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A cute little 24-incher

Roger has the Kenmore mate to this design (don't you, Roger?? ;-) Do I detect a new, upcoming thread?). This machine was so full of lime that Roger and I had to attack it with razorblades and CLR galor. The bleach and fabric softener dispensers were full of powder detergent (READ, people), and all I can figure is that the prior owners had really itchy clothes, because their machine probably never saw a freshwater rinse in its life. Even the bottom holes on the basket were plugged.

The bleach dispenser tube had to be roto-rooted out because it was full of congealed powdered detergent, and couldn't dispense into the tub. (What's unusual on this design is that the bleach tube goes all the way to the bottom of the outer tub, not down just four or five inches like in the newer WP/KM machines.)

The centerpost was rusted in a spot (SURPRISE!!), and the tub spanner nut was absolutely fused to the drive block. It had to be drilled out, and then over two evenings of screaming and obscenities, the tub finally let loose when we figured out how to hit the drive block down with a hammer while holding the inner tub up.

We pitched the Tragic Lint<sup>TM</sup> filter in the trash. It had ballooned to about an inch thick with lime and lint, and reeked of mildew. Barf.

So, one new drive block and spanner nut (and probably sixteen hours of combined labor) later, here she is. It's a GREAT machine that holds a lot and does everything quietly and beautifully, and has a spinning drain to boot! (hence the clothesguard at the top of the tub):

9-10-2006-23-36-8--roto204.jpg
 
Peter, I know and understand you maligning this D&M design. The next model up did have the tower. As I have said to you before, all this was was pure and unadulterated marketing and product positioning. Sears ALWAYS had the premium features for their D&M dishwashers compared to the other brands that put their label on D&Ms. And from what my experience has told me, a lotta times included the motor. Gaffers & Sattler at one time did off a rotorack series too. Friends of my mom moved from a house with a KDC16 to a G&S with roto rack. She said the difference was like night & day, the G&S cleaned circles around the KA.
 
D&M Design

Bob,
I understand the the next model up did have a tower. I still feel it was major steps downward for the D&M design especially when you already started with something good. I think only Sears and Modern Maid kept the same design after the fact. The Modern Maid made the model with the optional range top above the dishwasher. I am sorry they went out of business I did like those top cabinet ovens.
Peter
 
Yibblets result from the GE not pumping out the last quart of water in the sump (below the tub). When the drain valve opened, there was a rush of water that was supposed to carry the crap with it, but that was the theory, not the practice because there was so much clearance between the pump impeller and the housing. There were some models from recent years that had a second pump for drain only. It was used twice in the cycle, after wash and maybe before the last rinse, to empty the sump through a little rubber hose connection, like sucking through a straw. John said that they performed better.

As part of the transition from the Roto Rack, I saw one of the saddest, cheapest Kenmore top load portable dishwashers at the Sears near our old house. It had the wash arm under the standard lower rack, but the top rack was split through the middle like in Robert's D&M Frigidaire portable from about 1960 to allow loading the lower rack and the nozzle that sprayed the Roto Rack stuck out from the back wall of the tub, but no rack, nothing was over it. It just sprayed all over, perhaps keeping grit from settling in the bottoms of glasses and mugs. You just know that model was the cheap one advertised to get people in the store. After they were shown that one, they were led to the better machines to see what made them better. "And you did want to take out a service policy on that dishwasher today, right?" (Never mind that it was covered for a year by the warranty).
 
You will get great service out of it...

...my mother has my old Kenmore from 1988, which is a similar design, and I have the 18-inch Kenmore space-saver portable from 2002. The 2002 model has a plastic spray arm and wash tower, but the motor, and cycles sound the same as the old design, only a bit quieter. Too bad about the wash arm; it really did make loading things easier. However, both machines are still going strong with daily use and no repairs.

I agree they wash much better than the GE's of that era; had a couple of them in apartments, and I think they dishes came out dirtier than when they went into the machines. The BOL Hotpoints were even worse....guaranteed dirty dishes.
 
