My 18" Kenmore (Frigidaire built) DW Is Older
As it was built right here in the USA.
We were told that the first three digits of a model number on Kenmore appliances tells the maker, so from ours we got the DW is Frigidaire built. Well that and both looked exactly like each other right down to the features offered.
While shopping for an eighteen inch DW were told there was only a handful of brands and they all pretty much came from the same maker (Frigidaire) especially if one wanted a portable(which we did). Danby has or had an 18" both portable and built-in unit. Miele only offers built-in.
Despite Consumer Reports and others warning persons off the things, our little Kenmore has run fine for >ten years. Door spring gave after three or so years, then the other awhile later. Have always meant to replace but never found the time. Other than that this simple mechanical DW does what it is supposed to do and am happy.
Since it is an older unit the thing uses a decent amount of water in all cycles, and because of the mechanical timer one can "create" custom settings/features.
For instance always allow the unit to fill then move the dial to a drain portion before starting a load. One does this to purge any cold water out of the inside plumbing and clean the sump of "stagnant" water. As it can be anywhere from a day to several between uses water may be sitting for quite sometime.
Also stop and reset the DW after it begins the final rinse so there are two of those instead of just one. This helps keep the yibble problem down. We eat lots of porridge with ground flax seed meal, and despite two washes sometimes bits remain.
