RCA PSD430, PSD400 Hot Water Rinse, Agents, Detergents, Preparation, Detergent Dispensers, Dish

Grasp handle, rotate and close tightly

How to Choose and Use the Right Detergent

Use only powder or liquid detergent specifically made for use in dishwashers. Other types will cause oversudsing.

How much detergent should you use? That depends. Is your water ‘‘hard’’ or ‘‘soft’’? With hard water, you need extra detergent to get dishes clean. With soft water, you need less detergent.

Your water department can tell you how hard your water is. So can your county extension agent or your area’s water softener company. Just call and ask them how many ‘‘grains’’ of hardness there are in your water.

Too much detergent with soft water not only wastes money, it can be harmful. It can cause a permanent cloudiness of glassware, called ‘‘etching.’’ An outside layer of glass is etched away! Of course, this takes some time. But why take a chance when it’s easy to find out the hardness of your water.

Keep your detergent fresh and dry. Under the sink isn’t a good place to store detergent because there is too much moisture. Don’t put powder detergent into the dispenser until you’re ready to wash dishes, either. (It won’t be fresh OR dry.)

If your powder detergent gets old or lumpy, throw it away. Old detergent often won’t dissolve. If you use a liquid dishwasher detergent, these precautions are not necessary because liquid detergents don’t ‘‘lump’’ as they age or come in contact with moisture.

Hot Water

Rinse

Detergent Dispensers

You’ll find two detergent dispensers on the inside door of your dishwasher. Two, because

some cycles use two washes.		Open
See ‘‘Detergent Usage Guide’’ below.		Cup
(Be sure the CYCLE INDICATOR
DIAL is at OFF position before
adding detergent. Otherwise,
the detergent cup will not
	Main
close and latch properly.)	Cup

Close the main cup.

NOTE: To open detergent cup after it has been closed, unlatch the door and rotate the Cycle Indicator Dial a full turn

to the OFF position. When the closed cup contains soap it is best that the door be in a partially open position before rotating the

Cycle Indicator Dial. This will help reduce the amount of detergent and rinse aid agent spillage into the tub.

Agents

Detergent Usage Guide (powder or liquid)

	SOFT WATER (0-3 grains hardness)			MEDIUM WATER (3-7 grains)				HARD WATER (7-12 grains*)
CYCLES
	Main Cup		Open Cup	Main Cup		Open Cup		Main Cup‡		Open Cup‡
POTS & PANS	Half Full		Half Full	Completely		Half Full		Completely		Completely
		+			+				+
NORMAL WASH				Full				Full		Full
WATER SAVER	Half Full		None	Half Full		None		Completely		None
								Full
RINSE & HOLD	Use no detergent			Use no detergent				Use no detergent
*12 grains and up is extremely hard water. A water softener is recommended. Without it, lime							‡Filled Main Cup holds 3 tablespoons;
can build up in the water valve. The water valve may stick while open and cause flooding.							filled Open Cup holds 2 tablespoons.

Detergents

Dish

How to Prepare the Dishes for Washing

If this is your first dishwasher, or if you’re replacing a much older model, you may wonder how much preparation your dishes need. Actually very little. Scrape off bones, seeds, skins, toothpicks and other hard solids. Remove excessive quantities of oil or grease.

NOTE: You may also want to consider removing foods such as mustard, mayonnaise, vinegar, lemon juice and other foods that can cause discoloration of stainless steel if allowed to remain on dishes for a long period of time.

The POTS & PANS cycle can wash heavily soiled
dishes and remove dried-on and baked-on soils from
pots, pans and casseroles. Items with burned-on	7
soils need extra preparation.

Preparation