Hi, my Zanussi zdf511 doesnt seem to be adding any rinse aid on any of the rinse aid settings?

Problem Possible Cause What to do Dishwasher will not start. No power. Ensure the dishwasher is plugged in and the power supply is turned on at the wall. The door is not properly closed. Close the door. Start/Pause button has not been pressed. Press the Start/Pause button . Water tap not turned on. Ensure water is connected and turned on. Blocked strainer in water inlet hose. Check the strainer and clean if necessary-it is located where the water inlet hose screws into the tap. Keylock is activated. Cancel Keylock by pressing and holding until the keylock indicator goes out. Lower spray arm rotates with difficulty. Spray arm holes are blocked by small items or food particles. Clean the spray arm. See 'Care and cleaning' for instructions. Cover of detergent dispenser cannot be closed. Detergent compartment has been overfilled. Remove detergent until the cover can be closed. Detergent dispenser is clogged with remnants of detergent. Wipe dispenser out with a damp cloth. Dry the dispenser before adding detergent. Remnants of detergent stuck inside dispenser. Compartment was damp when filled with detergent. Wipe dispenser out with a damp cloth. Dry the dispenser before adding detergent. Buttons beep and do not respond. Keylock is activated. Cancel Keylock by pressing and holding until the keylock indicator goes out. Water remains inside dishwasher after wash has ended. Drain hose is crimped, bent, or blocked. Check the drain hose and straighten if needed. Pump is jammed. Call your Fisher & Paykel Authorised Service Centre or Customer Care. Filter(s) blocked. Clean the filter(s). See 'Care and cleaning' for instructions. Foaming. Incorrect amount or type of detergent used. See section 'Adding detergent' or consult the detergent manufacturer's instructions. Too much egg in the wash load. Increase the amount of detergent. Rinse aid dosage level too high. Decrease the rinse aid dosage. Rinse aid spills not wiped up. Ensure that all rinse aid spills are wiped up when they occur. Water tap not turned on. Ensure water is connected and turned on. The dishwasher stops suddenly during the wash. Power or water supply has been interrupted. Check the power and water supplies. Knocking or rattling sound during wash. Spray arm knocking against dishes. Pause the wash and rearrange dishes. See sections 'CH and CHP models - Controls and starting a wash' or 'CK models - Controls and starting a wash', and 'Loading'. Dishes have been stacked incorrectly. Unclean dishes. Wash programme unsuitable for load. See section 'Wash programmes and detergent quantities' and select a suitable programme. Soils were too heavily baked on. Dishes may need soaking. Spray arm(s) unable to rotate. Ensure no items are obstructing the spray arm path. Dishwasher overloaded or incorrectly loaded. See the 'Loading' section. The filters are incorrectly inserted. See section 'Care and cleaning'. Detergent put in the wrong compartment. See sections 'Wash programmes and detergent quantities' and 'Adding detergent'. Excessive food not removed from dishes before loading. Scrape all food scraps off dishes before loading. Unsuitable detergent. Only use powdered or tablet detergent designed for domestic dishwashers. Not enough detergent. See 'Wash programmes and detergent quantities' for recommended quantities. You may need to adjust these to suit your particular load and the hardness of your water supply. Spray arm holes are blocked. Clean the spray arm(s). See 'Care and cleaning' for instructions. The filters are blocked. Clean the filters. See 'Care and cleaning' for instructions. Plastic items are discoloured (e.g. stain left by tomato sauce). Not enough detergent, not pre-rinsed. Pre-rinse plastic dishes before placing in the dishwasher and/or add more detergent. Alternatively, using the Rinse programme after adding dishes may minimise staining. Display flashing while Keylock is on. This is normal. The display remains on although the buttons are disabled. No action required. White stains are left on dishes; glasses have a milky appearance. Not enough detergent. See section 'Wash programmes and detergent quantities' for recommended quantities. You may need to adjust these to suit the hardness of your water supply. Rinse aid dosage too low. Increase rinse aid dosage. See 'Using rinse aid'. Dishes, cutlery have not dried. Rinse aid dosage too low. Increase rinse aid dosage. See 'Using rinse aid'. Items removed too soon. After the end of the wash programme, leave the door ajar and wait for several minutes to help drying. Rinse aid dispenser empty. (The rinse aid indicators are lit.) Add rinse aid. See section 'Using rinse aid' for instructions. Glasses have dull appearance. Rinse aid dosage too low. Increase rinse aid dosage. See 'Using rinse aid'. Tea stains or traces of lipstick have not been completely removed. Not enough detergent. See section 'Wash programmes and detergent quantities' for recommended quantities. You may need to adjust these to suit your particular load. Wash temperature too low. Select a wash programme with a higher temperature (see section 'Wash programme data' for information). Traces of rust on cutlery. Cutlery is not sufficiently rustproof. Wash by hand. Glasses clouded and discoloured; milky coating Hard water situation. Increase detergent quantities. Glasses are not dishwasher proof. Wash by hand. Water marks left on glasses and cutlery. Rinse aid level or dosage setting is too low. Ensure there is rinse aid in dispenser. If necessary, increase the rinse aid setting or try using a wash programme with a higher temperature. See sections 'Using rinse aid' and 'Wash programme data'.

The top light is apparently to indicate that the salt (!) has run out.

The bottom light is apparently to indicate that rinse aid has run out.

