid.
4. Tried changing the water hardness setting (4 is the hardness for my area) from 1 - 7.
5. Tried putting the tablet in the bottom of the dishwasher rather than the dispenser drawer.
6. Tried just washing glasses on their own.
7. Checked that the filter is always clean.
8. Made sure there is always salt in the reservoir.
9. Checked that the drain hose is higher than the sink trap that it drains into. The sandy deposits that sometimes occur suggest that it is not draining but it clearly is and they are not always there.
10. Plumbed into hot instead of cold.

Complained to Whirlpool who sent a snotty email essentially stating that it would be user error! After further complaining they sent an engineer who found the bottom spray arm wasn't turning. He went straight to it as a "common issue". Job done I thought, but no, results are still just as poor.

Two observations/question:

1. It tells me it needs salt much more regularly than I am used to with other dishwashers. I do two loads a day and it indicates it needs salt about every two weeks. I wonder if the softener unit is faulty? (I always fill it completely - takes a whole bag).
2. Would low water pressure have an effect? I wonder if the spray arms are solely turned on the mains water pressure, or if there is a pump inside?

Any thoughts welcome!

 

[footprints]

Seen a number of posts over the years about this, never seems to be one simple answer.
One post suggested that the "sand" is in fact food residue and the result of not rinsing off plates before putting them in, we generally do and only on the odd occasion get the sand if some water has been trapped in an upside down container and possibly we were a bit lazy. Must say I previously thought the sand was a scrubbing agent in the powder type product, but as you are using liquid it shouldn't be that.
Certainly things like mashed potato will leave a residue. worth running empty with a dishwasher cleaner and then a wash with items that have no residue and a new glass to see what happens.

 

[reg091]

Thanks for the reply. I will try a dishwasher cleaner, as it could probably do with it by now, but the problem has been there since day one.

Lots of Internet stories suggests that the "milky glass" thing is common, but, as you say, no clear answer. Suggestions are that it is limescale and can be removed with white vinegar (didn't do it for me); that it is down to expensive glasses getting washed too hot and the surface gets scored by the grit in the detergent (nope, these are cheap pint glasses and tumblers); that it is because there are no longer phosphates in detergent....

 

[foxhole]

Milky glasses are down the the temperature of the wash, depends what temp your washer is capable of, I think the ideal temp is between 50-55 degrees.
Sandy texture is due to solids being recirculated , the filter has to be cleaned at every wash and carefully as it's easy to allow food to fall into it under the filter, once there it gets into the wash arm blocking it and stopping it rotating.Having said that I found whirlpool dishwashers to be ****e. Bin it and buy a Bosch.

 

[reg091]

Thanks foxhole. So another explanation for milky glasses! I have tried every wash cycle/temp (but then maybe I had already "milked" the glasses).

I do clean the filter regularly but the food gunk is mostly sitting at the bottom of the door after every wash, nowhere near the "floorpan" (for want of a better word), i.e. above the water level.

I have pretty much come to the same conclusion as you though, that it is just cr#p!

 

[Diyisfun]

Whenever my dishwasher gives a poor result, it has always been a spray arm problem, ie blocked.

 

[SFK]

Silly question I am sure, but when you say "the food gunk is mostly sitting at the bottom of the door after every wash" makes me ask is your dishwasher level, or is it sloping forward so some of the dirty water is always collecting at the front? You could try lifting the front a little so water drains backwards towards filter (sorry for the "yet another suggestion"). Good luck, SFK

 

[reg091]

Silly question I am sure, but when you say "the food gunk is mostly sitting at the bottom of the door after every wash" makes me ask is your dishwasher level, or is it sloping forward so some of the dirty water is always collecting at the front? You could try lifting the front a little so water drains backwards towards filter (sorry for the "yet another suggestion"). Good luck, SFK

Not a silly question! But, no it is pretty level. When I say "bottom of the door" I mean actually on the door about 3 inches up from the bottom of it, where the door shapes in. With it closed (i.e. vertical) this forms a sloping "shelf" and that is where the food sits. Hard to describe, sorry!

 

[totalsolutions]

Open the door in mid wash cycle and look in the bottom at the water level, if low or very low you are washing with no water... Poor in from a jug, more water to just below the door seal and continue the wash cycle.
Just gettin off train will be back

 

[totalsolutions]

Water in a dishwasher is not clean, it passes through water pipes that bach fill with food debris and blocks the inlet / fill pipe line to the cabinet. You will need to pull off the water inlet hose inside the machine, take off the side panel and have a look. Hose in my d'washer are push fit and come off easily, clean them and off you go.