New dishwasher has rusted by the salt refill

[EmGee]

This ins't normal is it?? It was installed (with the kitchen) in mid-July and already has rust marks round the base of the salt refill bit. I thought it was tea dregs at first but no.

What make is it? That's a sign of poor quality/cheap/faulty stainless steel.

Was it left unused for a while?

Apart from a Marine grade, stainless will corrode in contact with salt; but the inside of the cabinet should never be salty, except if some is spilt when the vessel is topped up, and the machine is not run to rinse it away.

European brands will normally use a good grade of stainless, but some Chinese stainless is notorious for poor quality. You usually see tiny black pits appearing in it, but sometimes a rusty smear that can be polished off with a green nylon scourer.

It's a Candy.

Was left unused for the month of August while we were on holiday but I had used the machine since refiling the salt and also taken are to make sure no salt particules were left inside the machine (remember reading that in the instructions of my previous dishwasher).

I've only noticed the rust stain in the last ten days or so (so the machine has had plenty of use since we were back from holiday).

rub it off with a green scourer, and keep an eye on it.

I wonder if the cap was not sealing tightly and salty water seeped out. It might happen if cross-threaded or there was salt under the cap when you put it on. If it is an ongoing problem then you will find the salt gets used up strangely quickly.

Thankyou Piglet. I will monitor salt. Just refilled it today. I live in a very hard water area so it generally needs refilling quite regularly.

Is there any chance OP got rust because the machine is releasing too much salt per wash?

no, there should never be any salt or salty water inside the cabinet, it is only used to regenerate the miniature water softener.