Yep....I use them....my DW is only about a year old.....please don't tell me they can gum up the pump!!

I just recently started using them too...Better think twice next time I need some dishwasher "food".

The best recommendation that I see over and over is Cascade Complete. Gel anything just doesn't work as well and while I'm not familiar with these Action Packs, I don't believe anything with plastic can really "dissolve".

Sorry to hear that you have problems, I'd be on the phone to the mfg asap!

I'd try to get some pics of that pump and the pieces of plastic. My dishwasher is Christy.. heh...

Yeah we stopped using the Cascade Gel packs on our new Bosch too, but mostly because our washer was a water conservation type model and the soap never seemed to wash off completely. I could always taste it on our dishes.

Now we use the Electrasol powder pucks and have been very happy. I always wondered what happened to that "plastic" on those Cascade things. Sorry to hear it gummed up your washer.

Another here who didn't love the gel packs, but I find it extremely difficult to believe that they are what caused your problems. Have you ever touched them with damp fingers? Even that gets the gel to start dissolving. Something else got in there, or at least that's where I'd put my money.

Speaking of money - I'll second the recommendation for Cascade Complete. I don't come close to filling the dispenser - I use about 2 tablespoons max per load - and everything including baked on lasagne comes clean. A box lasts a long time.

I use the packs, too. Will be watching to see what you find out.

I may have to switch to something else. But those little packs are so convenient! LOL

(coconut...."Christy"? I don't get it.)

Linda

This is very interesting. I recently started using the action pacs. My Bosch requires the use of a rinse agent. It is a PITA to get the liquid rinse agent into the dispenser. I could taste it in the coffee mugs and glasses, too.

Then I started using the little baskets of rinse agent that you hang from the rack. Jet-Dri, I think. They work well, but I have trouble finding them in the stores.

So now I am using the Action Pacs, but I really don't want to gum up the dw, which is one of the best appliances I have owned. (The best were a Harvest Gold Sears refrigerator that worked even when I gave it away and a pink RCA Whirlpool gas dryer from the 1950's that also worked but the drum got rusty).

I'll be interested to hear of this is a problem.

I rotate between Cascade Complete powder, Finish tabs, and now I have Wal Mart powder. My sister said the packs caused alot of suds in her dishwasher.

foodonastump.... I agree, the packs start dissolving the minute you get near them with anything wet/damp, but I'm just telling you what the repairman said...and this is not the first time he has had this problem.

Someone on the Appliance Forum said that the pumps/motors have a 5 year warranty, I'm getting ready to check that out!! Wouldn't that be wonderful news?

I'll keep you updated.

Linda, Christy is Coconut's wife. LOL

Do you ever put any kind of 'brush' in the dish washer? We used to use a brush on the dishes. We also had a vegetable scrub brush and a bottle brush. We would always put them in the dish washer along with the dishes. One of them lost some bristles and screwed our DW up. That was last year. We have a new one now.

Nope, no brushes.

How interesting! I have been using those gel pacs since they first came out and haven't had a bit of trouble with them (knocking on wood). There's no residue on the dishes nor can do I see any suds when I open up during the wash cycle. I have a Kenmore dishwasher which is over 10 years old. We've had to replace the pump filter twice due to plugging up with sand from our water supply or calcium from the water heater. We have very hard water here but I don't use any rinse agent anymore and there's never any streaking on my glassware. It's hard to imagine these are your problem. Did you save those scraps of plastic to identify them? In our dishwasher small loose plastic items will melt and if they are small enough will just disappear along with labels that come off jars I choose to wash. Those packs just start to melt if I touch them with damp hands. Our last dishwasher was a Kitchen Aid and it did not last very long. We had one service call after another with it. It was a real PITA. Let's hope your warranty is still valid, seems like warranty periods are getting shorter and shorter anymore.

Starlight:
I Googled " Problems with Cascade Action Packs ", a few different ways.
Couldn't find anything. There were good reviews.

It was probably something else.

Can the pump be taken apart to remove all the pieces ? ,
to get it working again ???
If I lived close by I'd come over and work on it.

Seems like the repairmen go halfway between the total cost of an Appliance for the repair.
Lou

terrapots... I'm sure that we can scrape some of the "goo" out of the motor/pump, as it was more of a gluey-gooey mess. I haven't "lost" anything in the dishwasher that may have melted, so I really don't think that it is a foreign object in there. Unfortunately, it seems as if the warranty is over.

hawk.... I have googled Cascade Packs and repairs any and every way that I can imagine and I have yet to come up with anything other than glowing reviews. Not one single problem, so I'm beginning to think that the detergent packs are not the problem (but how will we ever know?!).

The repairman said the bearings were gone in the motor and then found out that it was locked up. (I hope that I am getting all that right... I'm not very mechanical!)

I think that hubby and I have decided to just get another dishwasher instead of repairing this one... so maybe he should try to take it apart himself and see (he's pretty good with stuff like that).....

That's an idea.....

I guess I'll stop using the cascade action packs..I don't want to replace my dishwasher anytime soon. It's only 4 years old!!!

Linda

Good News!!! Thanks to a wonderful person on the Appliance Forum... I found out the the motor and pump is covered for 5 years!! We still have to pay for the labor, but it is much cheaper than a new dishwasher.

I'm still ill with the repairman... he should have known (according to KitchenAid!!).

I've used the Packs since they came out and I've had no problems with them at all. I have to say, people who are unhappy are very quick to post a complaint, so I would have to guess that it's not the Cascade that's doing it.

It's probably a plastic part from the pump/motor that failed and the goo is the lubricant they use.

We have a Bosch dishwasher and a Kenmore dishwasher (downstairs) and have had only one problem in 9 years of use and that was when I bought a bottle of Cascade Complete last year because Consumer reports rated it very highly. Well, within a week, both dishwashers had to be majorly repaired.
I went back right away to GV tablets and Rinse Aid.

My Bosch dishwasher is also the best appliance I have!

bumblebeez - So were your problems actually caused by the detergent, or just bad karma, or because both machines were approaching their life expentancy?

Sorry, I'm just having a hard time believing that one of the most popular and highly rated brands is actually causing dishwashers to fail without there being a major outcry on the 'net.

Well, it certainly may have been coincidence...but I don't believe it. If it had been one dishwasher, yes. But both dishwashers? No.

they work great... dishes are amazingly clean.. but since i changed from the liquid to the action pacs, I have an odor that I never had before.. kind of like a sewery smell.... not with the liquid though...... and I only get if after I run the dishwasher... crazy... going back to liquid! maybe the plastic is doing something!

I know this is an old forum but I also know of two people in the past week that had to dismantle their dishwashers and drag gobs of plasticy strings out of the motor. One was my son who told me about doing it when I said there were long stringy pieces with Cascade still dripping from them after I ran their dishwasher.

I'm sticking with the liquid or powder and the other people are going back to them but I thought it would be nice if the original lady who posted knew she wasn't alone. ;o)