Kenmore dishwasher spray is weak--how to remove (lower) spray arm
 

Hi all,

The spray in my Kenmore dishwasher has gotten pretty weak--the dishes on
the lower rack get cleaned, but the glasses and stuff I put in the upper
rack don't even get wet anymore.

My dishwasher has only a lower spray arm (no upper spray), and I suspect
it may have gotten clogged.

How do I remove it so I can clean it thoroughly? It doesn't seem to
come off by itself.

Also, could there be some other cause of the weak spray? I can't be
sure, but I think the spray arm isn't spinning as well as it used to
either. What could be causing THAT?




-- Steven L.

Kenmore dishwasher spray is weak--how to remove (lower) spray arm
 

"Steven L." wrote in message
m:

Hi all,

The spray in my Kenmore dishwasher has gotten pretty weak--the dishes on
the lower rack get cleaned, but the glasses and stuff I put in the upper
rack don't even get wet anymore.

My dishwasher has only a lower spray arm (no upper spray), and I suspect
it may have gotten clogged.

How do I remove it so I can clean it thoroughly? It doesn't seem to
come off by itself.

Also, could there be some other cause of the weak spray? I can't be
sure, but I think the spray arm isn't spinning as well as it used to
either. What could be causing THAT?

I forgot to mention: The spray arm is of the type that has this little
extendable tower in the middle, that seems to pop up during the wash
cycle.





-- Steven L.

Kenmore dishwasher spray is weak--how to remove (lower) spray arm
 

On Sat, 26 Nov 2011 15:39:42 +0000, Steven L. wrote:

Hi all,

The spray in my Kenmore dishwasher has gotten pretty weak--the dishes on
the lower rack get cleaned, but the glasses and stuff I put in the upper
rack don't even get wet anymore.

My dishwasher has only a lower spray arm (no upper spray), and I suspect
it may have gotten clogged.

How do I remove it so I can clean it thoroughly? It doesn't seem to
come off by itself.

Also, could there be some other cause of the weak spray? I can't be
sure, but I think the spray arm isn't spinning as well as it used to
either. What could be causing THAT?




-- Steven L.

Two potential problems, junk in the dishwasher or buildup in the supply
line. If you have hard water it is entirely possible that the supply line
is so junked up that nothing you do in the dishwasher will help.

I would suggest trying an acid based cleaner from Bed and Bath for coffee
makers (forget the name of it) and run a bottle of it through a cycle. If
it's a bad as it sounds, I'd run a half bottle through on two consecutive
cycles, followed by three plain water cycles. Then run about three empty
cycles with plain water. It will also clean off your glassware of lime
buildup. Only need a small amount to do that.

Kenmore dishwasher spray is weak--how to remove (lower) spray arm
 

On Nov 26, 12:53*pm, Michael Dobony wrote:
On Sat, 26 Nov 2011 15:39:42 +0000, Steven L. wrote:
Hi all,

The spray in my Kenmore dishwasher has gotten pretty weak--the dishes on
the lower rack get cleaned, but the glasses and stuff I put in the upper
rack don't even get wet anymore.

My dishwasher has only a lower spray arm (no upper spray), and I suspect
it may have gotten clogged.

How do I remove it so I can clean it thoroughly? *It doesn't seem to
come off by itself.

Also, could there be some other cause of the weak spray? *I can't be
sure, but I think the spray arm isn't spinning as well as it used to
either. *What could be causing THAT?

-- Steven L.

Two potential problems, junk in the dishwasher or buildup in the supply
line. If you have hard water it is entirely possible that the supply line
is so junked up that nothing you do in the dishwasher will help.

