Basic No Frills Dishwasher

[Happs]

I am remodeling my kitchen and will be replacing my reliable white 18 year old Whirlpool dishwasher with a stainless steel one. From my preliminary research, the majority of what I read are complaints with dishwashers of today not getting dishes clean, wash cycles taking too long, sensors not working properly and water saving features a pain. Do basic, no frills, quiet, decent cycle length dishwashers exist and if so what are some good brands and models?

I went to a big box home improvement store and the most appliances they had in the clearance section were dishwashers and front load washing machines. Most were customer returns because they are marked “used.” Guess that’s proof a lot of people are dissatisfied with new, improved appliances these days.

I wish I could paint my old, reliable Whirlpool from the 1990’s stainless steel, but it certainly won’t go in a new kitchen since cosmetically it has faded/yellowed from a bright white to an almond or bisque color, especially on the top near the handle and control panel.

I have looked at Consumer Reports and know which models score high, but there’s nothing like asking people about real world experiences with cleaning cycle length, cleaning ability, noise, drying etc.

[Coronita]

Old dishwashers tend be better built than the newer ones I think. The newer ones are more gimmicky and plastic with electronic controls.

Ther are companies that will cut a stainless steel panel for you if you ask…

http://www.quickshipmetals.com/interior-projects/replacement-dishwasher-panel.html

[zzz]

I recently bought a Kitchen Aid. I posted asking about dishwashers myself. Several ppl here suggested them. Then I went shopping and talked to several appliance. Basically was told Bosch is the quietest but it doesn’t clean well…hmm kinda defeats the point right? Several friends have said they don’t last, always have mechanical or electrical probs with them.

The KitchenAid was the right price and had a stainless steel tub as well. It cleans just fine. Check out Pacific Sales on Morena, the Sears scratch and dent is right near there as well. If you’re in N County, Yingst sells new dented or scratched appliances as well.

[spdrun]

I have a very basic G.E. 18″ unit in my condo in NYC. Simple rotary dial control. It’s white, but they make a black-and-stainless model. Pretty quiet and seems to do a good job.

Initially, it sometimes dripped from the front panel. I called G.E., they sent out a tech, he figured out what part I needed, and they overnighted me the part and instructions for installation.

http://www.shopping.com/GE-GE-Spacemaker-GSM1860NSS-18-Energy-Star-Built-In-Dishwasher-in-Stainless-Steel/info?sb=1

[sdduuuude]

Suggest you talk with a repair person. They know alot.

Had a decent $800 Kitchenaid dishwasher. It had three things go wrong with it in 7 years. One was under warranty. Two were not. Repair guy said the kitchenaid line of refrigerators and dishwashers are not so good – i.e. he sees alot of them. Our fridge is a Kitchenaid and we have had it repaired twice in 10 yrs.

We replaced the dishwasher with a very nice Kenmore from sears. Got it on sale – really on sale, not on the pseudo-sale they have every week. Was a $1400 dishwasher got it for about $800. It’s very good and very quiet.

When we bought it from the Sears at UTC, there was this dude. I forget his name. He was like super dishwasher guy. At first I was leery because he asked questions like a sales guy, but as we talked further, I realized he knew basically everything about dishwashers. Knew the product line backwards and forwards. Knew the competitors, steered us away from gimicky stuff, slickly combined two sales to give us a great deal on a great machine. Maybe it was Richard, or Robert.

One thing I learned from him is that dishwashers which have the little garbage disposal/mascerator in the bottom are much louder, cost more, and break more. Our Kitchenaid was one of these and it was not very quiet.

The ones that have the passive trap in them that you have to manually clean are much quieter, cost less and are more reliable – one less thing to break. Our new Kenmore is one of these so it is not apples to apples comparison.

Super Dishwasher guy also steered us away from Bosch. You can get one that quiet if you just avoid the disposal units.

We had a 40-year-old Maytag in our house when we bought it. Original Clairemont issue. Chocolate-milk brown in color. We threw it away in perfect working condition at the ripe old age of 46 because it was butt-ugly. Sigh.

[bearishgurl]

I bought a kitchenaid 6 yrs ago which retailed for $1200 for $688 from “Sears scratch and dent” and very happy with it. It has a SS interior and three cycles I never use and is very, very quiet.

But I’m actually with flu. The older ones are better. If I were you, I’d look into a SS panel to put over your old one and call it a day 🙂

[Coronita]

I hate appliances with gimicky electronic control boards…

I have a double decker oven, and the top oven uses electronic buttons, the bottom one uses the old knobs….

Well, the logic board a few days ago went bad, so I can’ turn on the top oven…Worse, the part is discontinued with no replacement, so my choices are sending in the logic board to a repair place to have it fixed for $300++ dollars, or get a new oven…

Actually, I’m using a third option… Use the bottom oven and move all the pots/pan from the bottom oven into the top oven for storage….

I have one of them newer whirpool dishwashers for 5 years. The plastic control panel buttons are starting to crack and if I push hard enough, the button panel plastic will crack and break….

[spdrun]

The rotary clock controls also break, and parts aren’t always available after a decade or so. (Plus they’re harder to clean if some goo gets spilled into them.)

[paramount]

I just bought a dishwasher today at the sears outlet @ Carmel Mountain. I think you can get a ok deal there.

They have a decent selection, and you can pick it up today.

http://www.searsoutlet.com

I just bought a cheapy, when it breaks I just toss them and buy a new one – I think they’re all basically the same.

[UCGal]

We remodeled our kitchen but decided to hold off replacing the white appliances.

So – we have a new stainless gas stove/oven. A white electric wall oven. A white dishwasher. A white fridge.

As they need replacing, we’ll get stainless. I can’t justify throwing out a functioning appliance just for the “skin” on it. The cheapskate in me objects. It’s unnecessary waste from an environmental point of view…. It just hits me wrong.

That said – I agree completely with the suggestions to put a new cover panel on the dishwasher. My house in PA had a late 70’s early 80s dishwasher that had panels that could be reversed. When I moved in they were using mustard yellow to match the (less than functional) stove. When I replaced the stove the next year – I swapped the panel for the white one. (This was the mid-90’s so I didn’t get a stainless stove… just plain old white.)

I would not be surprised if there isn’t a panel pre-made for it. Do a search on the model # parts list to see.

[spdrun]

If you get rid of working appliances, you don’t need to toss them. Craigslist, baby!

[Coronita]

There’s another solution to getting the stainless steel look.

I can’t believe I’m suggesting this because it’s such a riceboy getto thing to do on cars…But might be worth it for old appliances………

They make stainless steel vinyl wraps….

Do a search on “3M DI-NOC”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lh1NA3hGZEo

Personally, I would make all my appliances have the carbon fiber look, but that’s just me.

The finish is reasonable…The same stuff comes in chrome too..Although imho getto to make a car look this way, but some have done this on cars with the chrome look.

I guess it’s better the plast-dipping your entire S4.

[Author]

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