dishomat dreams and ideas

[gelaundry4ever]

also chetlaham

You'd hear water rushing from various dishwashers going through their cycles and vent fans running, the clunking of the detergent and rinse aid dispensers dispensing, the water gurgling when draining after the solenoid snap, and the rhythmic sloshing of the spray arms as the streams and jets of water hit the glass doors and different dishes being sprayed, and you'd hear dishes being loaded and unloaded. You'd hear dishes and silverware being sorted too. And you'd smell automatic dishwasher detergent and rinse aids of various brands and scents with steamy warm air. You'd also hear carts rolling around and dishwashers beeping when the cycle is finished. Oh, you'd hear all the pumps running in the dishwashers as they're recirculating water and the pumps would have huge cooling fans in them. Same with the vibration too.

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

Maybe you'll also hear the whirling water meter trying to keep up with all those gallons and gallons and GALLONS of water usage, too...

 

And there is also the merry sight of the electric meter-go-round, carousel-ing all that electricity all that will require!

 

 

 

-- Dave

 

[me]

dishwasher cycle length

Commercial dishwashers take about 5 minutes or less, you have to manually rinse and scrub off any food residue as shown in the video above. 1 hour plus, wouldn't be much use in a commercial setting. In fact, I bought one for a pub once, and I think the cycle was even less than that, they also wash at a much higher temperature than a domestic machine, and I believe use a more caustic detergent.

You'd also need to manually wash out and dry the box you brought your washing up in, so you wouldn't have much time for snacks. So I guess you wouldn't want a commercial machine.

The last time I used a coin-op washing machine in a launderette, I think the full cycle length was 10 minutes or less.

 

[gelaundry4ever]

@chetlaham

What are your ideas of the perfect coin or card operated dishwasher features even for OPAD operations? IN other words, on-premise automatic dishwashing.

 

[Chetlaham]

Well I think you described it better than I did. Top and bottom wash arms plus two top and bottom fan spray rinse arms, see through window, interlocking channel type door seals, push button cycles with a red indicating pointer behind a glass lens driven by a rapid advance timer. Banging relays inside the console and three gauges on the front left fascia - one for the wash temperature, one for the rinse temperature and a third for the incoming water pressure. Various cycle console lights of red, amber, green, orange and white for indicating prewashing, washing, rinsing, drying, water heating, ready for next cycle, sanitation complete, ect. 

 

[gelaundry4ever]

sensor cycle

How do you think the sensor cycle would work on these dishwashers Chet? Also, I think the dishwasher can fill up with water a prescribed amount of times, then purge the machine out, then do several more rinses and a final one for the best results with rinse aid and powerful fan drying for spot free results. What do you think the trolli style dish carts would look like? How would they sound when moving around the dishomat?[this post was last edited: 2/1/2025-19:52]

 

[Chetlaham]

Well I'm thinking two ways:

 

1) A photo optic sensor in the sump that would tell the electronic control what cycle sequence to skip over or go through via fuzzy logic.

 

2) A pressure switch, that like on the Power-clean modules, would close when the fine filter is getting full. The pressure switch would stop the timer from rapid advancing in select increments forcing more water change outs. The pressure switch would also close seal-in relays which would force a hotter thermal hold in the main wash portion of the cycle and a hotter/longer soak and scour prewash if selected. The user could of course push a heavy wash button which would automatically force a longer, hotter main wash in that baked on soils may not come loosened enough to trigger the pressure switch during the prewash portion of the cycle and would otherwise trigger a light main-wash where in reality a heavy main wash is needed to remove the backed on soil.

 

 

The same pressure switch would then determine if extra rinses or soil flush purges are needed post main wash.

 

In order for the sanitized console indicator lamp to illuminate at the end of the cycle 180*F water must be sensed leaving the water inlet temperature booster and the water pressure sense switch must remain closed (10-15 psig minimum) during the rinse process. This assures that ample fans of water at a high enough temperature for a long enough period of time was sprayed over the dishes and utensils.    

 

[gelaundry4ever]

sensor cycle

I could imagine a sensor cycle so sophisticated and sensitive, it would detect even the worst of the worst stains and run the cycle accordingly without wasting time. And they're not just fans of water, we're talking massive walls and torrents of water to the point where all the dirty dishes are overcome. Not even silverware would be missed. Not glasses. Nothing. And, the drying cycle will be a heated fan dry. You'd think it would sound like a restaurant due to the vent fan hoods running. Chet, what do you think? What detergents and rinse aids would you see? I think there would be filled with Speed Queen Dishwashers with the toughest garbage disposals built in that would handle anything. Not only that, but the high-tech electronics would be built to military specs. I wonder if Finish had their own commercial version of Cascade detergent and rinse aid. I am referring to Electrasol.[this post was last edited: 2/1/2025-21:53]

 

[Chetlaham]

I'm guessing cascade professional if users are the ones adding detergent, otherwise it would be pumped from bottles that the owner would change when they run empty.

