How to Fix the Water Flow to the Top Rack of My KitchenAid Dishwasher

The top rack of your dishwasher is commonly reserved for glassware and smaller, more delicate, less heavily soiled items, but wash and rinse quality is no less critical. KitchenAid uses a system of two, and -- depending on the model -- occasionally three, narrow sprayer arms and a series of jets to ensure effective washing on both the top and bottom racks. Several issues can plague dishwasher sprayer arm and jet performance, leaving your upper rack without sufficient water flow for proper cleaning. Correcting the most common complaints will usually restore the dishwasher to good performance and bring the sparkle back to your drinking glasses.

Instructions

- 1
  Direct water flow exclusively to the top rack by pressing the "Top Rack" option button on the dishwasher control panel. This will route all water exclusively to the jets and sprayer arms servicing the top rack.
- 2
  Load the dishwasher carefully so that the upper sprayer arms are not obstructed at any point on their spinning route. Test the movement of the sprayer arms with your hand by giving them each a spin, after the dishwasher is loaded and the racks are fully seated into position. A stray utensil hanging down through the top rack will obstruct the sprayer arm mounted under the top rack. A too-tall tumbler or bowl will obstruct the arm mounted over the top rack.
- 3
  Confirm that you have sufficient pressure in the water supply lines routing to the dishwasher. KitchenAid dishwashers require a 3/8-inch diameter, hot water line with a flow rate of 20 to 120 psi. Low household water pressure and/or incorrectly sized piping inlets will affect the washing and rinsing performance to the top rack and the entire unit. A plumber can test the water pressure and can re-fit proper piping to correct the inflow of water to the dishwasher.

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