Technical > Home Improvement > Dish washer arms not spinning

reply to CylonRed

Re: Dish washer arms not spinning

reply to alkizmo
The citric cleaner I mentioned earlier will remove that type of buildup. Here a link to one but I usually get it off of Amazon.

»www.repairclinic.com/PartDetail/···1/273634

reply to alkizmo
While I would not mind soaking it a lot longer to see if I can to get the lime out - I am not sure of the long term effect of old style CLR on plastic...
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Brian

"It drops into your stomach like a Abrams's tank.... driven by Rosanne Barr..." A. Bourdain

reply to Bob

reply to CylonRed
I have a Maytag that has a different front, but a nearly identical interior, as do my parents. In both our cases, both the lower and upper arms frequently plugged. At first we thought it was the white flaky stuff that we'd also find in the arms. However what it ended up being was the plastic screen on the "garbage disposal" portion of the lower arm that was slowly disintegrating. That may not be your problem, but doesn't take much to remove the few additional screws when you remove the lower arm to check.

reply to Bruschi

reply to cdru

reply to alkizmo
To clean the dishes!

Vinegar. CLR or read the manual and see what it suggests.... I have not seen a manual for a dishwasher that did not have a suggestion for cleaning the inside of the dishwasher.

There is also the other citric cleaner mentioned on page 2 as well.
--
Brian

"It drops into your stomach like a Abrams's tank.... driven by Rosanne Barr..." A. Bourdain

reply to alkizmo

said by alkizmo:

said by Bruschi:

To clean the dishes!

Nothing I can toss in there to clean the dishwasher itself?

No - it is not the same: "Prepares concrete for painting and staining. Citric acid powder is safer than muriatic acid"

There are a ton of cleaners - just because he had a link to one does not mean the same thing is not available locally. Just look in the grocery store where the cleaners are sold...
--
Brian

"It drops into your stomach like a Abrams's tank.... driven by Rosanne Barr..." A. Bourdain

I do understand that but personally - if the product does not mention using it for that and it etches things - I am wary of using it in the application. To know for sure they would have to check the strength of the 2 products to see how different they are.

The muriatic acid would very likely be far more diluted than the citric acid in a dishwasher which has a lot less water.

If he wants to get the 'same thing' as the product robbin linked to - then he needs to find the same type of product for the use it is intended - imho.
--
Brian

"It drops into your stomach like a Abrams's tank.... driven by Rosanne Barr..." A. Bourdain

reply to CylonRed
It's okay guys. I think I can find it locally for much cheaper per pound, the food grade kind that can be used for cleaning.

However for the same of debate, I don't think there is a concentration level. It seems to be a very generic product.

reply to CylonRed
On a semi-related note, my old dishwasher had its fill valve jammed up with calcium deposits from unsoftened well water. Enough so that the volume through it was too low for the timed fill cycle to put enough water in the tub. The pump would then ventilate during the cycle and the arms would barely spin. You can hear this if you listen to the pump during a wash cycle.

Tried cleaning the solenoid with CLR but ended up having to replace it instead.

My dishwasher arms also get clogged with little chunks. I can see them trying to get out, but they're just too big. We use 1/2 cup of vinegar every load and glass seems to not be affected by our hard water.

Also considering a whole house water softener, but I don't want to lose our spectacular flow rate. Just under 5 gallons per minute in the master shower... shhhh

reply to alkizmo