Smart dispense detergent dispenser

Instructions Things You'll Need:

• Vinegar or lemon juice
• Gel dishwasher detergent

1. dishwashers have a rinse aid dispenser. If your dishwasher has this dispenser, fill it up periodically and it will release the appropriate amount of rinse aid automatically at the right time during the wash cycle. This will help your dishes rinse more cleanly.
2. Rinse aid in solid form
   Some older dishwashers or basic models do not have an automatic rinse aid dispenser. In this case, you can buy rinse aid in solid form that attaches to your dishwasher rack. Solid rinse aid can be hard to find in stores because it is not commonly used, but it can be purchased online.
   
3. Vinegar or lemon juice
   Appliance repairmen will tell you that one of the common problems they see with dishwashers is the buildup of excess detergent. If there is too much detergent in your dishwasher, your dishes will not rinse cleanly, no matter how good the dishwasher is or how much rinse aid you use. To clean the excess detergent that has built up inside your dishwasher, put 3 tablespoons of vinegar or lemon juice (concentrate is fine) in the empty dishwasher and run the dishwasher through a complete cycle with no dishes. Do this twice, for two complete cycles of the empty dishwasher with only vinegar or lemon juice added. The acid in the vinegar or lemon juice will break up the detergent that has built up in your dishwasher's interior.
   
   After you have cleaned the detergent buildup from the inside of your dishwasher, follow the steps below to keep the buildup from happening again and to help your dishes rinse cleanly and prevent residue from accumulating on the dishes.
   
4. Gel dishwasher detergent
   Switch to a liquid or gel dishwasher detergent. Any brand will do.
   
5. Fill one compartment half full Dishwashers will effectively clean dishes with much less detergent than manufacturers often recommend. The bleach in the detergent, combined with the extremely hot water used in the dishwasher wash cycle, will clean and sanitize your dishes completely, even in small amounts, and using less detergent helps prevent buildup and residue from accumulating on your clean dishes.
   
   Fill only one detergent compartment(the one that snaps closed) half full with gel detergent. Snap the opening closed and run your dishwasher as you normally would. Your dishes will come out sparkling clean with no buildup or residue, plus you'll save money by using less detergent!
   

We mistakenly switched liquid detergents and mixed enzyme based and bleach based. They gelled in the dispenser. I took the outer door cover off and could not figure out how to take the white plastic despenser off of the main door without breaking it. I disconected the electrical harness and took the main door off the hinges so I could take it outside, turn it upside down and use the garden hose pressure nozzle to blast the gellout of the white plastic dispenser. I use a piece of plastic coat hanger to poke around inside to break up the gell several times. It all came out in marble size pieces.

Part of the solution is on the GE website: http://www.geappliances.com/search/fast/infobase/10010832.htm

But first you must remove or mash the gelled detergent into very small pieces so it can pass through the pump and outlet. You must clean out most of the gelled detergent down in the door going towards the pump and the outlet at the base of the door. You can disassemble the door, or I used a length of 3/8" soft plastic tubing pushed down into the detergent cavity repeatedly to break up and pull the chunks up to the fill door where I could remove or mash them. You may also need to this between the first run of the procedure and the second. You may need to do the purge filling the dispenser with water (I used hot - 120F) more than the once in the procedure.

is it liquid or powder? we had this problem with cascade powder.... tried liquid cascade and the same thing happened even though i'd been using cascade for YEARS.... manual said could be detergent was "old" and beyond its shelf-life, or that we used too much or too little (go figure that one out LOL).... not trying to promote a brand here, but we switched to palmolive ECO gel and haven't had a problem since -- no goop left in dispenser!.... hope that helps... -cynthia :)

Check the reservoir hose , and unclog it if necessary. You may need to disassemble the reservoir/dispenser to solve the problem.

Use to the diagrams below:

Either your dishwasher is not getting the water hot enough to dissolve the powder, or you need to switch brands. Try a liquid/gel type of dishwasher detergent.
Try stopping the washer a few minutes after you start a wash cycle. Open the door -- if there is a lot of steam coming out at you, it's not the water temperature. If there is no steam, your dishwasher is not getting hot water and/or the heating coil is not working.

Use gel run a few cycles and help clear and then don't overfill w gel soap

Just use the manual dispense. The smart dispenser is horrible. You will never get it empty AND you will have congealed soap in the dispenser for ever.

hi there,

sounds like the detergent dispenser is not working properly.

are the rest of your dishes clean? in other words, is there any food residue on them?

check the dispenser and make sure that there is nothing visibly wrong with it.

if the problem still persists, replace the dispenser.

it is highly recomended that you use powder detergent only absolutley no blocks or tabs or gels