Hi Nate. Enjoy the Magic Chef dishwasher. Good to see a dishwasher that really gets the job done.

I also like your Design 2000 with it's immediate spin and no neutral drain.

Ross
 
That's an early direct-drive model, being as they dropped the Design 2000 designation after it went full-line ... but it isn't the very first issue. The 1st generation didn't have a clothes guard ring.
 
Gold GE

I too had the GE for a while. Looked exactly like yours. Cleaned the same too. As if someone dumped a bucket of sand in with each load. It was an old machine, and though it cleaned badly, and was horribly loud, I have to say that it indeed still worked when I got rid of it. Rust killed it. I also had a Kenmore almost identical to the Magic Chef. Now that was a nice dishwasher. It got the job done, and it cleaned well. It was a bit loud (though nowhere near as obnoxious at being loud as the GE was) but it cleaned well enough that I didnt mind. Unfortunately it died recently. It developed a leak so small it was unnoticeable, even with the bottom cover off. And where did the water go, if not onto the floor? Yep, into the motor. Probably 2 or 3 drops per use. Not much, but enough to kill the motor. (I wonder how long that was going on?) Well...I havent gotten rid of the Kenmore yet, it's in storage. The GE was at the curb the second I had yanked it out of the cabinetry. I have a new GE now...so quiet you can barely hear it run. It cleans better than anything I've used before, but I miss my older machine. =)
 
I think those GE models...

were used extensively by contractors here in Tucson. I had one in my circa-1978 house. At about age 10-15 it began leaking copiously whenever it was used. Being younger, I took it apart and found the seal which had failed. Appliance parts dealer swore it was not replaceable and I had to buy an entire motor assembly with which to fix it. In the early 2Ks, the scenario repeated itself. Being older then and a little better off financially, I had it replaced by a KitchenAid (don't remember model just now, has stainless interior and taller tub) Once I heard the KA in operation I could not believe I had tolerated the GE loudness for all that time.
 
NO MORE YIBBLES. (I cannot overemphasize how much angst gritty glasses created in our household...)

HA! my freiking 4 y.o. SS interior KA (alas by WP not Hobart) Does the same thing. Water conservation my @$$.

I wonder why my newer GE (which is also a water-hog BTW) does not leave yibbles. I don't think the engineering changed substatially from yours to mine. Althogth I HAVE heard a vicious rumor that GE has now dumbed-down their machines as well *SOB*.

Enjoy your (new to you)Tragic Chef DW.
How can you beat W-R-R-W-R-R dry?
 
Nate- I think I did see a little 24" Kenmore DD somewhere around here-oh wait-it is behind the Kitchenaid Superba tl. I suppose this means pictures must be posted. :-)
Roger
 
LOL!!!

Roger - LOL!!! You know, that KitchenAid is such a behemoth that I could see where a little 24-inch Kenmore could hide behind it :-P

Terry - Wait until you see the 'splaining with pictures :-P

Tom Z. - I absolutely agree...the noise of the GE is almost amazing compared to anything else, especially the whisper-quiet of the reversing-motor KitchenAids. I still miss the soft *swish...swish* of my Superba. And yes, I think they were contractor-specials. They sure aren't hard to find in the thrift stores here...

Steve - LOL I love the Tragic Chef :-P. Does your GE have the microfilter screen, or does it have the plain-ol' sump? I'm not sure why yours would be yibble-less, unless it was probably better cared-for than this one. (Not so much debris in the sump, perhaps.) And yes, I love that cycle simplicity, especially with the long wash and quickie rinses. :-)

Douglas - Yay, keep the Kenmore! Motors can be found off other machines (these D&M machines aren't too uncommon here...e-mail me and let me know if you'd like me to snag a motor for you the next time I see one). I bet your carbon-porcelain seal failed like mine did...fortunately, the slinger ring on my motor prevented the water from going into the motor proper, but instead it dribbled off the side, guided there by the plate on top of the motor itself.