I would suggest trying an acid based cleaner from Bed and Bath for coffee
makers (forget the name of it) and run a bottle of it through a cycle. If
it's a bad as it sounds, I'd run a half bottle through on two consecutive
cycles, followed by three plain water cycles. Then run about three empty
cycles with plain water. It will also clean off your glassware of lime
buildup. Only need a small amount to do that.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

run with a gallon of white vinegar and let soak for awhile

Kenmore dishwasher spray is weak--how to remove (lower) spray arm
 

bob haller wrote:
On Nov 26, 12:53 pm, Michael Dobony wrote:
On Sat, 26 Nov 2011 15:39:42 +0000, Steven L. wrote:
Hi all,

The spray in my Kenmore dishwasher has gotten pretty weak--the
dishes on the lower rack get cleaned, but the glasses and stuff I
put in the upper rack don't even get wet anymore.

My dishwasher has only a lower spray arm (no upper spray), and I
suspect it may have gotten clogged.

How do I remove it so I can clean it thoroughly? It doesn't seem to
come off by itself.

Also, could there be some other cause of the weak spray? I can't be
sure, but I think the spray arm isn't spinning as well as it used to
either. What could be causing THAT?

-- Steven L.

Two potential problems, junk in the dishwasher or buildup in the
supply line. If you have hard water it is entirely possible that the
supply line is so junked up that nothing you do in the dishwasher
will help.

I would suggest trying an acid based cleaner from Bed and Bath for
coffee makers (forget the name of it) and run a bottle of it through
a cycle. If it's a bad as it sounds, I'd run a half bottle through
on two consecutive cycles, followed by three plain water cycles.
Then run about three empty cycles with plain water. It will also
clean off your glassware of lime buildup. Only need a small amount
to do that.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

run with a gallon of white vinegar and let soak for awhile

Exactly. But with vinegar at only eighty cents a gallon, I'd dump in three
or four gallons.

Also, in the future, use powdered detergent that has been fortified with
10-20% of TSP.

Kenmore dishwasher spray is weak--how to remove (lower) spray arm
 

On Nov 26, 10:39*am, "Steven L." wrote:
Hi all,

The spray in my Kenmore dishwasher has gotten pretty weak--the dishes on
the lower rack get cleaned, but the glasses and stuff I put in the upper
rack don't even get wet anymore.

My dishwasher has only a lower spray arm (no upper spray), and I suspect
it may have gotten clogged.

How do I remove it so I can clean it thoroughly? *It doesn't seem to
come off by itself.

Also, could there be some other cause of the weak spray? *I can't be
sure, but I think the spray arm isn't spinning as well as it used to
either. *What could be causing THAT?

-- Steven L.

@Steve:

Two things can cause poor water flow through the nozzles in your
dishwasher:

Hard Water Deposits
Bio-film/Lipid Build Up

Hard water can be an issue if your local water chemistry is bad,
you would know if this was the problem or not based on other
water applications in your home being affected (the shower, sinks,
and clothes washer).

Bio-film is actually what most people see on their dishes even
when they think it looks like hard water deposits. If you don't
rinse off the grease and food from your dishes it builds up on
surfaces inside the dishwasher where you can't see it and
becomes a soup which supports growth. This same issue
causes smelly front loading washing machines as the film
builds up on the outer surface of the clothes drum where you
would never see it unless you took the machine apart.

You need to use some CLR in a cycle if you suspect
hard water and definitely need to begin using an
enzymatic dishwasher detergent which will break up
the fats/greases/food proteins in your dish washer and
not allow them to become deposits and create a bio-film.

~~ Evan

Kenmore dishwasher spray is weak--how to remove (lower) spray arm
 

On Nov 26, 8:06*pm, Evan wrote:
On Nov 26, 10:39*am, "Steven L." wrote:





Hi all,

The spray in my Kenmore dishwasher has gotten pretty weak--the dishes on
the lower rack get cleaned, but the glasses and stuff I put in the upper
rack don't even get wet anymore.

My dishwasher has only a lower spray arm (no upper spray), and I suspect
it may have gotten clogged.

How do I remove it so I can clean it thoroughly? *It doesn't seem to
come off by itself.

