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Shoutout to the guy who swore by vinegar for cleaning dishwasher pumps, I thought it was a joke until my Milwaukee thermal camera showed the temp drop after a cycle.
I was sure a chemical cleaner was needed for scale, but after seeing the heat signature normalize on a Whirlpool unit that was tripping its thermal fuse, I'm debating if we overcomplicate simple fixes versus always reaching for the specialized products.
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claire_hayes351mo agoMost Upvoted
That bit about the forty page forum on carburetor jets is too real. We get so deep into the theory of a problem we forget the goal is just to make the thing work again. Sometimes the simple fix works because it's the one you'll actually do right now.
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linda6581mo ago
Debating if we overcomplicate simple fixes" is the story of my life. My dad still fixes his lawnmower with a bent paperclip and duct tape while I'm online reading 40 page forums about OEM carburetor jets. We probably spent more on that "specialized descaling gel" than the thermal camera cost. Next time my sink is slow I'm just pouring a soda in there.
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the_charles8h ago
...and the thing is, that vinegar trick has been around since before thermal cameras were a thing. I've fixed three dishwasher pumps now with just white vinegar and an old turkey baster. You run a hot cycle with two cups in the bottom, then stop it halfway and let it soak for twenty minutes. It breaks down the calcium scale way better than those expensive tablets because it actually gets into the tight spots where the deposits build up. The thermal fuse tripping is usually from the pump working too hard, not a bad part. Once you clear that scale out the motor doesn't have to struggle and the whole system runs cooler. Sometimes the old school fixes are just physics that the fancy products try to charge you extra for.
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