Usage advice?

[Rabbitgirl]

I have a John Lewis dishwasher which is just over a year old. About a month ago it threw up error code 10 – an engineer attended to the machine under warranty but could’t make it happen again so he gave the machine a check over asked what detergent I use (Finish Liquid) which he said was the right thing to use “avoid tablets especially the ones with the powerball” and said that it might have been something blocking a pipe which had simply “softened” and gone away in the week between the fault occurring and the engineer coming out.

A coupl of days ago it happened again. A different engineer came out and asked all the same questions. He didn’t charge me (nice man 😀 ) but said he should do as the problem was a user fault. I haven’t been rinsing the plates and should have been using powder or tables so despite regularly cleaning the filters etc and greasy buildup has occurred which meant not enough water was getting into the machine. He says I should rinse everything off before putting it in the machine and change my detergent – I did point out that the manual says “do not prewash” but he says that it is essential to rinse residue off first or the problem will re-occur.

What I want to know is…. is this right? Should I get rid of my (stocked up on half price) Finish Liquid and switch to powder and do I really have to rinse everything before I put it in the machine as I can’t help thinking that if I’m doing that (and increasing my water bill) I may as well be washing up by hand in the first place.

I am relieved that he didn’t charge me though 8)

[kwatt]

Re: Usage advice?

Small bits and bobs of foodstuffs will block filters as well as redeposit on dishes so, if possible of there’s stuff on the plates, yes rinsing them off is a good idea. Or making sure that all particles of food, especially the likes of rice and such are all off the plates.

You then get grit or sand like deposits, more here: http://www.ukwhitegoods.co.uk/help/fix- … ishes.html

A term you hear the engineers quote a lot in respect to what some people put in the dishwasher and, often wish they could say to some is, “it’s a dishwasher, not a waste disposal unit!”.

In other words, the dishwasher will clean your dishes no problem, but it will not get rid of foodstuff left on plates. It can’t do it, none can.

Plus, you need to keep the filters clean and clear or, the gunk in there goes back onto your plates which isn’t a pleasant thought. General guidance is here: http://www.ukwhitegoods.co.uk/help/fix- … nance.html

The liquid is okay but I don’t think it’s as effective as powder.

The best tablets I’ve used are the Fairy capsules, they just work.

I always advise people to stay away from short or eco programs as they tend to be designed for lighter soiled loads and often don’t work anywhere close to as well as a proper program.

For hard pressed tablets and the likes of Finish Quantum, using a hot program over 60?C is essential of they will often not dissolve correctly. Those are (IMO) completely unsuitable for use in shorter washes.

HTH

K.

[Rabbitgirl]

Re: Usage advice?

Thanks for the advice. I’ve never seen any of those sand or grit deposits before. I do always make sure that everything is throroughly scraped (we have food waste bins here) before going into the machine but this guy said that even traces of gravy, coffee cups etc must be rinsed off. Incidentally, big dirty pans don’t in the machine as it is only a small one I find it more effective to handwash those and fill the machine with crockery. My filters have always been cleaned in hot water once a month (along with the washing machine ones) but I guess that isn’t enough. Never had these issues with my old Bosch machine and I never rinsed anything then either.

TBH if I’m rinsing everything thoroughly then I may as well handwash most of it anyway, rather than using two lots of water, so the dishwaser may not be used on a daily basis anymore… we’ll see….

Thanks for the response.

[Martin]

Re: Usage advice?

Rabbitgirl wrote:but this guy said that even traces of gravy, coffee cups etc must be rinsed off.

That is simply not true, a nonsense in fact. The need to “rinse off” refers simply to ensure you rinse away bowls with left over soup in, gravy from gravy boats, leftover rice from the Friday night curry, plates of left over mash and gravy from the Sunday lunch and such like. More common sense than anything else really. But yes the filter in the bottom of the tub will safely capture the odd stray baked bean and bacon rind, no problem. But then again you don’t need to rinse off at all but instead just scrape food scraps into the pedal bin rather than blocking the sink with left over mashed potato and peas.

Just remember to remove and thoroughly clean the filter regularly. Also take care when lifting the filter out less foodstuffs fall into the sump or worse still the odd sliver of broken wineglass slips through un-noticed. 😀

[Rabbitgirl]

Re: Usage advice?

Martin wrote: But then again you don’t need to rinse off at all but instead just scrape food scraps into the pedal bin rather than blocking the sink with left over mashed potato and peas.

Just remember to remove and thoroughly clean the filter regularly. Also take care when lifting the filter out less foodstuffs fall into the sump or worse still the odd sliver of broken wineglass slips through un-noticed. 😀

Thanks very much – I’m a bit “precious” about glasses and won’t put them in the dishwasher 🙂 I’ll go with cleaning the filter in hot water once a week instead of once a month and carry on just scraping everything into my food waste bin and see how we go then. Certainly want to avoid using any extra water if I can – water meter :rolls:

And I’ll switch to a powder detergent when I’ve used up the liquid I’ve got.

TFTH

[Rabbitgirl]

Re: Usage advice?

Well I used the machine for the first time this morning. I rinsed all the dinner plates before putting them in last night. Rinsed the breakfast bowls this morning too. Machine is now throwing up error code 20 (not draining). Really, really fed up with this 🙁 Repair company not open until Monday and I’m working all next week so no dishwasher for at least a week…. Perhaps I should just get a bigger sink installed and go back to the oldfashion way of doing things….

[kwatt]

Re: Usage advice?

There’s probably something in the sump catching the drain pump impeller preventing the dishwasher from draining. I’m not familiar with the machine but I have seen others with bits of glass, cocktail sticks and so on in there that stop the machine from draining intermittently if you like.

It’s worth taking out the filters and seeing if you can see anything in there. if not, I’m afraid someone will need to get into it to have a look.

K.

[Rabbitgirl]

Re: Usage advice?

As it was draining just fine before the engineer looked at it yesterday is it possible that the fact he ran it several times with the filters out could be an issue?

[kwatt]

Re: Usage advice?

Nope.

K.

[Rabbitgirl]

Re: Usage advice?

Fair enough 😀

Nothing in the filters and can’t see anything in the sump but the machine is full of water….

I’ve actually been onto John Lewis themselves and they have said they may consider swapping the machine out (three year warranty) but the repair company have to confirm that it is not working again first. I can’t afford to turn down the work I’ve been offered for next week so the rubber gloves are out for at least another week.

[Rabbitgirl]

Re: Usage advice?

Engineer came out today. Nothing stopping the impeller but he said the wash pump is showing clear signs of long term leaking (crusty with calcium deposits) and the drain pump bearings have gone. He was amazed that none of this was picked up on during previous callouts. My dishwasher now won’t be operational again until into the New Year 🙁

[Author]

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