On 10/31/2011 4:07 AM, Bill wrote:
"Matt" wrote in message
My dishes are not getting clean.

The water is not getting hot.

I opened the dishwasher during operation and found that the heating
element was not hot and was not submerged.

Shouldn't the heating element be under water during operation?

Run the hot water in the sink first.

And wash your dishes before placing them in the dishwasher. A dishwasher
is more like a dish sanitizer...


How clean your dishwasher gets your dishes is a function of many
variables. In my experience, with a Kitchen Aid dishwasher from 1987
and a Maytag model from 2007, if the water supply is at least 120
degrees, you use the proper amount of dishwasher powder, use a rinse
aid, have soft or only moderately rich mineral content in your water,
and just scrape all easily removable food off the dishes before properly
stacking them, even the "short" cycle gets dishes, utensils and
glassware mirror finish clean. It generally takes us 3-5 days to fully
load the dishwasher, and the oldest dishes have dried food residue on
them for all that time. Usually that includes cereal bowls that held
oatmeal or cream of wheat. They still get completely clean with the
"short" cycle.

My point is that it is impossible to generalize on the minimal
requirements to get good results from a dishwasher. However, if you are
going to bother to fully wash them before putting them in the dishwasher
prior to trying less extreme actions, you are just wasting water, power,
and time.