Dishwasher Soap Dispenser Cycle

Hi. We have a Kitchenaid dishwasher KUDR24SEBL2 and the clip that holds the secondary soap dispenser in place has deteriorated to the point where it will no longer hold the dispenser door shut. We are just trying to get this working temporarily until we can replace the machine. Does anyone know at what point in the wash cycle the dispenser door opens to release the soap? If I could determine that then I could open the main door and add soap at that point in the cycle. Thanks.

 

There really isn't a "wash cycle" per say. The d/w "fills" with about 1.5 gallons of water when it fills and it will fill 2 or 3 or 4 times (with some exceptions) through the complete cycle. When there is detergent in it it's a wash cycle, when there isn't it's a rinse cycle.
If you are using an enzyme based detergent you could simply dump detergent in when you start the cycle. If you are using chlorine based detergent you should let the d/w fill once and drain before putting the detergent in. The detergent container will tell you whether it is chlorine or enzyme based.