1991 Whirlpool dishwasher Quitewash Plus..

[volsboy1]

I found me a free Whirlpool dishwasher and I was wondering are there different types of power clean or is the quite wash plus it's own model? This dishwasher I am getting 1990 has that tower that shoots that jet of water to the top wash arm. The power clean I had came with a food dispose option and it had a great filter system. That power clean was unstoppable I dumped everything in that dishwasher I used it as my garbage disposer and the dishes came out spotless.

 

[maytaga806]

Yes that’s a Powerclean. Only the powercleans got the “Quiet Wash Plus” name in the 90s. The durawash models was the only other kind of dishwasher whirlpool made in the 90s and it had one spray arm at the bottom with a rising tower out of the center of the arm for the top rack but it was whirlpools most basic bottom of the line dishwasher with no extra fancy names. Would love to see photos of it.

You got a really good machine! There is nothing quite like them.

 

[wayupnorth]

Mine must be the dura=wash as it does have just the bottom arm and spray that shoots up from 1995. Has served me quite well for 30 years now. I do rinse off dishes as they are loaded because it may only be run when full in about a week.

 

[agiflow]

My portable Whirlpool that I bought back in October of 1990 was a "quiet wash" and had the power clean system. It still had the porcelain tank. I had that machine until 2020 when I sold my childhood home but let it go. It would probably still be running today. Best dishwasher I ever owned.

 

[Chetlaham]

Dura wash sucks with un-rinsed dishes, the early models did not even have a soil settlers, though latter version that did didn't do much to help either.

 

Powercleans on the other hand, both the original versions and the latter revised versions were the best dish-washing mechanism ever made by anyone by far.

 

 

I wish Whirlpool never bothered with Dura wash and just made their full lineup from BOL to TOL power cleans. I'd have given anything for a TOL Power Clean in the kitchen and a single knob BOL Power Clean sitting in a box. If Power Clean was still made today I'd have one as a daily driver despite the standard tub size. Nothing has ever been made like the Power Clean and I doubt anything will ever come close.

 

[combo52]

Basic whirlpool Dura wash dishwashers

We’re a hell of a lot better dishwasher than GE‘s basic builder models not only did they have a sturdy motor that almost never gave problems, but they had a better grinder as well. We still have a lot of customers with them. I even sold one a while ago and took out a fancy KitchenAid for a customer with a rental property where the tenants were always tearing up the KitchenAid , the dura wash is now worked for two years without problems.

Yes, I wish whirlpool wasn’t forced to compete in that market and come out with that machine, with the center tower just like the GE’s it never cleaned as well in the corners if you overloaded it in the bottom, but it was a hell of a good dishwasher That didn’t rust out and leak at the trip shaft and pump like the GE. Do we still have a lot of customers with Dura washers some and very high-end properties so I’m thinking of another one in an expensive Georgetown house the lady living there is from Germany and she just loves the dishwasher. She has said many times to me that it’s so no nonsense and it works so well and she usually had Miele or Bosch in Germany. The landlady offered to replace the dishwasher along with the basic whirlpool, gas stove and she said they’re wonderful. Leave them there. She’s been there three years now.

John L

 

[magic_clean]

Durawash

as stated; was primarily developed as a "basic builder model".

-LP

 

[Chetlaham]

Dura wash has no grinder. Zilch, Nada. In fact the impeller disc assembly part number 3369012 has no grate, chopper, or anything to do with food particles. If you mean the impellar itself, its worth atmospheric air in terms of maceration. The dishwasher relies entirely on the sump grate to prevent anything larger than a bread crumb from entering the pump. Food bits pile up on top of the grate and eventually clog if not removed. Stinky, awful. The soil settler might remove one or two stray coffee ground that just happen to migrate there, the rest is recirculated unhindered.

 

Dura wash was more durable and reliable than GE in some rehards between 1994 and 2006 yes- however wash performance was always much worse than GE. GE had actual maceration and did an excellent job of cleaning in the corners of the top rack even with the bottom rack full. In 2001 GE switched to a solid metal hard food maceration blade that did not break off and in 2007 GE added a fine filter to their BOL models which made a night and day difference in cleaning and soil removal running circles around durawash. Dura wash also can't be repaired, more often that not the impeller rusts to the motor shaft making removal impossible. 

 

 

Dishwashers are all just about the same with prerinsed dishes. Skip the sink and that all changes.

