Dishwashers ???

[mrzoom]

Our 20 year old Kitchen Aid must be in the Christmas mood as all the red lites are flashing.

What's a good brand, model out there now?? What to stay away from.?

I hate to shop for appliances, almost as bad as cage shopping.

Tell me your story good or bad.

Thanks

[KLC]

miele expensive but last for ever

[Rougarou]

I have a Th-3r3-Sa that is about 40 years old and is still going strong. On occasion, it does seem to get a bit loud, but press the right buttons and it quiets back down. I'd highly recommend one but I don't think they make these models anymore,....the factory is beyond production years.

[biometrics]

We bought a stainless steel GE dishwasher just about 5 years ago... very pleased with performance and minimal noise level..

[Mike]

We have a Thermador, which is more or less identical to a Bosch model, in our Wisconsin house and it does a great job. Incredibly quiet, too.

 

My only other recent experience has been with a Fisher and Paykel, which utilizes a drawer design. I'm not a big fan--the design is kind of intriguing, but it is a pain in the neck to load the lower drawer and we have had at least one expensive repair that worked out to about $500. And, it doesn't clean all that well. Other than that, a great dishwasher.

[John Ranalletta]

I can usually hand wash/dry a load of dishes in the time it takes to load a d/w properly. Great for dinner parties, but for a couple, it becomes a long term dirty dish storage facility.

[lkraus]

Our 20 year old Kitchen Aid must be in the Christmas mood as all the red lites are flashing.

 

FWIW, last month I "saved" our 13 year old KitchenAid with a reset of the control module. The rinse cycle would pause several times while draining with all lights flashing. If we were patient, it would eventually finish the cycle, but took an extra hour or so. Some Googling of the model number revealed similar problems resolved by a reset. Close the door, alternately press a few buttons (high temp scrub & heated dry?) until all the lights come on and press cancel (I think).

 

Anyway, no further problems since.

[Gregori]

We've put Bosch dishwashers into a couple of houses, and won't buy anything else. They clean well, but most decent dishwashers do that - the to things that we particularly liked were that: (a) they don't have a heating coil in the bottom - and you can put plastic on either top of bottom rack, and (b) they're so quiet you have to put your hand on the thing to see if it's running.

[Twisties]

We had a Bosch in our old place. Very satisfied with noise level and performance. Sold it with the house after 14 years of reliable performance.

 

Now a days noise levels are a matter of money. The manufacturers offer a choice of decibel rating.

 

Here, we just picked up a Kenmore Elite with a 45 db rating and it is quiet enough, but not completely noiseless as our old Bosch was. But you can pay more for a quieter rating. Every 3 db is about half the noise.

 

According to consumer reports all but the very worst do a great job in cleaning. The differences are in cycle times, noise, and ease of use. For a long time they rated the Bosch 800's and Bosch Ascenta's at the top. But consumer reviews on many sites indicated problems with loading bowls. We looked and saw the tines are very closely spaced. Now the Kenmore Elites topped the CR ratings and Bosch is in 2nd place. We got a great price, so we jumped.

 

The Kenmore Elite seems fine to us. Replaced a Maytag that was here when we bought the home. It sounded like a freight train. Since our kitchen is in a great room, noise is important to us. If you have an isolated kitchen, then maybe it is not so much of an issue, but I would recommend getting down at least into the 50 db range if not less.

 

As far as John's point about hand washing, dishwashers are MUCH more energy and water efficient than hand washing, so long as you run them full. We are a family of two and have no trouble doing this, since we do primarily cook at home. Usually run it about 3 times a week.

[mrzoom]

Thanks for that tip. I found information about the reset and IT WORKED !!

Just ran a full cycle and all is well.

This forum can fix anything with the collective knowledge we have.

Now off to work on the 30 year old Toro 421 snow tosser.

I am modifying the scraper bar from metal to plastic to prevent damage to the paver drive.

[enfoman]

Yeah, My daughter weigh back when she was 3 said I could fix anything, even balloons! (ah, the slight of hand) Somehow, when our forum members have a problem, at least someone else here can fix that proverbial BALLOON!

[Bud]

Everyone bragged on Bosch so I bought one.

 

Sorry to say.

 

The circuit board has a known design flaw. So much so that a guy in TX will fix yours and add a heavier relay for $50. Much cheaper than buying one from Bosch.

 

Now the plastic panel that surrounds the switches broke. $78.00 for that one.

 

Not a happy camper.

[SWB]

We purchased a Frigidaire "Professional Series" washer back in 2004, and it started going south. I won't blame the dishwasher for our hard So. California water (even treated), and it's one reason I won't put a lot of money into anything that touches the water, as I know it's simply not going to last.

 

So, that said, we picked up a new replacement, very close to the same (updated) model for $400 (i.e. regularly, $550-$650). The Frigidaire units are very, very quiet and clean well.

 

If I were in a different area, I might spring for a KitchenAid or similar up scale model, but for what I paid, 9 years service is OK by me. In fact, I sold the used DW for $100, so the net out of pocket for me was $300, not bad for a new, stainless steel DW. We feel blessed (wife's Christmas present; check!).

 

- Scott

[upflying]

I have a Bosch, excellent machine!!!

[moshe_levy]

+1 for Bosch, #1 in Consumer Reports. Very efficient, very quiet, and does an excellent job. No problems in 4 years since installation.

 

-MKL

[Harry_Wilshusen]

I have a 35 year old GE. Only had to replace the intake valve about 15 years ago (<$20). Five years ago I got a Bosch and put the GE in a rental property. The Bosch was one of those energy star appliances and used it for about a year. It never did clean as good as the GE though it was considerably quieter . When my tenant moved out I swapped them and have the GE back.

[Mike]

Thanks for that tip. I found information about the reset and IT WORKED !!

 

Glad to hear it's up and running again!

[WestyLancs]

+1 for Miele.

10 or 12 years each so far, for a dishwasher and a washing machine.

Both still (at the risk of tempting fate) look and operate like new.