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Dishwasher slow to drain, have to clean every few months.

Sorry, I'm at work right now and don't know the make/model of my home dishwasher. I DO know that it's on the old side, at least 12 years old, but it still works perfectly (other than this issue) and doesn't leak.

About two years ago I noticed that the my dishes weren't as clean as they normally would be. I checked the bottom of the dishwasher and found it to be dirty. I cleaned it and my dishes were clean again and I thought nothing of it. Several months later it happened again. I cleaned it again, this time making a mental note of the date. About 4-5 months later it happened again, but this time I noticed it slowly accumulating in the bottom of the dishwasher. It seems to get exponentially worse; it takes several weeks to get a little bit on the bottom, but then it takes less time for it to get worse, and even less time to get worse still.

I had an appliance repair guy in to take a look at it. He doesn't know what the problem is; the dishwasher is level, the drain is clear, and all of the pumps are up to spec.

What's causing this and short of replacing the dishwasher how can I fix it?

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Steve Godun- I'm sure that dishwasher has been smelly too. You have a serious drainage problem from the home plumbing. It's backing up into the dishwasher. Looks like mold has started to grow. Not healthy. That has gotten into all the water lines in the dishwasher, including spray arms and recirculating pump. Once you getting the drain hose connected properly so not to drain into dishwasher, you will need to clean, disinfect the dishwasher. There are products in the dishwasher detergent isle for cleaning the dishwasher.

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Steve Godun - The problem is the way the drain hose is connected to the sink or disposal. There should be a loop in the drain hose under the sink. When I say loop, it means the hose need to be supported higher than where it connects to the sink or disposal. If the hose comes out of sink/disposal and goes down to dishwasher, so will the stuff in your sink. If you have is come out and up and then down to dishwasher that will prevent all the nasty water and food that goes in you sink from going down the hose. Water will take the path of lest resistance, and the drain hose going down to the dishwasher is the easiest path. Water won't go upstream. Just loop the hose above that connection and secure it with zip ties.

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@secondlife this is a bit hard to see. It appears more to be corrosion than other debris. Both of those areas are the low levels on your bottom pan. You do want to check if you have water actually running back into your dishwasher or not getting pumped out properly. We do need to get your dishwashers make and model so we can try to assist you further.

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@secondlife oops;-)

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Steve will be eternally grateful.
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