Hi, My dishwasher is about 6 years old and lately it is not properly washing the dishes. We've noticed that the glasses look foggy and the plates are sometimes not as clean as they used to be. Also usually after the wash cycle when we open the dishwasher door, the door is very clean. Lately it is still a little dirty. Any ideas on what the problem can be?

Hi


If you are observing that the dishes are not clean, then you’ll need to follow certain steps to be sure where exactly the issue. First thing to check for is the detergent cup and spray arms. Check if the dishwasher’s spray arms are working fine and all the holes of the arms are clear. Now try using a different detergent like gel or liquid based detergent to see if it helps.

Dishes are left unclean when the dishwasher is not filling in properly or when the water pressure is low. Check for water pressure and water inlet valve. The water inlet valve if faulty will draw very little or no water. However, if you observe that water pressure is fine and there is no issue with the Fill valve then check whether the dishwasher is draining. If it’s not draining then see if the drain hose is plugged or clogged. If drain hose is fine and the dishwasher is still not draining then there is some issue with the drain pump or drain filter. To check this you’ll need to disassemble the dishwasher and trace back the drain hose to a pump, remove the drain hose from pump and clean the debris from the pump and filter. Make sure you have lots of towels as there would be a lot of water coming out from the pump.
Next thing to check if the dishwasher is draining and filling properly is water temperature. Water temperature should be between 120 and 140 F. If water is not hot enough then heating element has gone bad, to check the element you’ll need a multimeter. Use the multimeter and check if the Rx1 reading on the meter shows reading between 1200 (1.2K) ohms and 1500 (1.5K) ohms, if not the heating element has died.

Please post back if more information is required.
Daniel