When you do get a new motor, get the pump-seal kit (WCI/Electrolux part # 808042, which replaces 807074, and Sears' 808969...this kit is for pre-1986 machines), to make sure that the new motor is kept safe. It's a breeze to install, and is only $24 at last check.

Tom Turbomatic - Wow, that is sad! A Roto-Rack with a functionless nozzle??

Mike and Peter - Thanks! :-D We'll have to see how it bears-out over time...

Today's festivities with the Magic Chef included the game of 'Where did the GladWare go?', which involves light items in the top rack ending up in places where you did not initially put them.

Though never upside-down and full of water, occasionally I've found lids and bottoms completely swapping positions. I almost wonder if the dishes try to find their own favorite places in the top rack. It's quite amusing.
 
Nate, I have seen these models of D&M with the castrated/missing power-tower before and never understood why they bothered. I had a Roper of similar vintage in my house when we bought it with the tower and a smaller, plastic arm at the top. It was a nasty water-piggy but it did clean well and reasonably quiet. It was the rapid-advance model with the analog flipping-number time countdown on the panel.

I also remember the BOL Sears D&M machines with the spray nozzle under the upper rack in the front-load models. It was nothing more than a short tube with slits for water to spray the underside of the rack. I can't imagine it did much good at washing, just kept the yibbles from reattaching as Tom said. We had a roto-rack dishwasher from about 1972-73 that performed OK but the lower wash-arm would stop turning now and then which only reinforced the pre-rinsing requirement...

Here is the Roto-Rack D&M I have now:

9-13-2006-00-32-20--gansky1.jpg
 
~Does your GE have the microfilter screen, or does it have the plain-ol' sump

Microfilter? WHAT microfilter? Talk to me, boy. Teach me a thing or two.

My GE is about 4 years of age, cutout "ring" for tower.

TRITON with electronic controls. Now if my Greek serves me correctly (hint: language skills, not an ethnic houseboy!) neither an impressive name, nor an impressive concept.

PROTON= FIRST
DEUTERON= SECOND
TRITION= THIRD

Yes,it has three wash levels (two spray arms + one tower)
or perhaps three filters.

So to WHAT does the "TRITON refer?

Is this thingy in the back the microfilter? (See pic). Does it do anything? I was under the impression that the machine also sucked in water for recirculation from undneath the retancular sump (covered with course plastic raised mesh). If this were the case the filter would be pointless. if the yiblets could bypass it.

Someone, set me straight............

9-13-2006-19-24-22--Toggleswitch.jpg
 
Top

Have mercy on my poor soul, I only use this one once or twice a month....so cramming it more full will take more practice.

:-)

Bought it for $75 new, unused. Scratch-and-Dent and full of dust at the Homo Depot. Beat that!

9-13-2006-19-29-12--Toggleswitch.jpg
 
GE Triton

Steve,
Nice loaded rack (I want to see you try to smack me!) you will go spinning. Lol - My GE tall tub has a simular bottom SS Microfilter. It is a great cleaner. But the newer models dont have a SS miicrofilter it's plastic. My aunt just got a simular Profile model I thought was like mine. Also on the very newer models the sensors are different. Things are just being built cheaper.
Best Wishes
Peter
 
LOL

That is a nice rack, Steve :-D And yes, that is the filter portion to which I was referring. I do believe the majority of recirculation happens under the sump cover (can someone else outline the particulars?), and the filter is more passive...but due to some sort of better aspect of the design (maybe a much better spray tower?), these machines wash way better.

Greg, I *LOVE* that Roto-Rack!! That is absolutely lovely, with an owner's manual picture-perfect load! :-D

Bob, I won't even show you a pic of the Magic Chef loaded. If you saw how I had to load it to get the top rack clean, you'd see how only the top rack ever achieves Bob-Load<sup>TM</sup> status. The bottom rack is almost invariably a wasteland, unless I happen to have had service for twelve out that evening, with the full compliment of perfectly vertical plates :-)
 

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