Finally got a dishwasher

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jd_1138

Sous Chef
Joined
Jan 14, 2016
Messages
577
Location
Ohio
Our dishwasher bit the dust in 2010 (lasted 14 years, Frigidaire brand). We didn't replace it as money was tight. Finally after 7 years, we bought a new one at Home Depot. We have the compact 18 inch one, and these for some reason cost twice as much as a regular 24 inch model.

We wanted the Whirlpool model, but they were backordered a month, so we went with another Frigidaire for the same price ($580). The clerk didn't seem to have any confidence in the delivery/installation co., so I decided to just install it myself and save $70. He said they're not official "installers". I think he meant that they don't add drains or tap into existing hot water line to add the water inlet.

They delivered it on Thursday, and I installed it on Saturday. I wish the directions had you to install the water supply hose (compression fitting) BEFORE installing the dishwasher, because it's hard to attach that compression fitting to the valve once the dishwasher is screwed into place. You're at a weird angle, so it's hard to get any torque on the wrench. You have to use a stubby wrench. Once you get a compression nut hand tight, you have to then turn it half a turn with the wrench to lock it down, so no leaks. If I ever install another one, I will know the tricks/shortcuts.

Then the drain hose just gets attached to a nipple on the sink drain with a hose clamp. Electric is just hot, neutral, and ground connected with wire caps.

I love this dishwasher. It has a beautiful shiny metal interior (old one was plastic). It only takes like 5 minutes to load it, then I just have to do the pots and pans by hand. I've been using the cast iron a lot, so that's just a quick wipeout.

The old Frigidaire had a rotary dial, but this one is all electronic. There are just buttons to push for light, normal, heavy. Then another option to select air dry or heated dry. Then a start button.
 
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One time I told my daughter that I had a wish list. Number One was and upstairs and downstairs maid. No. Two was and upstairs and downstairs.

Number Three was a dishwasher. So for my fiftieth birthday all the kids kicked in and they bought me a dish washer. A Whirlpool. I used it for almost ten years. Then I moved into a smaller apartment and had to leave it behind. Back to washing dishes by hand. But by then all the kids had moved out and I was the only one in my home. Not enough dishes for a dishwasher. Sometimes it sat there for a month or so

Enjoy your new washer. It sounds beautiful I have always had all Whirlpool products in my home. They just seem to last for eons.
 
Funny thing is we've always had a dishwasher in every single apartment or home we've lived in and never used them. We always did our dishes by hand.
Even in our current home we purchased back in 1990 the dishwasher sat there unused until about 5 years ago when I disposed of it and replaced it with a wine cooler in its place.

Now, I can't imagine doing loads of our laundry by hand....
 
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I've had the same dishwasher for the past 25 + years.
My Wife :)
Ok, bad joke, but we got a deal, I do the cooking, and she does the dishes.
When she cooks, the familie's health is at risk, and probably the same when I do the dishes (My opinion of whats clean is far less strict as hers).

We have a Bosch ( not sure the model). Very quiet, does a good job, although my wife complains that it doesn't get everything off sometimes. But she just loads the dishes in without pre-rinsing some of the heavier stuff. To me, common sense is to removes the heavy stuff, and let the dishwasher take care of the rest. But hey, Im just the cook.

I remember one problem we had with our previous dishwasher, was the hose that drains into the drain got clogged ( unknowingly) and the dishwasher filled up with water. We found out the hard way when my wife opened up to unload the dishes , and gallons and gallons of water spilled out onto the floor, ultimately making its way to the basement. And, of course, the home theater lies directly below the kitchen. Needless to say, I was very upset.
 
Funny thing is we've always had a dishwasher in every single apartment or home we've lived in and never used them. We always did our dishes by hand.
Even in our current home we purchased back in 1990 the dishwasher sat there unused until about 5 years ago when I disposed of it and replaced it with a wine cooler in its place.

Now, I can't imagine doing loads of our laundry by hand....

I noticed in Europe, the washing machine for clothes sometimes lives in the kitchen under the counter, and is a lot smaller than our North American ones. And they hang the clothes out on a line to dry.

Yeah a clothes washer/dryer come in real handy. I could probably get by without a dryer. I'd just put up a clothesline for the wife to use. Ha.
 
Jeannie has used a dishwasher, perhaps, a dozen times in her life (unless in someone elses home)... She prefers doing dishes by hand... I cook, she cleans so its her call..
 
I've had the same dishwasher for the past 25 + years.
My Wife :)
Ok, bad joke, but we got a deal, I do the cooking, and she does the dishes.
When she cooks, the familie's health is at risk, and probably the same when I do the dishes (My opinion of whats clean is far less strict as hers).

We have a Bosch ( not sure the model). Very quiet, does a good job, although my wife complains that it doesn't get everything off sometimes. But she just loads the dishes in without pre-rinsing some of the heavier stuff. To me, common sense is to removes the heavy stuff, and let the dishwasher take care of the rest. But hey, Im just the cook.

I remember one problem we had with our previous dishwasher, was the hose that drains into the drain got clogged ( unknowingly) and the dishwasher filled up with water. We found out the hard way when my wife opened up to unload the dishes , and gallons and gallons of water spilled out onto the floor, ultimately making its way to the basement. And, of course, the home theater lies directly below the kitchen. Needless to say, I was very upset.

