Wednesday, November 24, 2010

New and Used parts! Check us out!

Time for holiday baking and cooking, but stove doesn't work? We have just what you need, bake elements, broil elements, glow bars and more! Plus our service guy could do the work for you! Check us out in our store, or online at balcum.com.

Monday, November 8, 2010

Dishes not drying in your dishwasher?

Here are some tips if your dishes are not drying in your dishwasher. Do you use a rinse aid in your dishwasher? If not, try using that if you have a stainless steel tub. The rinse aid helps reduce water droplets. If you have a plastic tub, however you may need a service call for a heating element. If you try the rinse aid and your dishes are still coming out wet, check to see how much plastic dishes you are washing, they can exacerbate the problem. You may notice that the plastic comes out with water droplets on them still; well that's because plastic doesn't hold heat the same as your other dishes.
Your dishwasher has a drying process, so it's final rinse process is important, the water heats at very high temperatures and your dishes hold a lot of heat as well. In a stainless steel dishwasher the tub collects moisture and condensation naturally occurs.
Some other tips don't prewash your dishes, scrape off the big food particles. Because your dishwasher does that for you, and when your dishes go in clean your dishwasher cuts the cleaning time down, which then causes it to not get hot enough. But mainly use your rinse aid and don't wash your dishes before you put them in your dishwasher.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Dishwasher not cleaning well?

Here are some good trouble shooting tips about your dishwasher.
Many of todays dish soaps contain phosphates, which needs food residue to break down, and without that you see that film on your dishes, but too much soap doesn't allow your dishes to get clean. It leaves the dishes with a white film and mostly on the top rack. Too much soap causes over sudsing, where the dishwasher tries to drain as much soap and food particles as it can. But when its over sudsed the little soap bubbles pop, causing food particles to get back onto the dishes. Then you really notice the film on your glasses and things. How much soap to use? You should only use half the amount of soap as directed on the package, and if you have hot water softener you should only use 1-2 tbsp of powder and even less with liquid soap. So there are some tips on using soap in your dishwasher.
Here is a good tip on cleaning your dishwasher: Run a vinegar cycle with no dishes and no soap, but close the soap dispenser. Now run your dishwasher till it hits the wash cycle, open it to see if the soap dispenser opened and if it has not opened yet run for a few more minutes until it opens. Once the soap dispenser opens, add 1 cup vinegar and let run till done. This helps the dishwasher break down the build up of soap, so your dishes come out clean. You may need to run the vinegar cycle a few times to get rid of all the build up.