Also, could there be some other cause of the weak spray? *I can't be
sure, but I think the spray arm isn't spinning as well as it used to
either. *What could be causing THAT?

-- Steven L.

@Steve:

Two things can cause poor water flow through the nozzles in your
dishwasher:

Hard Water Deposits
Bio-film/Lipid Build Up

Hard water can be an issue if your local water chemistry is bad,
you would know if this was the problem or not based on other
water applications in your home being affected (the shower, sinks,
and clothes washer).

Bio-film is actually what most people see on their dishes even
when they think it looks like hard water deposits. *If you don't
rinse off the grease and food from your dishes it builds up on
surfaces inside the dishwasher where you can't see it and
becomes a soup which supports growth. *This same issue
causes smelly front loading washing machines as the film
builds up on the outer surface of the clothes drum where you
would never see it unless you took the machine apart.

You need to use some CLR in a cycle if you suspect
hard water and definitely need to begin using an
enzymatic dishwasher detergent which will break up
the fats/greases/food proteins in your dish washer and
not allow them to become deposits and create a bio-film.

~~ Evan- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Has everyone forgotten about the pump?? If the water inlet to the
pump or the impellers of the pump itself are crudded up with food
residue, there will be low pressure,

Kenmore dishwasher spray is weak--how to remove (lower) spray arm
 

"HeyBub" wrote in message
m:

bob haller wrote:
On Nov 26, 12:53 pm, Michael Dobony wrote:
On Sat, 26 Nov 2011 15:39:42 +0000, Steven L. wrote:
Hi all,

The spray in my Kenmore dishwasher has gotten pretty weak--the
dishes on the lower rack get cleaned, but the glasses and stuff I
put in the upper rack don't even get wet anymore.

My dishwasher has only a lower spray arm (no upper spray), and I
suspect it may have gotten clogged.

How do I remove it so I can clean it thoroughly? It doesn't seem to
come off by itself.

Also, could there be some other cause of the weak spray? I can't be
sure, but I think the spray arm isn't spinning as well as it used to
either. What could be causing THAT?

-- Steven L.

Two potential problems, junk in the dishwasher or buildup in the
supply line. If you have hard water it is entirely possible that the
supply line is so junked up that nothing you do in the dishwasher
will help.

I would suggest trying an acid based cleaner from Bed and Bath for
coffee makers (forget the name of it) and run a bottle of it through
a cycle. If it's a bad as it sounds, I'd run a half bottle through
on two consecutive cycles, followed by three plain water cycles.
Then run about three empty cycles with plain water. It will also
clean off your glassware of lime buildup. Only need a small amount
to do that.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

run with a gallon of white vinegar and let soak for awhile

Exactly. But with vinegar at only eighty cents a gallon, I'd dump in three
or four gallons.

Also, in the future, use powdered detergent that has been fortified with
10-20% of TSP.

Maybe I should pre-rinse my dishes also. I'm accustomed to just
throwing them in the dishwasher, but maybe all those bits of food are
clogging up the thing.




-- Steven L.

Kenmore dishwasher spray is weak--how to remove (lower) sprayarm
 

Steven L. wrote:


"HeyBub" wrote in message
m:

bob haller wrote:
On Nov 26, 12:53 pm, Michael Dobony wrote:
On Sat, 26 Nov 2011 15:39:42 +0000, Steven L. wrote:
Hi all,

The spray in my Kenmore dishwasher has gotten pretty weak--the
dishes on the lower rack get cleaned, but the glasses and stuff I
put in the upper rack don't even get wet anymore.

My dishwasher has only a lower spray arm (no upper spray), and I
suspect it may have gotten clogged.

How do I remove it so I can clean it thoroughly? It doesn't seem to
come off by itself.

Also, could there be some other cause of the weak spray? I can't be
sure, but I think the spray arm isn't spinning as well as it used to
either. What could be causing THAT?

-- Steven L.

