Replies

1. 
   DanH | Jul 11, 2010 03:24pm | #1

   My guess would be that it's not filling all the way.

2. 
   Scott | Jul 11, 2010 07:36pm | #2

   Sometimes its a simple as a utensil hanging down from the top, or something tall sticking up from below, that will stop the upper rotary sprayer from spinning.

   But if you say it's been doing this a while it might be something else. There should be a riser pipe, sometimes inside the tub, sometimes outside, that moves water from the pump (below) to the second level rotary sprayer. The riser could either be clogged or have become disconnected.

   Or sometimes there is a connector at the back of the upper basket that is supposed to meet the riser pipe when you shove in the upper basket. It may be broken which would cause water to leak out rather than being delievered to the upper rotary sprayer.

3. 
   k1c | Jul 12, 2010 11:01pm | #3

   dishwasher

   Mine is Kenmore and water connections are visible from the tub.  There is a funnel and a spout  that delivers water from lower pump to upper spray arm and my spout was broken. 

   A good source for appliance repair for me has been repairclinic.com.  Hope it helps.

1. 
   richardmaier | Jul 15, 2010 08:48am | #4

   thanks, i'll check the website out.

4. 
   cussnu2 | Jul 15, 2010 02:48pm | #5

   My kithcheaide has a pipe with an outward flare on the end connected to the upper arm.  When new, it a had a plastic clip that held the pipe in alignment with the riser such that the flare went over a stub sticking out of the riser.  The plastic retainer is now gone.  Broken by someone putting something too tall on the bottom and then jamming the upper rack shut.  The result is the flared pipe which feeds the upper arm is free to engage or not its riser pipe.  Those of us in my house that have backs that bend actually check to make sure the flare is in the center and will close over the riser.

   Those without backs that bend (ie wife and children) just shut the thing and leave it up to fate.  One of these days, it will make it up to the top of the list.

1. 
   Scott | Jul 15, 2010 07:04pm | #7

   >>>Those without backs that

   >>>Those without backs that bend (ie wife and children) just shut the thing and leave it up to fate.

   A little jaded are we? There are times when I can relate.....   ;-)

5. 
   xxPaulCPxx | Jul 15, 2010 06:21pm | #6

   Have you run the dishwasher cleaner stuff through yet?

6. 
   AZDoodle | Jul 22, 2010 02:35pm | #8

   It may be this easy

   Some years back we had a dishwasher that "suddenly" stopped cleaning as well as it had in the past. Being the hands-on type I opened the door and immediately noticed that while screwed into place to the underside of the countertop, there was no other attachments along the sides or bottom. Long story short:, repeated openings and closings had caused the bottom of the dishwasher to be pushed back inwards and the dishwasher got off-level and the sump could no longer pick up the water from the bottom of the "tub." Puling the bottom out a bit to level things back up was all it took to get the dishwasher working correctly again.

   Dishwashers work by repeatedly recirculating a limited amount of detergent-saturated water through the swinging arms and when too little water gets picked up by the sump its effectiveness drops off considerably. It - apparently - doesn't take being out of level by very much to keep the water from the sump, at least in my case, and possibly in yours.

   It's possible the installer put the top screws in place to keep the dishwasher from wandering about, then adjusted the legs for level, but neglected to put the two screws (usually just slightly above the hinge), one on each side, into the surrounding cabinets, a common mistake. The usual assumption is that the leveling screws on the front two legs will suffice to keep things level. Unfortunately, dishwashers are actually pretty light, and over time, repeated opening and closing of the door can and sometimes does force the bottom of the dishwasher to wander either inwards or outwards (balancing it exclusively on either the front or back legs only), causing it to become no longer level. Wandering in the one direction will actually increase the water depth near the sump pick-up and no degradation in performance will be noticed, but, wandering in the other direction can decrease the water depth near the sump pick-up; diminished, or worst case, no pick-up at all puts little (or no) water in the rotating arms and the dishwasher's performance degrades noticeably.

   Try leveling the dishwasher by pouring some water into the unit while it's turned off and seeing how and where it sits, pull or push the bottom in or out until the water appears level and the sump intake is well below the water line, then test the dishwasher's performance. Once leveled correctly, and assuming that leveling the unit fixes your problem, install those bottom two screws that keep the bottom of the unit from wandeing in and out in place, screwed into the surrounding cabinets and make sure the adjustable front legs are correctly adjusted. Now if that doesn't fix the problem I'm out of my depth, but it's a good place to start.

   It's hard to believe that a little to-or-fro at the bottom of the dishwasher can make that much difference, but different manufacturers use varying amounts of water, and from my experience, some units use so little water that even being off-level by a relatively small amount can make an otherwise good dishwasher seems like it's ready for replacement.

   Hope this helps.

1. 
   calvin | Jul 23, 2010 06:51am | #10

   Side screws

   but neglected to put the two screws (usually just slightly above the hinge), one on each side, into the surrounding cabinets, a common mistake

   Maybe 10 yrs ago I had a kitchen job and we had granite tops coming for it.  The DW was a Bosch-my first install of that make.  I always read the instructions (and have never regretted it) and come to find that you could mount the thing to the cabs on either side-midway down from the top of the door.  That way, no screws into anchors in the granite, siliconed nut plates  or other.

   Great idea, but the first time I had seen it offered.

   Now, most manufacturers offer the side mount, sometimes with an OPTIONAL clip that hooks into the DW and then gets screwed to the cab.  Some will have you use the top clip plate, removed and mounted to the side.

   So as far as it being normal install to mount it at the sides and top, never have seen that but you do make a good point about a secure install.  In most cases, all feet (4) firm on the floor and either a top OR side mount is enough.  If it walks about when closing the door or operating, something else is wrong.

7. 
   DonCanDo | Jul 22, 2010 06:46pm | #9

   Hi Rich, I think we've met.

   I don't have an answer for you, but try your question over here: http://forums.delphiforums.com/breaktimeclass/start

   A lot of the knowledge base jumped ship when the format changed.  If you do visit Breaktime Classics, you'll see the format that Fine Homebuilding used to have.  I still like the magazine and I'm going to try and visit here more often, but the old format was a lot more user friendly.

8. 
   junkhound | Jul 23, 2010 08:30am | #11

   Did you just recently start a new box of DW detergent, even if the same brand?

   Recent regs caused the formulations to change, may be your specific problem?

   DW calculated out how much detergent we will use for the next 20 years and we stocked up before the changes took effect.

   Did the same in 1982 with chlorodane and penta preservative, should have laid in a 40 year vs 30 year supply, running low on both now.