Can vinegar damage a DW heating element?
MNRebecca
this morning. Some of the white has chipped off the heating element.
There was a spoon sitting beside it on the bottom of the washer that
apparently fell out of the silverware basket sometime during/after the
last wash. Two questions:
1. Which is more likely to have damaged the heating element, the
spoon or the cup of vinegar I dump into the recessed well at the
beginning of each load (that does such a fabulous job preventing
'lime' buildup throughout the machine and keeping my glasses spotless
despite my beloved hard water)? I've never noticed heating element
damage before and I've been using the vinegar for at least a year now.
2. How much time do I have to fix the heating element? Is there a
setting I can use that takes it offline (so to speak), giving me
longer to fix it? I need a plumbing house call for work on the
furnace exhaust and intake pipes and it would be nice to combine the
visits, but the pipe work requires temperatures warm enough to dry
exterior caulk and we're going through a cold windy/rainy/snowy patch
in Minnesota right now.
Thanks! RW
Malcom "Mal" Reynolds
<fc7e6fbf-9228-4c28-a9dc-ba86180372d4@o1
4g2000yqb.googlegroups.com>,
MNRebecca <web...@morris.umn.edu>
wrote:
> Noticed some damage to my Whirlpool Gold Silent Partner III dishwasher
> this morning. Some of the white has chipped off the heating element.
> There was a spoon sitting beside it on the bottom of the washer that
> apparently fell out of the silverware basket sometime during/after the
> last wash. Two questions:
>
> 1. Which is more likely to have damaged the heating element, the
> spoon or the cup of vinegar I dump into the recessed well at the
> beginning of each load (that does such a fabulous job preventing
> 'lime' buildup throughout the machine and keeping my glasses spotless
> despite my beloved hard water)? I've never noticed heating element
> damage before and I've been using the vinegar for at least a year now.
I would guess that you are using too
much vinegar too frequently, but that
shouldn't cause your problem
>
> 2. How much time do I have to fix the heating element? Is there a
> setting I can use that takes it offline (so to speak), giving me
> longer to fix it? I need a plumbing house call for work on the
> furnace exhaust and intake pipes and it would be nice to combine the
> visits, but the pipe work requires temperatures warm enough to dry
> exterior caulk and we're going through a cold windy/rainy/snowy patch
> in Minnesota right now.
There should be an "air dry" or
"economizer" setting that doesn't use
the heater element.
Should be easy enough to replace...OTOH,
patching the chipped off part with some
form of epoxy might make for an easy
repair
>
> Thanks! RW
MNRebecca
bug...@invalid.invalid> wrote:
> Should be easy enough to replace...OTOH,
> patching the chipped off part with some
> form of epoxy might make for an easy
> repair
Epoxy...I think I have some of that, in a liquid form that you apply
with a paintbrush. I used it to resurface my cast iron sink after
staining the surface 'porcelain' with brown fabric dye. Does that
sound like the right stuff? Seems like it wouldn't be strong enough
for a heating element, given that you can't put a hot pan in the sink
without damaging it...
I'm clueless here so I won't be hurt to be set straight on these
topics.
RW
MNRebecca
suspects what chipped off the heating element was NOT part OF the
heating element but merely detergent build-up from years of hard-water
use. Now that chalky, caked-on build-up is being consistently
weakened by the vinegar I've been using for about a year. He says the
vinegar won't hurt the machine, it will only continue to clean it, and
I should just forge ahead and enjoy watching my heating element get
cleaner and cleaner.
What threw me is that, with all the build up, my heating element looks
white, and so do images I've seen on-line of dish washer heating
elements. So I looked at one in the hardware store today (for a water
heater). It was copper-colored (no doubt because it's made of
copper).
What chipped off last week was about 1/16th of an inch thick, chalky
white on the outside and dark-colored on the inside...black or dark
green, maybe, like stuff is that comes in contact with copper?
Thoughts?
RW
Gary Heston
MNRebecca <web...@morris.umn.edu> wrote:
[ ... ]
>What chipped off last week was about 1/16th of an inch thick, chalky
>white on the outside and dark-colored on the inside...black or dark
>green, maybe, like stuff is that comes in contact with copper?
>Thoughts?
I'm inclined to agree with your plumber. Sounds like lime buildup from
hard water; removing it will let your element heat the water more
efficiently (the buildup acts like insulation) and prolong the life
of the element.
Gary
--
Gary Heston ghe...@hiwaay.net http://www.thebreastcancersite.com/
Did you hear about the new saint, San Adreas? He's the patron saint of
blame, it's all his fault.