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coreyare

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Platinum Member
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Aug 5, 2011
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15
Location
Dullsville, Washington
Dimensions are 24W x 33H

Hello fellas, were doing some renovations here, looking for a dishwasher thats not chalked full of controller boards, and complex mechanisms that can be point of failures. Kinda like a Speed Queen equivalent of dishwasher.

If any folks have some good experience that meets our needs, OR good experience with a comparable model, please lettuce know :D THANKS!

 
Bosch DW life span

This DW was about as old as any DW of this range when it died. Depending on use, 6 to 15 years of service is usual for a Bosch DW. But actualy and obviously, it wasn't the board that failed.
The only DW that still use timers are the real BOL ones which won't last any longer. In these cases, it's any seal that bringe the end to a short DW life.
That being said, I can recomend Miele and Bosch (as long as the Bosch has the full stainless steal tub, not the one with the bottom made of plastic). We only owend BSH slim line DW until now and in the past 27 years, we had 3 DWs (14 years, 11 years and 2 ½ years till now I think). They wash well, quite efficent, not to long (1 ½ to 2 hours) and are silent. And I mean silent.
Miele is just quality it self. They last. And if you still don't trust it, get the 10 year warranty!
 
Pierre beat me to it...

I would highly recommend a good vintage KitchenAid as well. I personally have a 1993 Superba model....with the Hobart style chrome and black control panel. Very similar to the white machine in first pic...but NO fake wood grain. Framed door and kick plate panel can be removed and fitted with whatever colour or cabinet material you like. They are remarkably contemporary looking and suit new renovations nicely, believe it or not. They run FOREVER and actually CLEAN! Pardon my blurry photos...bad camera...but this is my unit in case you needed a visual reference.

funktionalart-2014080316033605304_1.jpg
 
Its unfortunate that DW's seem to have suffered a tad in quality, hence the suggestion of older school DW's. We will give those a looksie and if not we will go with the Meile/Bosch if we can find a good model :)

Thanks folks, were still up for recommendations though :D

@pierreandreply4 funny you mention that old school kitchen aid on photo #1, my woman's family has the same unit in avacado green, it remains unused though as they're a hand washing kinda family :D
 
Maytag is the only brand I'd currently buy new. Compared to every other dishwasher being made, theirs are still solidly built, have a substantial motor and pump, and still use enough water to clean well without being complete guzzlers. It's also one of the only brands currently that doesn't have a filter that has to be manually cleaned, and also operates all wash arms at once rather than alternating, which means the cycle times aren't near as long as the other models available.

If you can handle having a machine that is 5-10 years old, my recommendation is always the Whirlpool PowerClean. They're still new enough to look good with any kitchen, especially if you can find a black one in good condition, and they have the same features you'll find in new machines, minus the ignorant 2-4 hour cycles and anemic lawn sprinkler pumps. The big thing with these machines is the performance. Whirlpool and Sears' guarantee at the time was even that if you could bake a cake, and put it pan and all into the machine, and have a speck left after the cycle, they'd give it to you for free. Nothing on the market today can do that, besides possibly the Maytag. Possibly.

They are also incredibly easy to work on and rarely ever malfunction if common sense is used. Parts are still pretty easily found. I have a 2000 model that is still running like a brand new machine, aside from a little cleaning and tuning that needed to be done when I got it.
 
I would also recommend a new Maytag. I have the MDB8959SBS and love it. Haven't had any issues with it yet. It has a food chopper and has lots of power. Plus this thing gets HOT when it needs to.

www.automaticwasher.org

Made in America!

Something I never do is go into an appliance store and just purchase something... I think and think and think then I over analyze and think and think and .. just go around and around about it.. Today, I went against that.. Sorta.. I bought a Maytag MDB8959SBS... The lady I buy my appliances...
www.automaticwasher.org www.automaticwasher.org
 
In my MDB8959SBS I've tried Cascade Powder, Cascade Liquid, Finish PowerBall Tabs, Walmart brand pacs, Melaleuca Automatic Liquid, LemiShine Pacs and Cascade Platinum pacs.

I always go back to the Platinum. Don't get me wrong, some of the detergents do certain things better, the Melaleuca is awesome on glassware and crystal, the Finish is good on stoneware, I use the walmart pacs as my prewash soap on the jetclean plus cycle with power scrub, and I like the LemiShine for general stuff but the Platinum pacs make this dishwasher sparkle and everything in it comes out clean.

Now, I am one that doesn't believe in adding rinse-aid in the dispenser, I fill it with water and let it run out. I hate hate hate having to rinse a glass before filling it with water. I hate the foam. But I have no issues, no spots or marks when I use the Cascade Platinum. My Stainless interior looks brand new, no water marks and my stainless cookware looks absolutely gorgeous. I don't use a lot of plastics, mainly stainless containers and cookware, stoneware and a lot of glass. If I don't run a quick wash, steam sanitize option is always selected. I know it sounds like a waste but the glass/stone/stainless items always seem cleaner and the hotter the non plastic items get the faster they dry. Again, I don't have water spotting issues.

