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Our dishwasher worked perfectly for many years. All of a sudden it started to leave a soap film on everything after drying. I discovered the rinse water was soapy. The fill water before recirculating is clean with no sign of soap, but as soon as the agitation and recirculation starts, it gets soapy. I have run it through many cycles of just plain water, but it just keeps getting soapy.
I have run gallons of white vinegar through it and finally ran a cup of Tylex through it (with lots of foam). I've checked the filter in the bottom, and even had a repairman check it out, and he couldn't find anything wrong (although he missed a broken ring on top of the lower agitator, which I have replaced).
It seems to be getting somewhat better, after weeks of this, but where the heck did all the soap come from?
still rewashing dishes by hand.:confused:
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Rank: Advanced Member
Groups: Senior Expert
Joined: 8/16/2007(UTC)
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Did anyone check the temperature and hardness of your incoming water?
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Rank: Member
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Originally Posted by: magician59  Did anyone check the temperature and hardness of your incoming water? Yes, our water is soft and the temperature is steamy.
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Rank: Advanced Member
Groups: Senior Expert
Joined: 8/16/2007(UTC)
Posts: 3,273
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Hmmm...That is a poser. Have you recently changed your dishwasher detergent? What are you using?
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Rank: Member
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we used to use cascade, but when this problem started, I switched to walmart dishwashing detergent and added my own extra citric acid and TSP (real). It didn't change anything.
I still don't understand how any of this affects the fact that with just plain water, I still get soap in the dishwasher without any dishes or adding soap. I guess it would be great if only it wasn't in the rinse water. Could there be a build up of soap in the pump? If so, why can't I rinse it out with multiple cycles of just plain water?
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Rank: Advanced Member
Groups: Senior Expert
Joined: 8/16/2007(UTC)
Posts: 3,273
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You could be using too much detergent. The soap you get in the water with just plain water is undissolved detergent. This happens if your water is "too soft",i.e. you should reduce the amount of detergent accordingly.
A secondary cause for undissolved detergent is water temperature not hot enough. If the tap water is at least 120 degrees during fill, check that the heating element isn't burnt out.
A third cause (rare these days, because of modern formulation) would be the wrong detergent for your machine. Consult the user's manual that came with the machine.
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Rank: Member
Groups: Registered
Joined: 8/24/2008(UTC)
Posts: 27
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Originally Posted by: magician59 You could be using too much detergent. The soap you get in the water with just plain water is undissolved detergent. This happens if your water is "too soft",i.e. you should reduce the amount of detergent accordingly.
A secondary cause for undissolved detergent is water temperature not hot enough. If the tap water is at least 120 degrees during fill, check that the heating element isn't burnt out.
A third cause (rare these days, because of modern formulation) would be the wrong detergent for your machine. Consult the user's manual that came with the machine. 1. I only use 1 Tbs of detergent, when I use any at all, since my dishwasher makes it's own out of plain water. 2. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the heating element isn't activated whith a rinse only cycle, is it? And the water level isn't anywhere near the heating element at the end of the fill. How high should the water level be? 3. The manual recommended Cascade, which is what we used to use when this whole mess started.
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Rank: Advanced Member
Groups: Senior Expert
Joined: 8/16/2007(UTC)
Posts: 3,273
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Well, I must say this is indeed a puzzle. By all your descriptions, you should be drinking soapy water right out of the tap.
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Rank: Member
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Posts: 27
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No, I said the fill is clean, until the machine starts agitating and recirculating.
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Rank: Member
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Joined: 7/20/2011(UTC)
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I have a very similar problem. What did you do about the soapy water?
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