--- title: "Dishwasher not cleaning" description: "Bertazzoni dishwasher not cleaning: the cycle runs, the time counts down, and things come out dirty — or only the top rack does." url: "https://bertazzonimiami.support/symptoms/dishwasher-not-cleaning/" date_modified: "2026-08-27" Appliance type: "Dishwashers" --- # Bertazzoni dishwasher not cleaning ### The fastest diagnosis is what you can see Spin both spray arms by hand — they should turn freely and every port should be open. Then lift the filter and look at it. Between them these two checks account for more wash complaints than any part does, and both take under five minutes with the machine cold. ### Hard water is the background condition Every dishwasher in this city works against mineral content, and it shows in a specific order: film on glass, then spray-arm ports that have narrowed, then a heater that takes longer than it did, then a machine that is not really washing. A descale and a filter clean fix a real share of the calls that arrive as “the dishwasher is dying”. ### Two free checks that beat any description Spin the arms and lift the filter. If the arms turn freely with open ports and the filter is clean and it still will not wash, then the water temperature and the circulation pump are worth a technician. If either check fails, you have found the problem in five minutes. Spray arms blocked or not turning Scale narrows the ports from the inside; a tall utensil in the rack stops the arm physically. An arm that cannot reach the back of the top rack produces exactly the pattern people describe. A filter nobody has lifted in a year A loaded filter recirculates what it caught. Free to fix and genuinely common. Water not hot enough A heater that has partly failed does not wash and does not dry, so it produces both halves of the complaint at once. Hard water and scale The background condition for every dishwasher in South Florida. It narrows arms, slows heaters and leaves film, and it is maintenance rather than a part. The circulation pump A real candidate once arms, filter, scale and heat have been eliminated. Not before. Spin both arms Freely, with open ports. Cold machine, door open. Lift the filter And look at what is in it and under it. Top rack or both Top only points at the upper arm or its feed. Run the hot tap at the sink first A dishwasher that starts with a tub of cold water is a slow, poor wash. This is free to test. Arms, scale, and the local water What it usually means Only the top rack coming out dirty Film or grit left on everything Cycles that run normally and achieve nothing The fastest diagnosis is what you can see Spin both spray arms by hand — they should turn freely and every port should be open. Then lift the filter and look at it. Between them these two checks account for more wash complaints than any part does, and both take under five minutes with the machine cold. Hard water is the background condition Every dishwasher in this city works against mineral content, and it shows in a specific order: film on glass, then spray-arm ports that have narrowed, then a heater that takes longer than it did, then a machine that is not really washing. A descale and a filter clean fix a real share of the calls that arrive as “the dishwasher is dying”. Two free checks that beat any description Spin the arms and lift the filter. If the arms turn freely with open ports and the filter is clean and it still will not wash, then the water temperature and the circulation pump are worth a technician. If either check fails, you have found the problem in five minutes. ### It leaves a white film on everything. That is the local water rather than the machine. Hard water leaves mineral film on glass regardless of how healthy the dishwasher is. Rinse aid genuinely helps and a periodic descale helps more. If the film is etched rather than deposited — cloudy and it does not come off — that is permanent, and it is a signal to reduce detergent rather than a repair. ### Only the top rack comes out dirty. The upper spray arm is not getting water or not turning. Common causes: a blocked feed at the back of the tub, an arm clogged with scale, or something in the rack physically stopping it. Spin it by hand before you call — if it does not turn freely you have found it. ### Should I be pre-rinsing? Scrape, do not rinse. Modern detergents need something to work on and a completely pre-rinsed load can genuinely wash worse. What does need removing is anything that will block the filter — bones, stickers, and the things that end up as glass in the sump. --- **[Read full article: Dishwasher not cleaning](https://bertazzonimiami.support/symptoms/dishwasher-not-cleaning/)**