GE dishwasher arms clogged by bad detergent?

[Jillians]

Hello again!  I have a GE dishwasher (GLD4560N10SS), it's about 3 years old.  All was well until *someone* bought a 2-pack of Cascade EcoSomething detergent.  I started to notice build-up inside the cup and film on the dishes.  What I didn't realize was that the detergent crud was building up inside the washer arms.  Apparently Cascade pulled the product I was using because so many people had issues with it, and the issues seemed to be worse in areas with hard water.  So now I'm trying to clean the arms, wondering if I'll ever get all the white, gritty crap out of the interior of the dishwasher.  I've tried white vinegar, as suggested by Cascade on their website, but it's not doing much.  Is there another product which might help?  Should I just accept that I have to buy all new arms and hope that it hasn't clogged up the internal lines?
Thanks for your input -

[bigbuck]

dishwasher magic
 
 
 
 

[Jillians]

I've used their Disposal Care packets & liked them.  I'm concerned that the build-up I have is too severe - one of the upper arms is totally blocked.  Should I try soaking them in something first?  Can you run CLR through a dishwasher?
 

[Mettalikatt]

Try it,  and use a smsll pixj to poke the holes.

Sent from my DROID RAZR

[Jillians]

So far, I've tried soaking the arms in CLR overnight with minimal results.  The Dishwasher Magic is running right now.  I even turned up the hot water heater a bit to ensure the water gets good & hot.  (tankless water heater - very easy to  tweak)  Hoping for an Xmas miracle, but I think they may be hopelessly clogged with Cascade mystery grit.  If CLR can't dissolve it overnight, I'm not sure what it is...

[jumptrout51]

You could replace all 3 spray arms for under $35.00.

[Jillians]

I'm being stubborn!  I'm also concerned that crud has built up in the internal lines & would only blow out and clog the new arms.  The 1st round of Dishwasher Magic seems to have softened it up and it's starting to clear.  I also managed to run a coated wire through the top arm and break up the solid mass.  Granted the washer is now tossing white chunks of stuff on the dishes, but I view this as progress.  I may give it another round of the Magic and see what happens.  If I have to replace the arms, so be it... but I want to be sure the new ones don't get immediately plugged.

A curse on the house of Cascade. 

[AJ]

Keep us updated...

Here are the spray arms for your model if you decide to replace them.



Arm Spray Upper Part # AP3883898






Middle Spray Arm Part # AP3861005






Lower Spray Arm Part # AP3875429



Replacement parts for General Electric GLD4560N00SS Dishwasher

[Jillians]

The tube that connects the middle arm to the water line also clogged with white residue.  So I cleaned that out to the best of my ability, ran another bottle of DM through the machine.  The middle and top arms are still shedding white blobs.  It's better than it was, but it's getting old.  I might break down and replace them. 

I also noticed a dishwasher cleaner called Affresh (at Home Depot) which has the same active ingredient as Dishwasher Magic (25% citric acid) plus another acid (I think it was Oxalic Acid, AKA wood bleach).  It might be worth a shot if anyone is in a similar situation & needs a little more power.

[jumptrout51]

Start the machine and let it start pumping water.
Open the door and pour in 1 quart of WHITE vinegar and resume the wash cycle until it ends.

[PARTech]

I have had very good results with the Affresh, both dishwasher and laundry types.  I also only recommend gel detergents because they dissolve easier and the solids in the powders and tablets.  Most of my customers being on septic systems...


Affresh Front Load Washer Cleaner Part # TJ120


Affresh Dishwasher Cleaner Part # TJ130

[niobrara]

Affresh 

[Jillians]

I've hit it with Affresh now.   I will say it has a lasting lemony scent that makes the dishwasher seem cleaner.  I did clean quite a bit of crud from the tubes that feed the upper arms.  There is no approprite size brush for this at the hardware big box store.  What will work is a brush set made to clean pet drinking fountains (sold at Petsmart or online), a test tube brush, or a brush set sold to clean bird feeders.  Staying with the Palmolive Eco+ gel detergent, no evidence of new white chunky buildup...  It might've been cheaper to just replace the arms, but then again the new arms might've been clogged by what was hiding in the lines.

Thanks for the assistance!

[AJ]

Thanks for the update.