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^ Yep. These guys who are suggesting you run it once in awhile are correct. The p-trap/water-trap has gotten dry, and is letting sewer gases back up into the dishwasher.
I heard if the dishwasher doesn't get used, a lot of bad things could happen that makes it not useable if one day out of the blue it's needed. I guess this is one of those bad things... gaskets getting hardened is what someone told me.
I ran mine (for the first time) and it took 3 hrs + for the shortest cycle to complete. Also, it uses the hottest water (I think it even heated the water on its own since the inside was HOT at the end) which is almost overkill - got things clean for sure. I hate to see my electric bill skyrocket using the DW.... so wondering am I hurting anything if I manually end the cycle after the 1st hour?
thanks guys, the line underneath the sink hasn't fallen, i can see where the plumber created a hook line to hang it up. i also ran a cycle with bleach and i always clean the sink disposal all the time. Since it is a rental the management has requested for another plumber to come and take a look at it again for us.
I heard if the dishwasher doesn't get used, a lot of bad things could happen that makes it not useable if one day out of the blue it's needed. I guess this is one of those bad things... gaskets getting hardened is what someone told me.
I ran mine (for the first time) and it took 3 hrs + for the shortest cycle to complete. Also, it uses the hottest water (I think it even heated the water on its own since the inside was HOT at the end) which is almost overkill - got things clean for sure. I hate to see my electric bill skyrocket using the DW.... so wondering am I hurting anything if I manually end the cycle after the 1st hour?
3 hours is really crazy. Mine takes around 90-110 minutes usually, and that is already longer than some older units. It determines by itself how many minutes when I turn it on, but it's always in that range somewhere on regular cycle. I can give it a power scrub cycle which is a little longer. The shortest cycle on mine is quick wash which is much shorter, like under an hour.
The only thing about canceling the cycle midway is when did the soap go in? Depending upon when it may dispense soap or rinse aid would be a factor in that dishes might not be all the way rinsed. Other than that, there is usually a way to cancel and drain the machine, which is the other thing you would need to do. Of course if you're only running it empty once in a while just to put water through it, you can just run it for any short time you want. Rinse and hold if it has that option should just take about 10 minutes (all it does is fill up and then spray for a few minutes and then drain).
A modern dishwasher is actually very efficient. For the vast majority of people, it is overall more efficient than hand washing dishes. The amount of water and electricity used is fairly minimal.
I believe mine runs for about 3 hours as well. Maytag as I recall. It does take breaks in between. Also, I believe its full cycle only uses about 6 gallons of water. If you don't use the high-temp water options, as noted, they're about as efficient as hand-washing.
I believe mine runs for about 3 hours as well. Maytag as I recall. It does take breaks in between. Also, I believe its full cycle only uses about 6 gallons of water. If you don't use the high-temp water options, as noted, they're about as efficient as hand-washing.
Mine is Whirpool, 7 yrs old. I selected the shortest cycle, without the 'Sanitize' option (which probably means even higher temp). BUT, given how hot the interior was at the end when I opened the door, it does not make sense that I'd be saving money. In fact, I can't imagine it can be possible to make the cycle even hotter than it already was.
6 gallons.... does it mean the water is filtered and re-sprayed again and again for 3 hrs?
Mine is Whirpool, 7 yrs old. I selected the shortest cycle, without the 'Sanitize' option (which probably means even higher temp). BUT, given how hot the interior was at the end when I opened the door, it does not make sense that I'd be saving money. In fact, I can't imagine it can be possible to make the cycle even hotter than it already was.
6 gallons.... does it mean the water is filtered and re-sprayed again and again for 3 hrs?
Filtered a little, yes but they do fill and drain at least 2x in a full cycle maybe 3. The key is because it's spraying all around each "fill" only takes a couple gallons. It's not taking up new water the whole time in that wash cycle, it is pumping the same couple gallons of fill water around the whole time.
A number of studies have been done about the efficiency aspect. Basically it comes down to hand washing wasting a ton of water for most people. The little bit of added electricity from the dishwasher doesn't offset the amount of water wasted. Also the dishwasher will use hotter water than you could use by hand resulting in perhaps cleaner dishes in some cases.
That said, ultra-efficient hand washers can still beat the efficiency (such as if you're filling up a tub for both wash and rinse so you're not running the tap too much), and if you have a really old machine like 15-20 years it's probably not quite as efficient as a more recent one. But in general, the dishwasher (if in good working order) is a time saver without an efficiency penalty. It's not a time-saver in terms of how quickly you get the clean dishes, as you could hand wash them faster. It's a time-saver because while they're washing you can do something else, like post on City-Data. (My dishwasher was running up until a few minutes ago.)
Mine is Whirpool, 7 yrs old. I selected the shortest cycle, without the 'Sanitize' option (which probably means even higher temp). BUT, given how hot the interior was at the end when I opened the door, it does not make sense that I'd be saving money. In fact, I can't imagine it can be possible to make the cycle even hotter than it already was.
Besides "Sanitize", does yours also have a "temperature sense" option? If so, turn that off as well. Basically, both options at some point in the entire cycle are used to increase temps beyond what your hot water tank is supplying. The only time we ever use either is when washing our canning supplies. If we do it when some things like tupperware are in there, it may melt them so we avoid the chance.
I run my machine everyday, sometimes twice a day and I have the same problem. When the water is draining for the cycle is smells like horrible sewer! Don't know how to get rid of the smell!
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(My dishwasher was running up until a few minutes ago.)
