I didn’t read the manual carefully enough and mixed two different types of detergent in my GE dishwasher. This is the one that you can put a whole bottle of detergent into. The detergent gelled and gummed up the system. I’ve purchased a new pump and replacement looks pretty straight forward. I wanted to remove the resevoir to get it thouroughly cleaned, but can’t seem to figure out how to do that. Any suggestions?
First off, I doubt your motor is plugged, usually the nipple at the end of the reservoir plugs up. Also if you remove the dispenser, you need to replace the collar as it will leak once removed. There is a way to purge the system, and this may help, it usually does. Give me a minute to get you those instructions, if the purging fails to get it going again, you will need to purchase the bottle kit, I say kit because it has new seals and a strap wrench needed to remove the collar.
Consumer Purge Cycle
The consumer must enter Service Mode to activate
the purge cycle. The purge cycle fi lls the dishwasher
for 57 seconds, then energizes the dispenser pump
(instead of the main motor) continuously to drain
the bulk dispenser tank .
The purge cycle deselects all other options and
runs for 65 minutes. The consumer should run the
purge cycle 3 times, filling the dispenser tank with
water for the second and third cycles. Total time is
approximately 3 hours.
Follow these steps carefully to have a successful
purge run.
For Front Mount Controls (PDW8900 series dishwashers)
For Top Mount Controls (PDW9700, PDW9900 series dishwashers)
For Front mount controls (PDW8600 series dishwashers, pay attention to step 3. Press added heat pad and cookware!!!
1.
Make sure Pre-wash, Added Heat, and Heated
Dry LEDs are off.
2.
Press Heated Dry pad and Cookware pad
(down arrow pad on Top Mount Control models)
together for 3 seconds. All LEDs illuminate.
3.
Press Added Heat pad and Normal pad (up
arrow pad on Top Mount Control models)
together for 3 seconds. The Anti-bacterial LED
illuminates.
For PDW 8600 series Press added heat pad and cookware(up arrow pad on top mount control models)
4.
Press Start pad one time.
5.
Press Normal Wash pad and make sure Prewash,
Added Heat and Heated Dry LEDs are off.
6.
Press Start pad. Dishwasher will run a complete
cycle without the main motor running. Cycle is
complete when the clean light illuminates. This
should take approximately 60 minutes.
7.
Open door and wipe up the excess detergent
from the door and tub.
8.
Pour water on the door and tub where there is
detergent residue.
9.
Remove SmartDispenseTM cap and fill tank with
water. Replace cap.
10. Repeat steps 1 through 9 one time.
11. Repeat steps 1 through 6. When the Clean LED
illuminates, the system is purged and ready to
be refilled with the correct detergent.
– 18 –
Thanks. I will try that this evening. I’ve run several cycles using clear water in the dispenser, but didn’t know about the purge cycle.
In the sequence you provided steps 1&2 went as described and all LEDs illuminated. At step 3, after pressing Added Heat and Normal for 3 seconds the Anti-Bacterial light did not come on, but a motor started running. It wasn’t the dispenser motor though, it was under the DW. The directions you provided say they’re for front-mount controls on a PDW8900 dw. Mine is a PDW8680 with front-mounted controls. Could there be a different sequence?
In the sequence you provided steps 1&2 went as described and all LEDs illuminated. At step 3, after pressing Added Heat and Normal for 3 seconds the Anti-Bacterial light did not come on, but a motor started running. It wasn’t the dispenser motor though, it was under the DW. The directions you provided say they’re for front-mount controls on a PDW8900 dw. Mine is a PDW8680 with front-mounted controls. Could there be a different sequence?
Sorry if this posted twice. I’m not used to forums.
Those instructions are universal for all smartdispense dishwashers, straight from the Tech manual, let me look into it a bit more. It could be that in step 3 you did not push them together, I know if you push one just ahaed of the other it wont work.
I went back and tried again - several times with the same results. I have the door closed. After step 2 all LEDs illuminate for about 2-3 seconds, and then go out. I have tried pressing “Normal Wash” and “Added Heat” both while the LEDs are lit (nothing happens), or after they’ve gone out, at which point the motor starts up. I can’t tell what is happening while the motor is running. It definitely is not filling the dw. I let the motor run as long a 3 minutes before restting it.
Did you continue the instructions after step 3 or did you stop?
I had been stopping at that point since the Antibacterial LED never illuminated. If I continue on it simply runs a normal wash cycle.
Sorry so many questions, just confused because it works everytime I show a customer how to do it. At anypoint did you try to kill the power to it and try again? Disconnect power for about a minute and try again
Same results. I really appreciate your help. At this point what I’m considering is removing the pump (without removing the resevoir) so that I can use a stiff wire to clean the nipple at the end of the bottle. After replacing the pump I’ll put a cup, or so, of warm water in the resevoir and let it run a normal cycle. Maybe that’ll get it going.
That’s an option. If you can’t get it unclogged, you can buy just the collar and seals if you need to remove the bottle, but you will need a strap wrench to remove the collar.
Well, I removed the pump and it was plugged into the tube on the pump. Since I already had a new one I replaced it anyway. I ran a stiff wire up from the bottom of the detergent bottle and it appears that all is working now. I also did some web browsing on the GE Knowledge base. I found the purge instructions. There was a minor, but important difference. In step 3 it said to press “Added Heat” and “Cookware” together. In the instructions you sent it said “Added Heat” and “Normal”. It is running a purge now.
Again, thanks for your help.
I copied and pasted those instructions to you, great work on finding that subtle but important difference. I will pass that along to the team in charge of that stuff.
I also edited the instructions in the post to include the PDW8600 series dishwashers.
My dishwasher was the GE Cafe CDW9380N20SS. If you disconnect the positive displacement pump, it is held with two screws you can drain out the liquid or gel. The tank outlet is very small, I used a coat hanger to help the gel along and then flushed with very hot water, you need some sort of container to catch the gel. I had a stainless container that fit perfectly under the tank outlet. To flush the inside of the tank I reattached the pump at the tank outlet and swung the door back and forth, you will have to disconnect power and ribbon cable to swing the door back and forth. I did this several times until no crap came out. The whole process took about 3-4 hours. If you don’t want to spend the time then just buy the dispenser tank kit, this was a pain in the a@@.
I am having a problem with the smartdispense on my GE dishwasher as well. The model # is GHDF360R10SS. I want to run a purge but I don’t have the buttons on the control panel that these instructions refer to. I don’t have an up or down arrow, a cookware button, or an AUTO button. the buttons I have are: Rinse Only, Light Wash, Normal Wash, Sani Wash, Start/Reset, Delay hours, Heated Dry, Added Heat, Steam.
Does anyone know how to run a purge with this particular model?