Dishwasher overflow

[John T Smith]

Doing dishes today and water was coming out the overflow pipe next to the sink

Wife called a plumber she knows... he asked when was the last time we put a cup of white vinegar in the washer... in a bowl so the vinegar would "time release" as the cycle ran... to dissolve the "gunk" that builds up inside the drain tube

Seems that a "thin" film of food waste will build up inside the drain tube, even with rinsing dishes, so now once a month I will put a bowl on the top rack  (no place on the bottom rack due to the dividers for plates) with vinegar so the vinegar will release as the water bounces off the top and into the bowl

This is of course, after removing everything  under the sink so I could put a shop towel down to partially crawl underneath to remove the rubber drain tube to use a screwdriver and my finger to reach in and remove the built up layer of residue

[Chuck Uebele]

Good suggestion. 

[Nancy OShea]

Yeah, that dishwasher sludge is nasty and the trap on mine is really difficult to reach. Unfortunately, vinegar alone doesn't always get the job done. I have to periodically get on hands & knees and climb into my dishwasher to get the assembly apart.  It's one of the worst household chores ever. 

But white vinegar is a+++ for cleaning the microwave.  Place vinegar in a small coffee/tea cup.  High power for 2 -3 minutes.  Wait 30 minutes.  Wipe down interior and door with clean sponge dipped in vinegar.  Rinse.  Pour leftover vinegar down your sink for fresher smelling drains.

[PECourtejoie]

I'm puzzled and lost, I thought this was the Lounge, but it seems that I'm in the kitchen 😉

Yes, and I routinely take apart and clean all the sinks' P traps...

[John T Smith]

Back when Bill Hunt aka Wine Snob was a member this was sometimes the wine room to discuss vintages

[KShinabery212]

Who needs a plumber?

Unhook the pipes.... take a photo of the inside and then just mask the ickyness out and rebuild it.

Oh wait. Darn real world things do not get cleaned up in Photoshop.

Dear Adobe please make a version of Photoshop that allows us to use it in the real world.

Kidding of course.  That sucks.  We have water damage at the moment and have 6 machines running to dry things.  Such a mess.  4 to 6 weeks of running those machines nonstop... then they will put everything back together and repaint.  Such a pain in my rear end.

[Nancy OShea]

We have water damage at the moment and have 6 machines running to dry things.  Such a mess.

======

Kenn,

Are you in a flood zone?

[michelle_2430]

It’s interesting how something as simple as vinegar can help tackle that buildup in the drain tube. I never thought about using it in the washer like that. I’ll give that a try next time I do my dishes. It makes sense that even with rinsing, food waste can still accumulate. Kudos to you for tackling the messy part under the sink, too!

[Ricky336]

Oh, the problems of the modern world. If one does the dishes by hand, this problem no longer exists!😁

[John T Smith]

Except hand washing means needing lotion to have soft hands after hot water and strong detergent

[Ricky336]

To protect hands, one can always use rubber gloves.😊Secondly, many brands of dishwashing liquid are also soft on the hands according to the manufacturers! 😁

[Nancy OShea]

If one does the dishes by hand, this problem no longer exists!

By @Ricky336

==========

Hand-washing wastes too much water.  A standard dishwasher uses around 3–4 gallons of water per cycle, while hand-washing can use up to 27 gallons.

[Ricky336]

If one does the dishes by hand, this problem no longer exists!

By @Ricky336

==========

Hand-washing wastes too much water.  A standard dishwasher uses around 3–4 gallons of water per cycle, while hand-washing can use up to 27 gallons.

By @Nancy OShea

Actually, it doesn't!! It depends on how you wash the dishes. 😊 I think many people these days have lost the art of hand-washing. 

Also being not American, I had to convert gallons to liters, so this means 27 gallons is 102.20L!! That's a lot!

[Nancy OShea]

Sadly, I have receipts to prove it.  😝

The cost of water is very expensive here.

[Chuck Uebele]

Our place, here on the central Coast has an interesting way to charge for water. It seems that the local residents own part of the water company. We are charge a minimum rate for water, even if we're not here to use it. Then you get charged more per tier of usage.

[Nancy OShea]

We are charged a minimum rate for water, even if we're not here to use it. Then you get charged more per tier of usage.

By @Chuck Uebele

============

Right.  Ours is similarly structured.

Our water district has five rate tiers, with Tier 1 being the base water allotment for indoor needs. The rest of the water budget is in Tier 2.  But if a customer exceeds their water budget, they can be charged four times the base rate for usage in Tiers 3–5.  Ouch, ouch, ouch!  😮 

[PaintedKitty]

Sometimes you need to give the dishwasher a bit of a hand. 🙂

I scrub the dishes with dish soap before I load them into the dishwasher. I do not use any extra water to do this so I also don't even rinse them. Whatever is on the dishes I use. I know its a bit gross but whatever. They'll get cleaned nicely in the machine. I usually add a bit of this stuff called "Lemi Shine" along with the usual dish washer soap to get everything spotless.

Before I take care of the dishes, I let them sit in a bit of water. I don't fill the sink but I let some water sit in the dishes. Its easier to scrape them with a scrubby sponge before I place them into the machine.

[Nancy OShea]

Dawn Powerwash cuts through grime before stacking.