Thread: Can gel dishwashing detergent plug up a dishwasher?

On Mon, 09 Feb 2009 19:44:16 -0600, [email protected] wrote:

>I've always used powder dishwashing detergent in past

Like software....the moral of the story is don't try to fix something
that wasn't broken.

Run the cycle again empty with a half cup vinegar. Try the powder
again and see if that corrects the problem.

[email protected] wrote:

> I've always used powder dishwashing detergent in past
>
> But for some reason I bought some gel detergent to try
> out
>
> Tow days after using it my dishwasher (albeit old) just
> up and quit. It does act as if the drain system is
> plugged up.
>
> Could it have been the gel detergent? Possible?


Short story, no.

Some other nastiness got in there.

Be grateful that the computer system didn't get jacked and cause the
dishwasher to pump huge volumes of filthy water throughout the first
floor of your home because it simply wasn't registering fill levels.

Kathleen wrote:

> Be grateful that the computer system didn't get jacked and cause the
> dishwasher to pump huge volumes of filthy water throughout the first
> floor of your home because it simply wasn't registering fill levels.

Somebody hacked your dishwasher?

Cool. I gotta learn how to do that.

-sw

On Feb 10, 12:54*pm, Sqwertz <swe...@cluemail.compst> wrote:
> Kathleen wrote:
> > Be grateful that the computer system didn't get jacked and cause the
> > dishwasher to pump huge volumes of filthy water throughout the first
> > floor of your home because it simply wasn't registering fill levels.
>
> Somebody hacked your dishwasher?
>
> Cool. *I gotta learn how to do that.
>
> -sw

It was probably the refrigerator. They're natural enemies.

Susan B.

On Feb 9, 8:44*pm, m...@privacy.net wrote:
> I've always used powder dishwashing detergent in past
>
> But for some reason I bought some gel detergent to try
> out
>
> Tow days after using it my dishwasher (albeit old) just
> up and quit. It does act as if the drain system is
> plugged up.
>
> Could it have been the gel detergent? Possible?

Maybe it knocked loose a clod of grease that had built up in your
filters. (Don't ask how I came to that guess.)

Sqwertz wrote:

> Kathleen wrote:
>
>> Be grateful that the computer system didn't get jacked and cause the
>> dishwasher to pump huge volumes of filthy water throughout the first
>> floor of your home because it simply wasn't registering fill levels.
>
>
> Somebody hacked your dishwasher?
>
> Cool. I gotta learn how to do that.

I hacked it with my butt.

I'd just unloaded it, it was standing open, I took a quick step
backwards to avoid stepping on Zane, tripped backwards and basically sat
down, full force, on the dish rack and the open door.

I'm grateful the silverware rack was empty. There'd been steak knives
in there earlier. Nevertheless, it left huge freakin' bruises on my
calf and thigh.

Even so, the dishwasher came out the loser in the battle. The encounter
with my butt left it brain-dead.

Let's be careful out there, people. Don't leave that dishwasher hanging
open, not even if you mean to start loading it in the next few minutes.
Shut it, then open it back up when you're ready. That open door is a
freakin' menace.

On Feb 9, 8:44 pm, m...@privacy.net wrote:
> I've always used powder dishwashing detergent in past
>
> But for some reason I bought some gel detergent to try
> out
>
> Tow days after using it my dishwasher (albeit old) just
> up and quit. It does act as if the drain system is
> plugged up.
>
> Could it have been the gel detergent? Possible?

Possible, but probably not.

On my old dishwasher (dunno about the new one), there was a valve in
the bottom of the washer that set the level of water. The water
raised a float that triggered a switch that fed into the controller to
tell it that the proper water level had been reached. Over the course
of a couple of years, crud would build up and block the float, which
would tell the controller to pump more water into the tub than it
should have. And the excess water would leak out. It would appear as
though the main drain was plugged up, but it was the level detector
that was the problem. Look on the bottom of your dishwasher for a
similar mechanism, take it apart (nothing more than pulling off the
cap in my case), and clean out all the crud. This *may* be your
problem.

Good luck.

--
Silvar Beitel

In article <Tunkl.10501$[email protected]>,
Kathleen <[email protected]> wrote:


> I hacked it with my butt.

> Even so, the dishwasher came out the loser in the battle. The encounter
> with my butt left it brain-dead.

Remind me to stay far away from your butt! If it could do that to a
dishwasher, think what it could do to my poor old body!

:-)

--
Dan Abel
Petaluma, California USA
[email protected]

sueb <[email protected]> wrote:

> On Feb 10, 12:54*pm, Sqwertz <swe...@cluemail.compst> wrote:
>> Kathleen wrote:
>>> Be grateful that the computer system didn't get jacked and cause the
>>> dishwasher to pump huge volumes of filthy water throughout the first
>>> floor of your home because it simply wasn't registering fill levels.
>>
>> Somebody hacked your dishwasher?
>>
>> Cool. *I gotta learn how to do that.
>
> It was probably the refrigerator. They're natural enemies.

I'd put money on the garbage disposal.

-sw

Kathleen <[email protected]> wrote:

> Let's be careful out there, people. Don't leave that dishwasher hanging
> open, not even if you mean to start loading it in the next few minutes.
> Shut it, then open it back up when you're ready. That open door is a
> freakin' menace.

A few years ago a 13-year old put his baby brother in there and
turned it on. The baby brother didn't survive. The 13-year-old
denied everything of course, and said the kid climbed in there on
his own and managed to turn it on from the inside.

-sw

Dan Abel wrote:

> In article <Tunkl.10501$[email protected]>,
> Kathleen <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>
>
>>I hacked it with my butt.
>
>
>>Even so, the dishwasher came out the loser in the battle. The encounter
>>with my butt left it brain-dead.
>
>
> Remind me to stay far away from your butt! If it could do that to a
> dishwasher, think what it could do to my poor old body!

Yep, used carelessly it can be lethal. On the other hand, what a way to
go... I could put Kevorkian out of business.

"The most recent victim, yet another end-stage cancer patient, was found
dead under suspicious circumstances. The deceased was found flat on the
floor, blue in the face, and smiling.

Beware the buns of doom...

"Kathleen" ha scritto nel messaggio >
> Shut it, then open it back up when you're ready. That open door is a >
> freakin' menace.
>

The menace was Zane! The DW just stood still. That's like being accused of
causing an accident when you're parked.

Giusi wrote:

> "Kathleen" ha scritto nel messaggio >
>
>> Shut it, then open it back up when you're ready. That open door is a >
>>freakin' menace.
>>
>
>
> The menace was Zane! The DW just stood still. That's like being accused of
> causing an accident when you're parked.
>
>

Of course Zane's a menace. That goes without saying. But I dodge him
literally dozens of times a day without incident. The problem came when
*I* introduced an additional obstacle into my environment by leaving the
door to the dishwasher hanging open. And yes, in fact it *is* an unsafe
thing and it should be kept closed unless there's a reason for it to be
open.