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#1
Posted to misc.consumers.house
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Can vinegar damage a DW heating element?
Noticed some damage to my Whirlpool Gold Silent Partner III dishwasher
this morning. Some of the white has chipped off the heating element. There was a spoon sitting beside it on the bottom of the washer that apparently fell out of the silverware basket sometime during/after the last wash. Two questions: 1. Which is more likely to have damaged the heating element, the spoon or the cup of vinegar I dump into the recessed well at the beginning of each load (that does such a fabulous job preventing 'lime' buildup throughout the machine and keeping my glasses spotless despite my beloved hard water)? I've never noticed heating element damage before and I've been using the vinegar for at least a year now. 2. How much time do I have to fix the heating element? Is there a setting I can use that takes it offline (so to speak), giving me longer to fix it? I need a plumbing house call for work on the furnace exhaust and intake pipes and it would be nice to combine the visits, but the pipe work requires temperatures warm enough to dry exterior caulk and we're going through a cold windy/rainy/snowy patch in Minnesota right now. Thanks! RW |
#2
Posted to misc.consumers.house
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Can vinegar damage a DW heating element?
In article
fc7e6fbf-9228-4c28-a9dc-ba86180372d4@o1 4g2000yqb.googlegroups.com, MNRebecca wrote: Noticed some damage to my Whirlpool Gold Silent Partner III dishwasher this morning. Some of the white has chipped off the heating element. There was a spoon sitting beside it on the bottom of the washer that apparently fell out of the silverware basket sometime during/after the last wash. Two questions: 1. Which is more likely to have damaged the heating element, the spoon or the cup of vinegar I dump into the recessed well at the beginning of each load (that does such a fabulous job preventing 'lime' buildup throughout the machine and keeping my glasses spotless despite my beloved hard water)? I've never noticed heating element damage before and I've been using the vinegar for at least a year now. I would guess that you are using too much vinegar too frequently, but that shouldn't cause your problem 2. How much time do I have to fix the heating element? Is there a setting I can use that takes it offline (so to speak), giving me longer to fix it? I need a plumbing house call for work on the furnace exhaust and intake pipes and it would be nice to combine the visits, but the pipe work requires temperatures warm enough to dry exterior caulk and we're going through a cold windy/rainy/snowy patch in Minnesota right now. There should be an "air dry" or "economizer" setting that doesn't use the heater element. Should be easy enough to replace...OTOH, patching the chipped off part with some form of epoxy might make for an easy repair Thanks! RW |
#3
Posted to misc.consumers.house
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Can vinegar damage a DW heating element?
On May 7, 3:50*pm, "Malcom \"Mal\" Reynolds" atlas-
wrote: Should be easy enough to replace...OTOH, patching the chipped off part with some form of epoxy might make for an easy repair Epoxy...I think I have some of that, in a liquid form that you apply with a paintbrush. I used it to resurface my cast iron sink after staining the surface 'porcelain' with brown fabric dye. Does that sound like the right stuff? Seems like it wouldn't be strong enough for a heating element, given that you can't put a hot pan in the sink without damaging it... I'm clueless here so I won't be hurt to be set straight on these topics. RW |
#4
Posted to misc.consumers.house
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Can vinegar damage a DW heating element?
UPDATE. Spoke with my plumber. He's not a dishwasher expert, but he
suspects what chipped off the heating element was NOT part OF the heating element but merely detergent build-up from years of hard-water use. Now that chalky, caked-on build-up is being consistently weakened by the vinegar I've been using for about a year. He says the vinegar won't hurt the machine, it will only continue to clean it, and I should just forge ahead and enjoy watching my heating element get cleaner and cleaner. What threw me is that, with all the build up, my heating element looks white, and so do images I've seen on-line of dish washer heating elements. So I looked at one in the hardware store today (for a water heater). It was copper-colored (no doubt because it's made of copper). What chipped off last week was about 1/16th of an inch thick, chalky white on the outside and dark-colored on the inside...black or dark green, maybe, like stuff is that comes in contact with copper? Thoughts? RW |
#5
Posted to misc.consumers.house
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Can vinegar damage a DW heating element?
In article ,
MNRebecca wrote: [ ... ] What chipped off last week was about 1/16th of an inch thick, chalky white on the outside and dark-colored on the inside...black or dark green, maybe, like stuff is that comes in contact with copper? Thoughts? I'm inclined to agree with your plumber. Sounds like lime buildup from hard water; removing it will let your element heat the water more efficiently (the buildup acts like insulation) and prolong the life of the element. Gary -- Gary Heston http://www.thebreastcancersite.com/ Did you hear about the new saint, San Adreas? He's the patron saint of blame, it's all his fault. |
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