Can You Take Apart Dishwasher Spray Arm?

Often the spray arms get clogged with food or debris. As a result, you are facing unclean dishes or bottom water while cleaning dishes.

So you need to remove the spray arms to clean them.

 Can you take apart dishwasher spray arm? Dive into the article to get the answer and get rid of the clogged spray arm.

Can You Take Apart Dishwasher Spray Arm?

Yes, you can take apart your spray arm from the dishwasher machine. But depending on the dishwasher model, the spray arm removal process is slightly different.

Let’s know how to remove and replace spray arms.

How To Remove And Replace Dishwasher Spray Arms

Most of the time, dishwasher spray arms get clogged due to hard water, food residue, or debris. As a result, the spray arms can’t spray water and detergent onto the dishes. 

 It hampers your dishwasher cleaning performance and delivers ugly utensils. So you need to clean the spray arms to avoid cleaning hassle.

• First, deactivate the dishwasher machine and disconnect the plug from the socket.

• Wear safety gloves

• Find the spray arms location. Some models contain spray arms on the bottom area of the dishwasher. Other units have spray arms at the top of the upper rack. You may have an extra plastic tower beside the spray arms to extend its functionality.

• Take out the lower dish rack.

• If your dishwasher has a spray tower, remove it by unscrewing it with a hand or screwdriver.

• You will find bolt or screw caps in the center position of the dishwasher spray arm.

• Take out the bolt or caps and pull up the spray arm to remove it from the machine. If it has any washers that need also need to remove and replaced in the same sequence.

Now you take apart the dishwasher spray arms from the machine. It’s time to clean the spray arms.

Spray Arms Cleaning

To clean clogged spray arms, you need to think below the equipment

• Soap
• Water
• Scrub brush
• Cotton swabs
• Toothpicks
• White vinegar
• Enzyme cleaner

Follow the below steps to clean the spray arms

• Fill a sink or bucket with hot water

• Mix soap and one cup of vinegar in the water bucket

• Now put the dishwasher spray arms into the mixture and keep it soaking until the food residue or debris become loose.

• If the spray arms contain too much mineral deposit, soak them in direct vinegar.

• Now take and toothbrush to clean the spray arms surfaces crucially

• Use cotton swabs to clean residue built up from the tiny holes in the arms.

• Take the toothpicks to remove all tiny pieces of debris from the openings.

• You can also spray canned air via the arms holes to erase all types of debris.

• After removing the debris, rinse the arms with clean, warm water. Spraying the arms with high-pressure water to get rid of hidden debris.

• If the stubborn debris has yet existed, you can apply an enzyme digester. Keep the enzyme for a few minutes to remove the food debris. Then clean the spray arms with soapy water to remove the enzyme.

• Now shake off the excess water from the spray arms and use a soft cloth to dry it.

Replace The Spray Arms

Now use the bolts or screw caps to re-install the spray arms in the dishwasher. You should also set the washer in the same order.

Tighten the bolt using your hands or screwdriver to avoid unwanted movement.

After reinstalling the spray arms run a wash cycle without utensils to rinse the arms and dry the parts.

Cleaning Tips

• If you notice unclean dishes, you should check the spray arms first. Before removing the arms, try to spin them freely. If the spray arms won’t move freely, that indicates the problem is in your machine.

• If the spray arms are located in a different location with a different design than we described above, then check the user manual to remove them safely.

• If you don’t have confidence or expertise, you can take help from a mechanic to disassemble the spray arms. But it is a simple and one-minute job.

• If the spray arms are broken, you need to buy new spray arms to replace the old ones.

• You can apply enzyme dishwasher detergent to erase all the food residue from the spray arms.

FAQs

Bottom line

Maximum time your dishwasher fails to clean dishes properly due to clogged spray arms.

Food particles, debris, or hard water can clog the spray arms, which hamper the cleaning performance.

So it is essential to know can you take apart dishwasher spray arm. Luckily you can remove and replace spray arms with some simple tricks.

Follow our tips to safely remove, clean, and re-install spray arms. Hopefully, your problem will be solved.