When a cycle is done, except for the quick wash (I only use that during prep with no dry cycle), I open the door and check that all the tops/dips of items are emptied (no puddles) and I leave the door partially opened to let the load air dry. I typically do this in the morning after I've ran a cycle and I am on my way to work. When I come home for lunch or supper I unload the dishwasher and I have no spotting issues, no dried on food, just clean dishes.

I wouldn't say I have soft water but I wouldn't say I have extremely hard water either. Cascade platinum pacs are my go-to everyday pac, but thats what works for me. I know the dishwasher came with two sample pacs and some cascade rinse-aid, after the rinse-aid sample ran out, I never purchased more. Working in catering where we run load after load after load of dishes from a days' worth of prep, I began hating rinse-aid.. Depending on who was drying the dishes, if they didn't rinse the cookware etc, we'd have recipes flop because of the chemical components. I guess that dislike came home with me. The better quality the dish (not plastic) and the hotter you get it the faster it will dry.

That is what I love the most about this unit -- it gets hot.

I hope this helps and I wish you many years of enjoyed usage from this machine!

--edit: Something I noticed when I was looking at lemi-shine's website is that their rinse-aid page says to turn off heated dry.. Cascade's says the same thing.. Finish doesn't mention it but.. I'm thinking with the way the pacs etc are made, maybe its ok/normal to not use rinse-aid if I am using heated dry...

Oh, and this dishwasher is ... interesting when you listen to the noises.. When it fills, it starts and stops several times... If you open the door, the pump starts and stop 4 times before it takes off again and the machine can be used without the top rack, just make sure you are paying attention when you unclip all four clips on the top rack. I have a few oversized cutting boards and large beverage dispensers I can finally wash in the dishwasher.
 
LOL thats the same thing that happens with our new kenmore 15113. Long story short we bought a basic simple model becaise we use the dishwasher only once a week and surpisngly enough it cleans off baked on food easily on the 1 hour wash.

Based on our prefered cycle (1 hour wash) heres what it does:

Pre-wash/rinse 1: 10 Minutes
Pre-wash/rinse 2: 5 Minutes
Main Wash: 15 Minutes
First Rinse: 5 Minutes
Second/Last Rinse: 20 Minutes
Heated Dry: +25 minutes (Always on)

All of this is exaclty equivalent of the light wash cycle on our old mayatg jetclean dishwasher.
I have noticed that when it drains, it will fill for 2 seconds the drain and pause for 4 times. Probably getting the left over soap out. I do agree having to rinse a glass before drinking from it because of the foam is really annyoing. I just ended up draining the rinse aid dispenser and ran it threw a cycle with the cap off to empty it. That was a sudsy fun mess but i got it empty and i have not seen any suds in glasses when i filled it up since.
 
I'm sure you made a sound choice on the Maytag. My mom's first DW was a MOL Maytag from the very late 70s or very early 80s, and it lasted for at least 20 years. Maytags of that era were "upside down"...plates went on top, glasses on bottom, but the washing results were great. We had a much newer Maytag Jet Clean with electronic controls at our first house in CT and the wash results were always great, and never had the sandy grit or random grains of rice left on dishes like with the GE and Hotpoint DW's we've had. The only downside with Maytag was the noise, even on the newer one. We put a new Kitchen Aid in the new house, and you can barely hear it run. But...you can't put anything 'challenging' to wash on the top rack. It's also had the same thermocouple replaced 3 times, but the last time they put in a re-designed part and (knock wood) it's been fine for quite some time now. (My mom got a much lower end KA when she remodeled, and she hasn't had a lick of trouble with it--kind of reinforces what you were looking for, doesn't it!)

As for dishwasher detergent, I get best results with Finish Powerball tabs and Finish Quantum tabs, at least in our water. The performance edge is rather slight over Cascade, but since Cascade is usually noticeably higher priced, it makes the buying decision much easier.
 
I believe the machine gives you a 10-second or so window after selecting cycles/options then pressing start to shut the door. You -can- use the buttons once it's closed, but you don't have to. Everything can be selected and started right before you close it to get the cycle going.
 
When the start button is blinking it means it waiting for you to press it. It will stay solid after you press start.

I don't have a lip over mine so I just close the door and press the buttons but typically as you close the door you select the cycle and options then press start, the light will come on steady and you close the door. It will start after that.
 
That is a good choice

I recently bought a new Maytag and I LOVE IT! I have yet to use the Jetclean plus steam cycle. I always use autoclean with tough scrub and hi temp. Finish powerball but I had a sample of Cascasde Platinum and I have to say it is a little bit better than finish. I haven't had any dirty dishes at all come out of my Maytag so far, but big difference I notice with the Cascade Platinum is the interior of the dishwasher does indeed look better.....That stainless steel really shows the least little water spot, that's for sure. But it sure shines with the cascasde platinum. I use rinse aid but I never have a problem with foam in glasses or feeling like I have to rinse them.....
 

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