Two potential problems, junk in the dishwasher or buildup in the
supply line. If you have hard water it is entirely possible that the
supply line is so junked up that nothing you do in the dishwasher
will help.

I would suggest trying an acid based cleaner from Bed and Bath for
coffee makers (forget the name of it) and run a bottle of it through
a cycle. If it's a bad as it sounds, I'd run a half bottle through
on two consecutive cycles, followed by three plain water cycles.
Then run about three empty cycles with plain water. It will also
clean off your glassware of lime buildup. Only need a small amount
to do that.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

run with a gallon of white vinegar and let soak for awhile

Exactly. But with vinegar at only eighty cents a gallon, I'd dump in
three
or four gallons.

Also, in the future, use powdered detergent that has been fortified with
10-20% of TSP.

Maybe I should pre-rinse my dishes also. I'm accustomed to just throwing
them in the dishwasher, but maybe all those bits of food are clogging up
the thing.




-- Steven L.

Hi,
Is your water hard? What is the point of running DW if plates have to be
pre-rinsed.? For us organic phospate free detereget tablet work well.
Maybe DW should be put thru couple cleaning cycles using vinegar or CLR.

Kenmore dishwasher spray is weak--how to remove (lower) spray arm
 

Steven L. wrote:
Exactly. But with vinegar at only eighty cents a gallon, I'd dump in
three or four gallons.

Also, in the future, use powdered detergent that has been fortified
with 10-20% of TSP.

Maybe I should pre-rinse my dishes also. I'm accustomed to just
throwing them in the dishwasher, but maybe all those bits of food are
clogging up the thing.


Nope, that's not it. Food particles are chopped before they're flushed out
to the garbage disposal, except, maybe leg bones from a turkey.

Clean the washer with vinegar as above and add TSP to your detergent. You'll
be surprised by the result.

Kenmore dishwasher spray is weak--how to remove (lower) spray arm
 

Tony Hwang wrote:

Hi,
Is your water hard? What is the point of running DW if plates have to
be pre-rinsed.? For us organic phospate free detereget tablet work
well. Maybe DW should be put thru couple cleaning cycles using
vinegar or CLR.

Phosphate-free detergents do NOT work well. Perhaps they work well enough
for you, but most cannot abide the hazy film left on flatware and glasses.

Kenmore dishwasher spray is weak--how to remove (lower) spray arm
 

On Sun, 27 Nov 2011 17:48:40 -0600, "HeyBub" wrote:

Steven L. wrote:
Exactly. But with vinegar at only eighty cents a gallon, I'd dump in
three or four gallons.

Also, in the future, use powdered detergent that has been fortified
with 10-20% of TSP.

Maybe I should pre-rinse my dishes also. I'm accustomed to just
throwing them in the dishwasher, but maybe all those bits of food are
clogging up the thing.


Nope, that's not it. Food particles are chopped before they're flushed out
to the garbage disposal, except, maybe leg bones from a turkey.

Depends on the dishwasher. Bosch, for example, doesn't have a grinder.
Instead, it has a screen/filter than has to be cleaned out. ...the reason we
passed on Bosch.

Clean the washer with vinegar as above and add TSP to your detergent. You'll
be surprised by the result.

Kenmore dishwasher spray is weak--how to remove (lower) spray arm
 

When I was a little boy, my sister used to like to
paraphrase the dish washer detergent commercial. While in or
near a store, she would very loudly say "do I embarass you,
Mrs. Young? Spotting and streaking your glasses and
dishes???"

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


"HeyBub" wrote in message
...

be pre-rinsed.? For us organic phospate free detereget
tablet work
well. Maybe DW should be put thru couple cleaning cycles
using
vinegar or CLR.

Phosphate-free detergents do NOT work well. Perhaps they
work well enough
for you, but most cannot abide the hazy film left on
flatware and glasses.

Kenmore dishwasher spray is weak--how to remove (lower) spray arm