For the record, that seems to be a Zanussi DE-6854 dishwasher, and I found the manual here: (link)


"Special salt can be added in one of two ways: 1) If you are using dishwasher detergent that already contains salt, the detergent including the salt is placed in the detergent compartment. - In this case the water softener must manually be set to 1 and electronically to 1 to ensure that the special salt is taken from the detergent container only. 2) If you are using dishwasher detergent and salt separately, the special salt is to be put into the salt container. - In this case the water softener must manually be set to 1 or 2 and electronically between 1 and 5 (depending on the water hardness in your area) to ensure that the special salt is taken from the salt container only. Only use salt specifically designed for use in dishwashers. All other types of salt not specifically designed for use in a dishwasher, especially table salt, will damage the water softener. Only fill with salt just before starting one of the washing programmes. This will prevent any grains of salt or salty water, which may have been spilt, remaining on the bottom of the machine for any period of time, which may cause corrosion." (Page 6)

"Only use branded rinse aid for dishwashers. Never fill the rinse aid dispenser with any other substances (e.g. dishwasher cleaning agent, liquid detergent). This would damage the appliance." (Page 7)

The manual also explains how to turn the Rinse Aid light off permanently if you do not wish to use rinse aid.



Good luck!

The top light is apparently to indicate that the salt (!) has run out.

The bottom light is apparently to indicate that rinse aid has run out.

For the record, that seems to be a Zanussi DE-6854 dishwasher, and I found the manual here: (link)


"Special salt can be added in one of two ways: 1) If you are using dishwasher detergent that already contains salt, the detergent including the salt is placed in the detergent compartment. - In this case the water softener must manually be set to 1 and electronically to 1 to ensure that the special salt is taken from the detergent container only. 2) If you are using dishwasher detergent and salt separately, the special salt is to be put into the salt container. - In this case the water softener must manually be set to 1 or 2 and electronically between 1 and 5 (depending on the water hardness in your area) to ensure that the special salt is taken from the salt container only. Only use salt specifically designed for use in
dishwashers. All other types of salt not specifically designed for use in a dishwasher, especially table salt, will damage the water
softener. Only fill with salt just before starting one of the washing
programmes. This will prevent any grains of salt or salty water, which
may have been spilt, remaining on the bottom of the machine for any period of time, which may cause corrosion." (Page 6)

"Only use branded rinse aid for dishwashers. Never fill the rinse
aid dispenser with any other substances (e.g. dishwasher
cleaning agent, liquid detergent). This would damage the
appliance." (Page 7)

The manual also explains how to turn the Rinse Aid light off permanently if you do not wish to use rinse aid.



Good luck!

Yes, remove that "dial" and pour in the rinse aid. Replace the dial and set it to one of those numbers (or maximum). If you use a low value and find spots on the dishes, try setting the value higher. This will increase the amount of rinse aid released during the washer cycle. The manual for another dishwasher, http://www.homedepot.com/catalog/pdfimages/4a/4a78e197-7da5-432d-b3be-e176eb727d58.pdf , can give you an idea of how this works. The rinse aid information is on page 11 of that PDF.

I hope this helps.

Cindy Wells

You can get the manual on the link below. Click on where it says it is free.

http://safemanuals.com/user-guide-instructions-owner-manual/ZANUSSI/ZDF511-_E

Good Luck please rate 4 thumbs up and please leave a testimonial

The conditioner or rinse aid goes in the smallest of the 3 compartments, it sometimes has a cover in it.
The wash powder goes in the largest of the compartments
Trust this helps.

have you tried distilled vinagar? this may work for you.

The cheapest and easiest option is to stop using rinseaid and use an allinone tablet instead.

I did the same thing with my Maytag dishwasher, several times actually, before realizing I was putting blue dish soap in the rinse aid compartment which then wouldn't empty. Then my Maytag started making ominous noises during the rinse cycle (appliance guy said it was "cavitation" noise).

Appliance guy wanted to replace the whole detergent/rinse aid compartment but since he told me the noise was probably caused by the dish soap stuck in the rinse aid compartment, I decided to try to get rid of it first. Here is the method that worked for me; it took most of a day but saved me parts & labor:

1. Get some white vinegar--I used nearly a quart.
2. Fill the rinse aid compartment to brim with the vinegar (overfill) but don't put cap on
3. Raise the dishwasher door slowly until the vinegar drains into the lower part of the chamber (at least this is how my Maytag worked)
4. Agitate the contents as best you can by rapidly shaking the dishwasher door up & down.
5. I also used a small plastic medicine dropper jammed into small openings on each side of the rinse aid compartment to agitate the vinegar by squeezing air into them.
6. Drain the compartment by closing the dishwasher door (move it to full vertical)--vinegar will drain into the bottom of the dishwasher.
7. Repeat above steps a couple times, then fill again w/vinegar, put the cap on and let it stand for awhile. Then drain and repeat the whole routine several times.
8. Blue-colored vinegar will come out which is a good sign (or whatever color your dish soap was).
9. After awhile, I started pouring generous amts of very hot tap water thru the rinse aid compartment, alternating with white vinegar. (No reason you can't use hot vinegar also.)
10. Eventually, all the blue stuff came out & the see-thru levels of the rinse aid compartment were completely clear/empty.
11. Run the dishwasher (I decided to not put any rinse aid in). I got some overfoaming (from the washed out soap) the first time I ran it which I probably could have remedied by adding more vinegar & possibly salt, but the noises were gone!
I just ran the cleaned out dishwasher a 2nd time & it was back to its quiet self with no overfoaming.

Takes some patience but hey, beats a big repair bill!!

Most likely the actuator for the rinse aid dispenser is not functioning.