When I got my Miele dishwasher a year ago, I added salt but did not add water as it said to, the refill light has not come on in a whole year, should I do something?

On other Defy dishwashers, the red arrow indicates End of Cycle. Thus your dishes should be clean and ready to be removed from the dishwasher. See page 14 the manual for the DDW170 here: https://www.newappliances.co.za/uploads/documents/DOWNLOAD%20MANUAL%20DDW170.pdf . On page 6, the manual states that the add salt indicator can glow for an extended period after you add salt. This is due to the time needed to dissolve the water softener salt in 1 liter of water. Do not add more salt than the reservoir can hold (2 Kg for the DDW170).

I hope this helps.

Cindy Wells
(Note: if the salt reservoir was dry, you need to add water before adding the water softener salt.)

A lot of dishwashers do not have salt dispensers. If it does, the salt is added to a container which has a lid on the base (floor) on the inside under the bottom basket. Unscrew the lid and add the salt. Use normal pool salt. It is the same as "special dishwasher salt" that you pay a lot for. When full, the salt will last for 12 to 18 months. Most machines that have a salt container, also have a warning light on the panel to let you know it needs refilling. Dishwasher tablets do not add salt to the machine. Make sure you wipe up any salt that you may have spilt on the base of the machine, it will stain or rust the cabinet.

There is a cap inside the dishwasher on the bottom right side, unscrew it and dump a full box of salt in. Clean up any spilled salt and run a rinse and hold cycle to remove any salt residue. Miele recommends using their own salt, available online at www.mieleusa.com or at a local Miele dealer. They don't recommend using water softener salt or table salt. For more help call their tech support at 800.999.1360, they are very helpful.

HOW MUCH SALT DO I NEED TO ADD?

Your machine may have a float indicator or a warning light to tell you when salt needs adding to the water softener. Often float indicators are difficult to see, and there is no accurate guide as to how much salt you need to add. Quite simply, just add granular salt to the reservoir until it won't take any more!

The softener will use the salt to replenish itself each time you wash. As an approximate guide, you should do a full top up about once a month. If your machine doesn't have a warning light, a good way to remember to check and / or top up is to do it on a regular day of the month (e.g. the first Saturday or the 15th)

CAN I USE ORDINARY TABLE SALT?

No. Table, cooking, rock and sea salts may contain additives that can actually increase water hardness. Also, the fine consistency of some of these salts mean they are likely to clog when wet. Always use granular dishwasher salt because it is very pure and is the right consistency for use in your machine.

Granular salt is the ONLY type of salt that should be used to regenerate the softener. Be aware that some varieties of 'dishwasher salt' use Dead Sea salt. This variety may contain minute insoluble organic matter that may adversely affect the resin within your softener over time. If you are in doubt about the origins of the salt, ask the retailer or manufacturer.

See page 18 on the user manual here: G818 - Incognito - Operating Instructions - 05620631-00.pdf

I have just moved in to a property with a miele dishwasher model no. G1220SCU. I have not been able to locate a manual and it also requires salt to be added

The intake/drain light blinks. How do I fix this problem?

Check the instructions which are freely available from www.miele.co.uk or the relevant site for your country. Browse to the current models and you should find the PDF for your model. For non-current models, instructions are under the link "Customer Support".

In general, the instructions are as follows:
If the water in your area is very soft and constantly lower than 0.7 mmol/l (4 °d) you do not need to add dishwasher salt. The water softener must, however, still be programmed to correspond to the water hardness level in your area. (The salt indicator light will still come on, but should be ignored).

Important: Before filling the salt reservoir with dishwasher salt for the first time, you must fill it with approx. 2 litres of water to enable the salt to dissolve. Once the dishwasher has been used, there is always sufficient water in the reservoir.

Inadvertently filling the salt reservoir with powder or liquid dishwasher detergent always leads to serious damage to the water softener. Make sure you have picked up the correct packet of dishwasher salt before filling the salt reservoir!

Only use special coarse grained dishwasher salt for reactivation. Do not use other salts such as cooking salt, agricultural grade or gritting salt. These may contain insoluble additives which can impair the functioning of the water softener.

To refill:
* Remove the lower basket and unscrew the salt reservoir cap.
* Fill the reservoir with approx. 2 litres of water (first use).
* Place the funnel provided over the salt reservoir and carefully fill with salt until the reservoir is full. The salt reservoir holds approx. 2 kg of salt depending on the brand used.

As the salt reservoir is filled, displaced water will overflow.
* Clean any excess salt from around the reservoir opening and then screw the cap on again firmly.
* Run the "Pre-wash" programme immediately to remove any traces of salt water from the cabinet.

For the Miele, the salt reservoir is usually under the bottom basket, the cap is usually grey in colour. [Only the latest models have the refill cap in the door itself].

You should be able to find dishwasher salt just about anywhere, I've even found it in Malaysia, sold at good ol' Tesco!! Brands of salt include Calgonit (Finish) & Somat.

Hard water has this "crust" which are minerals floating around that ionically attach to everything. Some machines from Miele have a water softener inside the machine. Special dishwasher softener Salt is added that cleans minerals off Xeolite beads. When cleaned they attract mineral ions. If you don't use the salt then the beads fill up on minerals until they can't hold any more minerals. The salt is used in the regeneration cycle. It washes the mineral ions off the xeloite replacing them with salt ions. As new water enters the machine mineral ions slowly knock off the salt ions and attach themselves to the beads again. This whole process keeps the crust off the dishes and the walls of the machine.
Use a dishwasher cleaner that removes scale. And if you don't have a salt light on your Miele you can instead purchase soap tablets that contain water softener built in. Miele dishwasher tablets have it. You can order them online or call Miele.

have you added salt to unit?If so then you have a water intake problem or unit is oversudsing.