There should be a filter/screen to clean out to keep the dishwasher draining nicely. Also, if she'd at least wipe off the large chunks of food; that'd help a lot. lol

I guess some of the older dishwashers sort of had like a garbage disposal/chopper thing but the new ones usually lack it.
 
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Until recently, I haven't had great luck with dishwashers. I've been through 6 of them in the last 25 years, which isn't a great track record. Some of them simply stopped working, or they developed leaks, or they just didn't clean the dishes well.

The house I just bought came with an 18-yr-old Bosch. It worked okay, but I almost always ended up having to hand wash at least 1 or 2 dishes in every load. Mostly coffee cups and spatulas.

A few weeks ago I bought a new Kenmore - although I think it's actually made by Frigidaire. At $450, it was not overly expensive, relatively speaking.

I'm astounded at how well the new one works. It seems to run a whole lot longer than the old one, but supposedly uses less water and electricity. It's also extremely quiet. When I open it up in the morning to put away the dishes, they are absolutely sparkling clean. I don't think I've had a single dish come out needing a rewash.
 
When Im doing a lot of cooking, Ill often just keep using the same pots, spatulas ...as much as I can, hand washing in between each thing Im cooking , to avoid having a sink full of stuff at the end of the day,
 
A few weeks ago I bought a new Kenmore - although I think it's actually made by Frigidaire. At $450, it was not overly expensive, relatively speaking.

I'm astounded at how well the new one works. It seems to run a whole lot longer than the old one, but supposedly uses less water and electricity. It's also extremely quiet. When I open it up in the morning to put away the dishes, they are absolutely sparkling clean. I don't think I've had a single dish come out needing a rewash.

Don't forget the rinse aid. I guess on these modern dishwashers, it's super important.

Kenmore appliances are made by Frigidaire and a bunch of other makes according to the Wiki. My Frigidaire is made by Electrolux which is now a Swedish co. that owns a lot of brands. I guess Frigidaires are sold worldwide. I assumed it was just North America.
 
We have a Bosch ( not sure the model). Very quiet, does a good job, although my wife complains that it doesn't get everything off sometimes. But she just loads the dishes in without pre-rinsing some of the heavier stuff. To me, common sense is to removes the heavy stuff, and let the dishwasher take care of the rest. But hey, Im just the cook.

I love my Bosch. My last house had a cheap dishwasher, and you couldn't run it and watch TV in the next room at the same time. I can barely hear the Bosch standing in the kitchen. It is 17-yers old, now.

CD
 
Don't forget the rinse aid. I guess on these modern dishwashers, it's super important.

Kenmore appliances are made by Frigidaire and a bunch of other makes according to the Wiki. My Frigidaire is made by Electrolux which is now a Swedish co. that owns a lot of brands. I guess Frigidaires are sold worldwide. I assumed it was just North America.

Appliance brands are hard to peg. It seems like there are at least 30 brands, and only five manufacturers.

CD
 
I had a chuckle when we replaced our old plastic dw with a new ss lined one a few years ago. We're movin' on up! The guy installing it grunted that it was a nice little "entry-level" dishwasher. Well, that was a bit insulting, considering we've been living here for 35+ years.

Our " entry level" dw works just fine, thankyouverymuch.
 
jd, I hope you enjoy your new dishwasher! Congrats!

I live alone so I don't really use mine all that often, unless I have family over. Every now and then though, I'll prepare a big meal and get lazy about washing by hand as I go, so I just rinse and throw them in there. I think it's been a month or so since I've washed a full dishwasher load.
 
My daughter had a new one installed when she bought the house more than 15 years ago. She only runs it on holidays when it is her turn to cook for the family. Like every third or fourth year. It is easier to just wash up the few for her and her husband.

Although, one day, her daughter who has the basement apartment and no DW, brought up a tub full of dirty dishes to load up in her mother's dishwasher. She went downstairs carrying those same dishes still dirty. Every family get-together we still tease her that we will be checking to make sure none of her dirty dishes will be mixed in.
 
Don't forget the rinse aid. I guess on these modern dishwashers, it's super important.

Kenmore appliances are made by Frigidaire and a bunch of other makes according to the Wiki. My Frigidaire is made by Electrolux which is now a Swedish co. that owns a lot of brands. I guess Frigidaires are sold worldwide. I assumed it was just North America.

I don't think it's as important as they try to tell you it is. We used the free bottle that came with the dishwasher, then it never gets filled again.

I love my Bosch. My last house had a cheap dishwasher, and you couldn't run it and watch TV in the next room at the same time. I can barely hear the Bosch standing in the kitchen. It is 17-yers old, now.

CD

This is why we replaced our old dishwasher (it was in the house here when we bought it) a couple of months ago. It was crazy loud, and after having nice modern ones in our last two homes, we just got tired of the racket. Now we have an upper end GE with stainless tub, 3 racks, bottle jets... all sorts of cool gewgaws. All you can hear when it's running is a very low intermittent hum if you are standing right next to it in the kitchen. :D
 
I've had a bunch of dishwashers. 3 Bosch ones which were quiet but broke and when they broke they were too $$ to fix. A few other cheaper ones which didn't clean well.

Ive had a Kitchenaid for about 8 years now and it's great.
 
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