How often should you put salt in the dishwasher?

How often should you put salt in the dishwasher? Most housewives believe that the most important thing is to pour salt into the dishwasher for the first time, filling the salt bin to the limit, and therefore you can forget about this action for a long time. In fact, a kilogram pack of salt is usually enough for only a few months of active use of PMM. Therefore, the salt compartment should be checked regularly and granules added in order to maintain the integrity of the ion exchanger, which softens tap water and improves the quality of washing dishes. Today we will look at how much dishwasher salt should be used and how often it should be added.

How long does one load of salt last?

There is no absolutely accurate data on the time when you need to add salt again, because as many people, there is as much information about using the dishwasher. It often happens that after the first load, only 5-10 working cycles pass, and the machine already requires refilling the salt tank. This is possible in a situation where the first time the owner of the PMM added salt “by eye”, so he added too little and did not achieve the required concentration of the saline solution. At the same time, in the future, the intervals between updating salt granules may also vary, which is influenced by a number of parameters.

Water hardness and dishwasher settings. If the water in the tap water is hard, then the hardness settings in the PMM should be set to maximum values in order to save the ion exchanger, which needs to constantly restore spent resin. Therefore, salt consumption varies in conditions of hard and soft tap water - the better the water, the lower the consumption of salt granules.For example, in conditions of medium hardness, salt can be added only once every 4-6 months.

To correctly set the hardness on your machine, check out the official website of your local water utility to find out accurate information about water quality and adjust salt costs.

Frequency of device use. It is logical that if you use the “home assistant” every day, it will spend much more salt than if it was turned on once a week. Absolutely every working cycle wastes salt solution, so from time to time it is necessary to add salt to the dishwasher. With daily use, salt crystals may last only for a quarter, but if you rarely renew the salt, you can forget about renewing the salt for six months or even a year.
Salt quality. A special salt was created for dishwashers, which not only has regenerating properties and is better cleared of impurities, but its crystals are also much larger than the crystals of ordinary table salt. For minimal consumption, purchase only brands with large crystal sizes, for example, Finish, EONIT and Mister DEZ.

Each of the three listed factors is important for salt consumption, so it is advisable to monitor all parameters. Ultimately, salt should be added when the previous one begins to come to an end.

The machine will tell you when to add salt

It is very convenient that modern machines are equipped with a separate salt indicator, which is located on the PMM control panel. The indicator is marked with an icon with two curved arrows, and it only lights up when salt needs to be added. In some dishwashers the indicator will be bright red, in others it will be dull yellow, so you will have to look closely for the signal calling for the salt to be renewed. no salt indication

A special sensor built into the ion exchanger is responsible for this signal. It is he who monitors the saturation of the saline solution, and is activated when the salt concentration becomes below normal. Pay close attention to the salt indicator on the panel, because it will always tell you exactly when you need to add salt to the dishwasher.

What if the indicator does not light up?

If you use old-style household appliances, then there may not be a special indicator on the panel. In this case, you will have to watch for the following signs on newly washed dishes, which will tell you when you need to update the salt:

the glass became cloudy;
whitish drops remained;
a milky coating appeared.

If any of these problems disappear after washing the dishes by hand, then the culprit is the saline solution, which is not concentrated enough to completely restore the resin in the ion exchanger. dishes in PMM

Also, in conditions of very hard water, the readings of which exceed 21°dH, it is not recommended to use multilayer tablets of the 3-in-1 type. They simply don't contain enough salt to cope with softening hard tap water. If you use them in such conditions, you will still have to add additional salt granules to the bunker.

Therefore, if you have a salt indicator on the panel, then use it as a guide. If such a function is not provided in your PMM, then the quality of the washed dishes will tell you. If it no longer shines after washing, then it’s time to check the salt reservoir for the presence of salt.