What Happens Inside a Dishwasher?
The natural curiosity of the human mind always wants to know what is going on behind a closed door. A closed dishwasher door is no exception. All most of us know is we put in dirty dishes and detergent into this machine, press a couple of buttons and about an hour later the dishes are clean, wet and hot. Here’s what happened inside the dishwasher during that hour behind a closed door.
Water Fills Basin
When the machine is turned on, water fills the basin in the bottom. Depending on the model, the clean water may be cold or hot when it first enters the machine. The heating element(s) turn on and heat the water to between 105 and 155 degrees Fahrenheit (required water temperature varies by machine model and user settings).
Detergent Dispenses
When the basin is filled with water that has reached the correct temperature, the detergent dispenser opens and the liquid, granules or pod of soap goes into the water and mixes to create soapy wash water. An internal pump propels the soapy water through the spray arm(s) with enough force to make the arms spin inside the machine to cover all dishes with soapy water.
Wash and Drain
If the machine is set on a normal cycle, the arms will spin the soapy water around for about 30 minutes. The spray arms will stop spinning and pump located in the bottom of the dishwasher will drain the dirty water out of the machine and down through the drain pipes under the kitchen sink.
Rinse and Dry
The bottom basin will again fill with clean water (no soap and no heat) and the internal pump will again propel clean water through the spinning arms and onto the dishes to rinse all traces of detergent off of them. Rinse water is drained out of the machine bottom and down the sink drain pipes just like the soapy wash water.
When the water has been completely drained, the bottom heating element (the same one the heats the wash water) turns on to dry the now clean dishes with heat. You can select a ‘no heat drying’ option on the dishwasher or simply open the door and allow clean dishes to air dry.
Pre or Post Rinse
The pre-rinse or post-rinse cycle works the same way, but the machine runs through just the rinse cycle and uses heated water without detergent.