 

[maytaga806]

Did the 80s potscrubbers have a food chopper? As mentioned we had a late 80s hotpoint “pot washer” which had that fat chrome lower arm. Had a little roof jet that looked like a plastic chicken wing and it did a splendid job with no pre rinsing but of course I always scraped and never put any big hunks of anything in it. And that dishwasher under filled everytime we used it even though because I was so young and didn’t understand I didn’t realize it until later on in life when I watched videos of other alike machines running and commenters noted the sound of the pump frequency going kinda up and down meant it was underfilling, or you could call it surging and ours always did that, I would say it filled short of a few cups probably and it still did an amazing job.

Also Chetleham I’m not sure if you saw but I said in another thread can’t remember which one but I didn’t get your email I deleted all of my emails so it probably got deleted so please resend it’s all cleaned up now.

 

[Chetlaham]

They did have maceration, sadly it was not uncommon for the steal wire to break off with time.

 

I sent you a test email, let me know if that came through. 

 

[johnb300m]

GE macerator

Yes GE dishwashers had a “soft food disposer” which was a little spring wire that spun in front of a metal screen that had HUGE holes.
The metal screen was then changed to plastic. And this is the style GE used up till the early 2000s when they came out with actual metal blades in front of a plastic screen. They then called it a “hard food disposer.”

 

[maytaga806]

I apologize Chet I had an old closed out email address on my profile and have since updated it now so try again! I will definitely get it this time.

That’s quite an interesting food chopper system they used there. Least they had something though, I’ve never seen something like that I always wondered about the old potscrubbers system for chopping fine bits of they even had anything, so thanks.

 

[gelaundry4ever]

power clean

I believe it's a power clean model. They didn't come out with the top of the line point voyager until 2001 or so.

 

[agiflow]

I know it's off topic but I need advice.

How is Whirlpools portable dishwashers today ? Are they worth getting one or not. The top rack for me looks a little limiting now. Those tines seem to be pretty close. More importantly though, how is the cleaning? If anybody has one or knows, please let me know.

Thank you,Pat

 

[gelaundry4ever]

to agiflow

I too am curious about today's Whirlpool/Maytag dishwashers myself. This is especially true for Whirlpool.

 

[maytaga806]

Maytag doesn’t sell portable dishwashers anymore and they haven’t in a very long time. The Whirlpool portables are the same as they were ten years ago, it’s whirlpools best wash system they still sell which simultaneously washes all racks at once. It’s the same dishwasher as whirlpools under counter base models. For some reason the portables have no roof jet though, just a lower and upper rack arm. It’s the same wash system they’ve been making for many years now since about 2013 I’d guess. Will show pics below.

As far as the upper rack Agiflow, it’s the same exact top rack from the later end powercleans. My 06 Powerclean portable has the same rack. I’m actually looking to buy a used upper tiered rack that the Whirlpool gold Powerclean and Ultrawash direct feed models had, offers so much more versatility and you I could fit taller items in the lower rack as I really hate the one that’s in mine although it is adjustable. I found one recently in perfect shape that I’ll be buying for it soon. They were essentially just like the Maytag upper tiered racks but white and have a nice full length cup shelf. All of the Kitchenaid power cleans had these upper racks I speak of.

 

[maytaga806]

My best friend has this dishwasher in the photos I just posted and she absolutely loves it. Yea you have to clean the filter but that’s not a problem, it’s very good performing dishwasher although the top rack could be better cause it’s missing that roof jet.

 

[agiflow]

Thank you so much for the feedback Maytaga806. The only drawback today is all these manual cleaning filter models which is not ideal.

Have a current GE portable that while it does clean well, from time to time the filter clogs up with too much food soil.

So much for their "piranha" hard food disposer, what a joke. Hindsight is 20/20 and I wish I still had my power clean.

I also want to go back to a heating element that actually dries the dishes and have a dishwasher that doesn't have weird odors after the cycle is complete.

 

[maytaga806]

I had the same dishwasher as you have and I loved it. I checked the filter once a week, wasn’t a problem for me. Everything dried well with allowing the machine to vent open after the cycle. Definitely wasn’t my favorite machine. When I added options to the cycle it took four hours, completely overprogrammed. You can always get another portable Powerclean they come up on marketplace or Craigslist or OfferUp literally all the time.