Why isn't my GE dishwasher rinsing food off very well?

Question

I pre-ninse before loading. Is there a drain trap in the bottom that could be clogged or something that needs to be cleaned? I'm trying to avoid buying another, and I'm pretty handy if I know what I'm doing.

Answer 1

Heat is your friend! Always be sure to run the sink faucet until the water is hot right before starting the machine. Try different soaps too. Go to consumer reports on line for the latest ratings on dishwasher soaps. (you'll need to sign up.) Some are much better than others. Powders generally outperform gels.

Here are the top rated powders:
America's Choice (A&P)
Cascade Pure Rinse
Ecover Ecological
Trader Joe's
Kirkland Signature (Costco) Lemon Fresh
Target
Great Value (Wal-Mart)

I hope this helps.

Answer 2

I had the same problem, but my dishwasher is a Magic Chef. Okay...I dont know the name of the part so I will describe. Mine has a blade looking thing in the bottom that the water goes through. It turns with the water pressure so it sprays the water onto the dishes. The little holes in it got pluged with mineral deposits, so no water could spray out and what could had weak pressure. I found a cleaner that is fantastic. I ran an empty cycle with the cleaner in it and it works great and the inside is very clean. By the way my dishwasher is 19 years old. The cleaner is called Bath-Brite made by Fiber-Fab Inc. in Gervais Oregon. go to www.fiberfab.com

Answer 3

You need a water softener. You have hard water plain and simple. Sure more heat will help. But good soft water where the calcium and iron are removed is the key to good cleaning.

I dont know if you have a well or your city pumps from wells but that is a common problem. Check with your city water dept. to find out.

Dishwater detergents are not affected by hard water, its the rinse cycle that is where none are added. That hard water puts a scum onto glasses and dishes that only an acid will remove.

You can clean up those dishes using white vinegar (acetic acid) and they will look better next time in the dishwasher. In fact , even if you get a watersoftner now you need to clean those dishes with acetic acid to remove that calcium scum from the surfaces.

Answer 4

GE dishwashers are dumb. It assumes when you turn on the dishwasher, hot water comes in immediately. If your hot water heater is not close to your kitchen, it takes a few gallons to reach hot water to the washer. The dishwasher has heating coil to dry the dishes but it doesn't use it to heat the water if cold water comes in. Other brands do this to make sure it will wash the dishes with super hot water. Only thing you can do is to turn on the hot water faucet until the water is hot. Then start the dishwasher.

lightpulse

Answer 5

If the dishes are nonetheless grimy after the dishwasher has carried out working, first examine which you have the spectacular wash cycle chosen. that's because of the fact which you need to have chosen a short cycle to shop water and capability, whether it is beside the point for the burden. If it isn't the difficulty, examine the water temperature, inner filters, detergent cup, drain valve, tension change, sprayer palms, and the water-inlet valve. Use in user-friendly terms detergents that are made for computerized dishwashers. computerized dishwasher detergents are designed to be low suds. mushy water and warm water use much less detergent, together as complicated water and chilly water want greater detergent to bathe properly. This available product, SofChek, will help you to make certain in case you have mushy or complicated water in a minute or much less. those ordinary-to-use strips diploma the hardness of your water in below a minute. basically basically check out the colour chart presented on the bottle for an on the spot examine-out of the strip to help make certain the right volume of detergent. stable water pass, water tension, sparkling dishwasher detergent, and heat water are all mandatory for the dishes on your dishwasher to get sparkling. If the water isn't warm sufficient, the dishwasher can no longer sparkling dishes as effectively as accessible. to purpose the temperature, turn on the nice and comfortable water on your sink to work out if the water is getting heat rapidly. The selector change on your dishwasher might aid you elect a enhanced temperature putting. you could attempt that to work out if it facilitates with cleansing. be careful in case you develop the water temperature of your loved ones warm water tank. Your warm water tank must be set to grant water at approximately 120F. this might help, yet you don’t decide to get scalded by skill of it while taking a bathtub or washing your arms the two. maximum dishwashers use an inner heater to develop the water temperature to one hundred forty-one hundred fifty tiers Fahrenheit earlier that's going to initiate cycling the dishwater via the spray palms. On some fashions you ought to use the further warmth or Wash warmth enhance decision to develop the wash water temperature. some dial timer fashions allow you to elect warm initiate or different prolonged washing cycles.

Answer 6

dan m- Lowes is great!!! if you ever saw that number 888-77LOWES- thats where I work-
so if looking at that trap drain doesnt work- give me a call ill walk you through some more troubleshooting steps to get that fixed ok?? we're open 24/7

Answer 7

Check all the spray holes in the spinning arms. Watermellon seeds keep showing up in ours every summer. And make sure the arms are free to turn.

Answer 8

You should buy a BOSCH or KITCHEN AID and you will not even have to pre-rinse. Also they are so quiet that you will barely know that they are working. Go to LOWES retail about $578

Answer 9

you got it......trap/screen in center could easily be dirty/clogged.