5 year old dishwasher ? Is that their lifespan ?

[purple15]

I have been reading loads of threads about dishwashers, most of the time it doesnt come clean.

I have followed some of the recomendations and have cleaned all the parts. I have used the cleaning products that you run on empty to clean the machine. I have used the Fairy Platinum tablets.

Is 5 years about their lifespan ?

Many thankss.

[HowlingOScara]

No idea what the problem could be with yours but mine is 9 years old and, apart from having to press buttons in a certain peculiar sequence to start it, is still working fine.

[paneer]

Mine is also 9 years old and washes fine.

Are you overloading?

Something causing a blockage?

[purple15]

I just think these days things are not built to last.

A while ago my mil had a washer for over 20 years. I think the dishwasher needs replacing. I really feel thinks should last longer.

[PandaNot]

Mine is now 14 years old and still going strong, although I realise now that I've said that it is bound to stop working.

[PigletJohn]

Bosch, 15 years?

You haven't said what make it is.

Tell us how often you clean the filters (mine has three); do you use salt; have you taken the arms off and cleaned them as described in the instruction book?

When you say I have followed some of the recomendations which are the recommendations you haven't followed?

[purple15]

Its a smeg, which I thought was a descent one. Yes, I have taken arms off, cleaned the filters every few days. Did get some salt, but apparantly in our area we dont need salt.
So, I feel I have tried everything, do I just replace ?

[schmalex]

My Neff died after 10 years, still washed fine up to that point though.

I then got a Smeg and found it was faulty when it was new. So I sent it back and got another Neff. I am not a Smeg fan.

[Imnotaslimjim]

Mine is 15 years+ and still going strong. It has a dial that sticks so you have to move it on manually but other than that its brill

Did you put the salt in? I'd give it a try, you never know.

[Sonnet]

Mine is 12 years old and stopped working last month Just after I congratulated it for lasting so long
But, to my delight I got someone out who was able to mend it! He said the best thing to use is rinse aid even if you use all inclusive tablets.

[purple15]

Will try today with everything washed, once again, then I will use one of the cleaners that you wash with nothing in, then I will add salt and rinse aid.

Then, If it is still dirty, I have no choice but to replace.

There is always something. Son and Daughter birthday next week, one a eighteenth. Then Christmas. The £250 I could really do with !

[Flisspaps]

Ours is at least 6yo - it was looking rather aged when we moved in to our house in 2006 and still works. It occasionally leaks and the handles dropped off, but it still cleans the plates and it beats actually washing up!

[ByTheWay1]

Ours is 14yo Bosch - had to take the arms off and hook out paper when littlest left a tissue stuck to the bottom of her plate and it bunged up the workings - we used the Fairy normal tablets til recently, had to "upgrade" to the Platinum ones as the normal ones stopped de-staining the teacups....

[MoreBeta]

It depends on the make of the appliance.

To be honest, if prices of decent quality Chinese made appliances started falling, I am wondering whether buying a series of them to throw away after 5 years might be better than buying an expensive European brand appliance and hoping it will last 20 years.

[dreamingofsun]

have you had someone out to look at it? ours is 14 years old, but has had various parts replaced over the years. heating elements can break, so cleaning with cold water - which obviously doesn't work that well and things can get bunged up, so not enough water gets used.

[MackerelOfFact]

Mine was barely working for ages, but cleaning the arms thoroughly made an enormous difference. Every week or so I remove the arms and filter, fill a bucket with soapy water, and shake the arms vigorously up and down in the water for a couple of minutes. This brings out a lot of debris (including things like sweetcorn kernels and oats and other things you wouldn't imagine would fit through the holes!) Seems to make a massive difference. Cleaning them as per the manufacturer's instructions didn't really seem to do anything.

Try taking out the arms and see if they rattle - if they do they're probably clogged with debris, so try the above.

[PigletJohn]

I have heard of people getting congealed fat blockages in the pipework, you have to take the side off and dismantle the parts to clear, which is a bit beyond normal owner servicing. I have never experienced this and am surprised it can happen with the powerful detergent in the tabs, but I suppose if you have greasy roasting pans or something it might build up. I always wipe fat out with kitchen roll before washing which probably helps.

[dreamingofsun]

if you live in a hard water area you can get limescale build up in things.

[PigletJohn]

good point about the heater - if you open the door during the washing cycle, is the water very hot and the arms spinning round?

[purple15]

It does get hot, I have opened the door during the cycle and it is really hot.

Well, yesterday I tried everything. Washed all the arms, filter etc. I went into town and got the washer for it, the one you use whilst the machine is empty. I put it on this morning and the items ( some of them ) are still dirty.

I think I will bite the bullet and purchase a new one.

[Fluffycloudland77]

It does sound like a rubbish one to be honest, I was bought up with a dishwasher and we've never had a bad one. Mum used to do my baby bottles in them.

Evil SIL has one that doesnt wash properly but it's a rubbish make.

Bosch logixx are brilliant, or the avantixx? one only uses 6.5l of water per cycle.

[fussychica]

I've been married for 34 years yes I'm ancient and have had a dishwasher for 32 of them. Only had 3, have all been Bosch or AEG and none have gone wrong just been left in the kitchen we left each time we moved.

[pennycurie]

I bought a john Lewis dishwasher in 2010...it seems to have gone wrong again. the make was JLBIDW901. It cost £549. We also purchased an extended warrenty which has now run out.
I have regularly used salt, rinse aid, dishwasher cleaner, cleaned arms etc
It does not clean mugs if the tea rings are dried on ...when the engineer came out last November he said that was normal.
It now cannot turn on at all and just goes peep peep.
The manual says that this could mean there is something wrong with the sink spigot (I do not know what that is?) or that the watertaps are furred with limscale or the waterhoses have not been fitted properly.

Some lucky Mums on Mumsnet seem to have dishwashers that go on much longer...is 5 to 6 years normal for the life time of a dishwasher?

[Davegeo]

Sounds like everybody here has had rather better experiences with dishwashers than I have - I moved into my current house late 2014, only to have the built in dishwasher that came with it (as old as the house, so 10 years old) break after one use. We then got a Hotpoint LTF11M132C_SS which has just stopped working with a broken control board and apparently might not be fixable! The engineer seems to think 2-3 years is all you can expect from a dishwasher, which makes them rather blinking expensive per year!

[Numberonecook]

Our dishwasher is now 22 years old! It's had a new bottom rack but apart from that it's still good. Doesn't smell and looks clean. It's a zanussi of that helps ?

[OCSockOrphanage]

My repair man tells his relatives to buy Zanussi as they tend to be reliable and so he doesn't need to do their machines free! Mine's a Bosch. It's getting on, but he's kept it going at fairly minimal cost.