[R-390] RF Deck, Module Washing (dishwasher)

2002tii bmw2002tii at nerdshack.com
Thu Mar 24 16:40:38 EDT 2011


Tisha wrote:

>When I got back to it the aluminum had taken on a terrible, tarnished look
>(greyish-black in appearance). It seems that the aluminum did not like the
>dishwashing method. Strange since my kitchen cookware is also aluminum and
>it does not seem to mind.

This is a semi-well-known property of dishwashing detergents, and the 
degree of the effect varies from one alloy to another.  They are even 
worse on magnesium alloys.  It is not unusual for aluminum cookware 
to come with explicit instructions not to wash it in a dishwasher.  I 
have a bunch of aluminum cookware that has darkened in the dishwasher 
over the years.  A pizza tray and some measuring cups turned 
dramatically after one washing (one of the measuring cups actually 
grew "barnacles"), while the aluminum bottoms of some of my stainless 
pots and pans have done so only slowly and to a much lesser degree 
(ISTR they came with a warning).

I used to clean aluminum and magnesium/aluminum alloy engine parts 
from my racing motorcycles in the dishwasher.  I used a non-foaming, 
citrus-based cleaner/degreaser and it worked great.  (Getting 
girlfriends to trust the dishwasher for cooking/eating utensils 
afterwards was an issue, although I always ran it through at least 
three cycles empty before returning it to its intended purpose.)

Best regards,

Don


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