I have a 20 year old General Electric Potscrubber 1200 dishwasher.

It does not seem to be doing as good a job in cleaning dishes at it used to
do. The spinner is spinning and the pump is pumping OK. The setting is for
"Normal"

The water at my adjacent kitchen faucet is 130 F. After the dishwasher has
filled initially (starting with 130 F water), the temp in the tub is 120 F
(because the tub was cold).

After it has been washing for 5 minutes, I checked the temp in the tub again
and it is still 120 F.

There is a heating coil above the bottom of the tub.

Isn't this coil supposed to come on and heat the water from 120 F to 140 F??
Is 120 F hot enough to do a good job washing the dishes? 120 F would
certainly not be hot enough to sterilize!

Thanks for any input

--
Walter
www.rationality.net
-

"Walter R." wrote in message
...
I have a 20 year old General Electric Potscrubber 1200 dishwasher.
There is a heating coil above the bottom of the tub.

Isn't this coil supposed to come on and heat the water from 120 F to 140
F?? Is 120 F hot enough to do a good job washing the dishes? 120 F would
certainly not be hot enough to sterilize!

It may not come on for every part of every cycle. Some only do for a single
wash and a sani-rinse.

It could be the element, could be the relay that turns on the element, could
be the pump is not pumping as well as it did 20 years ago, could be the
spray arms are partly clogged, could be the filter is partly clogged, could
just be it is wearing out slowly.

DW detergent is so caustic it will probably sterilize anything anyway, but
it is also made to work best at elevated temperatures. Given the age of the
machine, I'd not put a lot of money into it. Even the cheaper models today
will out wash it and use less energy and be quieter doing it.

"Walter R." wrote in message
...
I have a 20 year old General Electric Potscrubber 1200 dishwasher.

It does not seem to be doing as good a job in cleaning dishes at it used
to
do. The spinner is spinning and the pump is pumping OK. The setting is for
"Normal"

Normal setting on my dishwasher does not heat the water. I have a button
that I must push for heating of the water and another one for drying.

I have a new GE profile and I believe it only heats the water on the
final rinse cycle. For the final rinse, it fills then sits there for
about 5 mins, which I presume is the time to get the water up to temp.

If you want to verify that the heating element works, put it on heated
dry and see if it's hot/dry when done.

I have a new GE profile and I believe it only heats the water on the
final rinse cycle. For the final rinse, it fills then sits there for
about 5 mins, which I presume is the time to get the water up to temp.

If you want to verify that the heating element works, put it on heated
dry and see if it's hot/dry when done.