On Sat, 23 Mar 2013 19:38:08 -0400, Joe Gwinn
wrote:
In article , Ed Huntress
wrote:
On Sat, 23 Mar 2013 12:37:28 -0400, Joe Gwinn
wrote:
In article , Ed Huntress
wrote:
On Fri, 22 Mar 2013 20:07:32 -0400, Joe Gwinn
wrote:
In article , Ed Huntress
wrote:
On Fri, 22 Mar 2013 16:03:35 -0400, Joe Gwinn
wrote:
In article , Ed Huntress
wrote:
On Thu, 21 Mar 2013 14:44:27 -0700 (PDT), "
wrote:
On Mar 21, 12:16*pm, Ed Huntress wrote:
'Really short of things to do today, eh, Dan? I wish you were
here.
You could do something useful and help me fix my dishwasher. d8-)
--
Ed Huntress
Not really. I just moved my lathe to the basement from the garage.
I
took it apart to lighten it, but the bed and headstock still weighed
about twice as much as I can lift. i am going to make a compression
spring for a fellow. So I take a break every now and then and look
to
see if anyone is doing any metalwork.
g It sounds like my day, only I've been working on a frigging
dishwasher that suddenly started plastering lime deposits over
everything.
'All fixed now -- I think. Meanwhile, I did have to grind a special
tool to get the upper spray head off. Why they don't use standard
tools for that kind of thing, I'll never understand. You'd think they
were fastening hinges on a bank safe and wanted to make them
untouchable.
Lime deposits? Probably due to phosphate deprivation.
Joe Gwinn
Does phosphate take care of lime? I had the whole washer apart and
soaking in vinegar. I heat that the pros use dilute muriatic, but open
the windows first.
Phosphate prevents the accumulation of lime in the first place, and
will remove deposits slowly. Organic acids like vinegar or citric acid
will work faster.
One thing to be careful of is that there may be zinc aluminum diemetal
components that can be dissolved if one is too aggressive.
One thing to try is running the dishwasher empty using TSP (trisodium
phosphate) from the paint store. Us the same amount as if the TSP were
the old Cascade. Make sure you get real TSP, not something sold as
equivalent, like sodium silicate. Savogran is the right brand, but
gotta read the label.
If you have a lab supply company [nearby], another thing to try Alconix
"Alcojet" detergent. This is used in labs to clean scientific
glassware and equipment. Works really well on stainless steel.
http://www.alconox.com/
http://www.amazon.com/Alconox-Nonion...ed-Detergent/d
p/B003FZAQD8
Joe Gwinn
Thanks for the tips, Joe. Yes, I have real, 100% TSP. I'll try the
empty wash and use some with each load for a while.
I've tried running TSP in addition to zero-phosphate Cascade, and it
does work, but isn't perfect.
There is a commercial product that does better, and I'll remember the
name eventually.
I'm trying everything. Everything before the Alcojet first -- $35 for
four pounds?? That tilts my cheapskate meter, but if all else fails...
I have a box or two. It stores well, and is very effective.
One of the things I noticed when the detergents changed in ~2010 was
that coffee and tea cups developed a tightly adhering brown film that
even hand scrubbing didn't touch.
Alconox, the original lab detergent (which I first heard of while in
college), is intended for hand washing of labware, and so I tried it,
and noticed that the brown film peeled right off after a little
soaking.
Coffee and tea stains are still the waterloo of non-phosphate
detergents.
Alconox is also very good in ultrasonic cleaners.
Yesterday, after washing a load but AFTER the vinegar treatment, I had
to rinse all of the stainless steel with vinegar and then wash by
hand. Enough of that!
This continual liming of washed items is a classic mark of a detergent
problem.
And it happened all of a sudden, after years with no problems.
Wonder if the formula for whatever detergent you were using changed.
Or if you have a water softener that needs a recharge - hard water is
another waterloo for no-phosphate detergents. Or your local water
source changed.
Here are some reports:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/19/science/earth/19clean.html
http://www.npr.org/2010/12/15/132072122/it-s-not-your-fault-your-dishes-are-still-dirty
http://complaintwire.org/complaint/PJ8BAAAAAAA/p-g-cascade-dishwasher-detergent-new-box
What make and model of dishwasher do you have? I think I remember it
was a Bosch.
No, mine is a Maytag. I'm going back at it this afternoon. After that,
I quit. d8-)
I'll store your suggestions in case I get the initiative to go at it
again. Thanks again.
Welcome. Good luck. Keep us posted.
Joe Gwinn
Joe, problem solved. Thanks for your help.
It was the result of a change in detergents. About five months ago my
local supermarket stopped carrying Finish powder, so I switched to
Cascade. I didn't think that could be it, since the Cascade seemed to
work fine for all those months.
But I talked to another friend who used to be a repairman for Sears.
He said it was almost certainly the detergent. So I bought some of
those fancy Finish capsules. I've run the dishwasher twice since then
and everything is sparkling clean. It even seems to eat off the lime
from stainless pots that already had a coating. I saved a couple
without giving them the vinegar treatment, just to see what would
happen.
So that appears to have been it. Now I can relax and fix the tub drain
in my bathroom. d8-)
Thanks again.
--
Ed Huntress