Dishwasher gets hard baked on crusty bits on items in the top rack...???

[NFS4]

We've got a GE Nautilus dishwasher and nearly every time we run it, the bottom rack of dishes/bowls/utinsels/etc. get perfectly clean, and the top rack is technically "cleaned" as well... but they have crusty food bits all over them. Particles that seem to come from nowhere as the bottom rack looks perfectly clean and the rest of the dishwasher looks clean after a wash.

Now, keep in mind, we pre-wash all of the dishes before putting them into the dishwasher, so there is little food residue left on them to begin with. But it never fails, the top rack always has little brownish green-looking food particles on them.

And if you turn on the "Heated Dry" option on the dishwasher, the little bits get backed onto the bowls/glasses etc.

Is there some filter that we need to replace in the washer or something? I've tried using different types of liquid detergent and even got some of those Cascade ActionPack thingamabobs.

 

[BrunoPuntzJones]

I've run into this as well. Doesn't matter the detergent (brand, liquid, powder, etc.) or how dried (heat, air, open, closed, etc.)

I'm starting to think it's shit flaking off the inside of the water heater (rust) and for some reason sticks to the ones on top. Perhaps because the wash streams aren't as forceful as they are on the bottom.

 

[NFS4]

Originally posted by: BrunoPuntzJones
I've run into this as well. Doesn't matter the detergent (brand, liquid, powder, etc.) or how dried (heat, air, open, closed, etc.)

I'm starting to think it's shit flaking off the inside of the water heater (rust) and for some reason sticks to the ones on top. Perhaps because the wash streams aren't as forceful as they are on the bottom.

I did some searching around on the net, and people talk about a faulty top sprayer causing this problem, but we don't even have a top sprayer...

 

[NFS4]

bump

 

[iamwiz82]

Either the water isn't hitting the top rack hard enough (clogged sprayers, perhaps?) or you are overfilling the bottom.

 

[Squisher]

Originally posted by: iamwiz82
Either the water isn't hitting the top rack hard enough (clogged sprayers, perhaps?) or you are overfilling the bottom.

:thumbsup:


How old is the dishwasher?

 

[BrunoPuntzJones]

Originally posted by: iamwiz82
Either the water isn't hitting the top rack hard enough (clogged sprayers, perhaps?) or you are overfilling the bottom.

Is it possible that the food from the bottom is being blown to the top and sticking?

There aren't top sprayers in either dishwasher.

 

[NFS4]

Originally posted by: Squisher

Originally posted by: iamwiz82
Either the water isn't hitting the top rack hard enough (clogged sprayers, perhaps?) or you are overfilling the bottom.

:thumbsup:


How old is the dishwasher?

4 years old.

 

[iamwiz82]

Originally posted by: BrunoPuntzJones

Originally posted by: iamwiz82
Either the water isn't hitting the top rack hard enough (clogged sprayers, perhaps?) or you are overfilling the bottom.

Is it possible that the food from the bottom is being blown to the top and sticking?

There aren't top sprayers in either dishwasher.

The bottom sprayer is the one that is supposed to rinse all of the racks in a single sprayer configuration. The sprayer is pushing the food up there but isn't hitting the food with enough water before the heater bakes the food on, it then turns into that hard crust.

 

[Squisher]

Once the washer fills it uses that water to keep recycling through the sprayers.

So, it can be either on the sucking side starving the pump or a restriction in the high pressure side.

If I was a betting man, I'd start looking at the filtering mechanism in the bottom. I once found the remnants of a paper napkin all throughout the filter and pump. :|

If you don't find something then maybe you need to soak the sprayer in some CLR.

 

[dirtboy]

You might be putting too much detergent in it.

 

[PingSpike]

I have the same problem. It has something to do with the spray not hitting the top well enough, because it mostly happens with the deeper glasses. I usually just rinse the effected glasses right after the wash, if I leave them they get stuck on so hard I have to hand wash them.

 

[Thegonagle]

Originally posted by: NFS4
I did some searching around on the net, and people talk about a faulty top sprayer causing this problem, but we don't even have a top sprayer...

D'oh!

In your case, it might not be a faulty top sprayer, but a faulty design.