Ye Olde Videoe Clippe Threade

[Clodfobble]

If I semi-regularly run an empty load with one of those citric acid "dishwasher cleaner" powder things, will that also get to the screen you guys are talking about, or not? My dishwasher's doing okay, but I know we haven't done jack in the way of maintenance for it since we moved in 9 years ago.

[glatt]

that will probably help the screen BigV is talking about. It gets gunked up with old food particles and grease and stuff.

The screen I'm talking about can't be helped with anything. It's the fault of grit and sand in the city water.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Have you consulted a urologist?

[glatt]

I'm afraid they will only want to improve my flow by roto rooting the thing.

[BigV]

Originally Posted by glatt

that will probably help the screen BigV is talking about. It gets gunked up with old food particles and grease and stuff.

The screen I'm talking about can't be helped with anything. It's the fault of grit and sand in the city water.

So, been thinking about your video...

An obstructed inlet screen, that will definitely reduce the flow. But, at what point in the cycle? Your (anyone's) dishwasher gets a volume of water, then recirculates it, soapy water definitely, but I can't imagine the spray from even the straight rinse cycle is using only the water pressure from the house.

You may well have an inlet screen that needs cleaning, but that low pressure jet... It seems like there are additional restrictions. You said that you have lots more footage. What does the spray pattern / pressure look like in the middle of the wash cycle? When the inlet screen is not a factor.

[glatt]

The inlet valve on the GE dishwasher has a screen before it on the water supply side. A timer opens the valve for 90 seconds to allow 90 seconds worth of water into the dishwasher. A couple gallons. There is a float switch that shuts the inlet valve before 90 seconds if too much water gets in, but there is no device to prevent too little water from getting in. GE tells you in the guts of the owner's manual that if you have low water pressure, you should purchase an optional high capacity valve (so more water will come in during the 90 seconds.)

Once that water is in the dishwasher, the dishwasher recirculates it for the duration of the cycle. After the cycle, a discharge pump pumps the water out, and if a new cycle is starting, the inlet valve opens up again to let new water in.

During recirculation, the water is strained through a grate, a grinding blade, and then a screen before entering the recirculation pump to keep big chunks of food from clogging the pump. [Edit: these parts can get coated with grease and slime and food particles over time, and cloddfobble's cleaner, as well as manually removing the grate and washing it every couple years is probably a good idea. There are actually a couple grates you can clean in my DW.]

In my dishwasher, if I am correct, the inlet valve screen is blocked with 15 years worth of sand and sediment and not enough fresh water is entering the dishwasher during those 90 seconds at the beginning of the cycle. The pump is starved of water and is blowing air at times. The lack of water and water power results in dirty dishes.

I'll have a chance this weekend to dig into the valve to see if I'm correct. The new part arrived yesterday and below is a picture of the screen on a brand new clean valve. It's actually a big screen because it's very concave by about an inch. More like a screen basket than a screen.

[glatt]

And this is the overview of the part.

That whole fat plastic area behind the brass fitting is full of screen. It's a big screen, and I think GE knows it's going to get clogged eventually, so they make it as big as possible in the part.