 



 

 

Yes, there would be a very elaborate system of hoods running taking up all that steam.

 

[wayupnorth]

Good luck in finding anyone to finance your dreams.

 

[gelaundry4ever]

chetlaham

I like that idea. I'm quite sure somebody who's fed up with doing dishes by hand would just ditch the sponge and create this business opportunity. Heck. Speed Queen could've jumped on this business opportunity if they wanted to. Will the dishes be heavy? Sure. I'm sure there could be an ingenious idea of how dishes could loaded, transported, and unloaded and put away safely, after being washed safely too.[this post was last edited: 2/1/2025-23:56]

 

[niclonnic]

What I think...

A commercial dish machine, like the one used in the place where I'm employed as a dishwasher at (55+ country club w/ private restaurant), takes about 2 minutes or less. Plus, as @me stated, food soils do indeed have to be rinsed and scrubbed off by hand before running them through the machine. So, I'm imagining a professional kitchen, but on a larger scale, filled with a bunch of commercial dish machines (with no other kitchen equipment, of course).

These machines do not dry dishes, though, which is the primary reason why they wash significantly faster than household models. Plus, they need space in order for the user to slide the clean racks out of. This would really cut down on the space for multiple dishwashers in a row.

I don't mind doing dishes by hand, since it was done in my house for nearly 5 years. At my old house, after our original Kenmore DW leaked wash water all over the floor in late 2011, we swore off using the machine any longer and made the transition to hand washing. It was generally team-based: either my mom (later divorced) or sister would wash the dishes, and then I would wipe them off before putting them away. Doing the washing and drying all by myself would take much longer, though. The long-awaited new DW (Samsung) didn't come until fall 2016, shortly after my stepmom moved in with us. Better late than never, I suppose.

Because my own mother was so obstinate about buying a new dishwasher during this time period, a dishomat would've been a huge boon for my family. However, this is how I imagine what the whole process would consist of: 1) haul our dirty dishes to the car in crates, 2) drive to the dishomat, 3) bring the dishes inside the building, 4) pay to enable the machines to wash dishes, 5) haul the clean dishes BACK to the car in the same crates, 6) drive home and finally, 7) bring the dishes inside the house and put them away. That is simply too much money, gas and labor for me.

So, the net result of a dishomat just sounds very expensive and labor-intensive in my book. It does sound neat on paper, though.

 

[Chetlaham]

@niclonnic: Right, however the machines Jerome is imagining have the ability to macerate, filter and flush away soils like a Whirlpool Power Clean module. Machine would have pre washes, main wash, rinse (if needed) and of course a final 180*F fresh water rinse. At the end of the cycle a vent opens and a heated blower would dry out the dishes and the cavity. Picture a commercial dish-machine + vintage home machine rolled into one.  In fact that is how I imagine residential dishwashers in my world.

 

 

I agree hauling heavy plates and utensils would off put most people to the point they'd rather hand wash and I don't blame them. However I'd definitely like to have the imagined Hybrid dishwasher Jerome is dreaming about. I've dreamed of such machines decades. Its a shame no one have ever made one. Miele has a few that come close in concept, but not quite. 

 

[gelaundry4ever]

chetlaham

I know what you're thinking. I still dream of the perfect dishomat. I think it would smell like active element products. I'm wonderinf if Finish has that brand on the commercial side. You read my mind about a whirlpool power clean style commercial coin operated dishwasher. Speed Queen Appliances could do it, even better. It could be the Speed Queen Total Clean wash system.

 

[Chetlaham]

Indeed, same design just bigger. 1 to 1.5 HP motor. Top and bottom spray arms. Hurricane in a box.  2,500 watt wash heater; 10,000 watt rinse booster heater. The machine could have a pull out dispenser for prewash, prewash 2 and main wash where people could pour in powdered cascade or their favorite pods pods. 

 

[gelaundry4ever]

chetlaham

What about the rinse aid dispenser?

 

[Chetlaham]

Good question. Thats a tough one. Since it would be burdensome to have to refill a tiny dispenser you'd have to have bottles accessed from the back of the machine that the owner would change out every week or so. There would have to be a prime button somewhere and followed by a quick purge cycle to get the machine ready for public use. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[gelaundry4ever]

dishomat public use

Or, they could have everything batch fed automatically. It would either smell like Cascade fryer boilout or Cascade Fast Dry or Active Elements. I think Finish is the consumer side of Active Elements.

 

[Chetlaham]

That might be a better option as it would prevent people from overdosing on detergents or doing something not so smart like pouring half a box of cascade into the machine.

 

 

 

 

[gelaundry4ever]

to chetlaham

The same can be said for rinse aid. I think we should convince Speed Queen to start making dishwashers. I called them yesterday and they said they'll put it in their notes. They could easily pull off a dishomat project.