Dishwasher leaves a fine black sludge on dishes and all over the dishwasher itself -- racks, around the soap dispenser, the door, the floor, the blades, etc. It looks like black mold except it has a little bit of texture. It slowly builds up until it is so bad the dishwasher will run continuously for hours. We have thoroughly cleaned out the filters, the dishwasher itself three times. We replaced the plumbing to the dishwasher Machine drains well Water temperature is fine. Have tried different dishwasher detergents At first we thought it was food but now wonder if it is a black rubber component that is deteriorating?

Hi,

The scum, film and white residueproblems have started since the reductionof phosphates in dishwasher detergents.

Here is a tip that will help you to solve the problem of films, residue, and scum in your dishwasher.

DishwasherResidue and Film on Dishes

heatman101//

I have the same dishwasher, have for about 2 years. It took me about a month to figure this out... But, you cannot run it with the flatware rack hanging on the bottom dish rack, you have to move it to hang on the door and you cannot have anything in the compartment under the soap dispenser that is tall enough to block it from opening. Annoying design for sure!

Hi there,

Well you can please follow the below steps -
1. Remove any dishes in the dishwasher. Unhook the dishwasher's dish trays or racks from their tracks, and set aside. Empty the soap dispenser if it contains unused soap that failed to dispense. Use a wet rag to wipe down the interior of the dishwasher, as well as the inside of the dispenser.
 
2. Close the dispenser, and shut the dishwasher door. Turn the dishwasher on to a manual setting, then stop it and open the appliance. Check to see if the dispenser is open. If it is, continue to Step 2. If the dispenser is closed, skip to Step 4.

3. Switch dishwasher soap. Some dishwasher dispensers have difficulty with dry or liquid dishwashing soap, depending on the make and model of your dishwasher. Incompatibilities typically result in the dispenser sticking shut, which explains why the dispenser opens when empty. Switch to liquid soap if you are using dry powder soap, or vice versa.

4. Check the dishwasher soap dispenser's spring. The spring is located behind the dispenser top's hinge. Consult your dishwasher's original manufacturer's manual or user guide to find a replacement spring. Pop the old spring out with a screwdriver, and replace with a new spring. This should resolve any issues related to the dispenser failing to open.
Please post comments if you need more help or information..........

Good Luck!!

Thanks

start by cleaning the dishwasher itself. then you may discover that you are putting objects in invorrectly and the rotars are not spinning correctly or at all because being blocked. also you may want to try a stronger detergent/soap

We have the same problem with the soap dish. I found that we have to be careful how the dishes are in the bottom rack. Sometimes the dishes will block the cover on the soap dispenser and keep it from opening.

I would try using a different soap or less of your current soap.

If you are you using a liquid soap or packets that will be the main problem.If your unit fills with water circulates the water and drains the water,and also heaters are working then you probally need to change to cascade powder soap.The film on the dishes is soap.The unit has so much build up in it that when it gets to the rinse cycle it is rinsing dishes with soapy water.You need to get 2 medium bowls fill both 2/3 up with white vinager,place one in upper rack and one in lower rack and run unit on longest cycle letting the vinager splash out during wash.do this with no soap and no dishes.Having soft water will allow you to use less soap.

I have the same dishwasher and kept having soap still in the dispenser at the end of the wash. Someone mentioned this, but what was happening is that the soap dispenser lid was blocked from fully opening by the top rack. You also typically have large pans in this area, so the water spray is blocked from getting under the half open lid well. I started opening the dishwasher after I heard the dispenser latch release, so the lid could fully open. After that, I had no problem with soap still in the dispenser. I started setting a timer to open and shut the dishwasher door about 20 minutes into the wash process (after the latch had released for the 2nd wash cycle), so the soap dispenser lid would be fully open. This was a pain, but it worked. The other thing to be careful of with this dishwasher is to ensure you have pushed the top rack in tight before closing the door. Look at the water connection for the top "spinner" and you will see how the plastic pipe fits up to the supply. If you don't have the rack pushed in tight, you get leakage around the connection and don't get good water spray from the top spinner arms. This can definitely affect the quality of the wash. You mentioned the dispenser lid is open when the cycle is complete, but that is because once you open the door it can fully open.

Dispenser door sticking. Run it a few cycles by putting the tablet in the cutlery basket.

Your soap is clotting because there isn't enough water being sprayed around inside.  The water spray washes the soap out of the dish, if all is working well.  My machine had the same problem.  I had sufficient water level, but the spray head wasn't spinning very well.  I found the end-most hole in the spray bar to be plugged.  It is the end hole that provides a jet that makes the head spin.  I cleaned a bunch of debris out of the hole and the mchine started working and cleaning like it was new.  That was quite an axccomplishment since the machine is 15 years old.