Drawer Dishwashers disappearing from stores

[verizonbear]

Not sure if anyone else has noticed this, Sears, Lowes. and other stores no longer have drawer dishwasher as part of their typical merchandise offerings in store. I went to the Sears outlet in Baltimore yesterday, tons of drawer dishwashers returns and new stock, all 35%. It was a cool concept, I think the reliability problems with the F&P line did the drawer concept in

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[frigilux]

Drawer-style dishwashers have never appealed to me, as I tend to wash loads of huge pots, pans, stock pots, and hotel-chafer sized serving pans. I prefer having a full-sized machine with a half-load option, like my LG.

Having said that, there are people in the AW family who like their dw drawers, and have had no reliability issues (Hi, Glenn!).

As with HE impeller-based top-loading washing machines, they're just not for me.

 

[combo52]

DRAWER DWs

They are just too troublesome and none of them worked very well, add to that they are expensive to build, I call it a high end appliance toy for people with too much money.

 

That said we have a 6 year old FP dual drawer SS fronted one sitting at our shop that works perfectly that we are going to drop off at a builder restore next time we go. The original owner got sick and tired of babying it and dirty dishes and had us replace it with one of the last WP built KM UltraClean standard tub DWs. Then my partner Jason took it home and tried it for two mounts [ to see if they were really that bad, it was ] before he put his WP Power Clean Standard tub machine back.

 

They are better than having no DW, but they are just not serious machines. If you want this one you can probably get it fairly cheaply from the resale charity, probably around $100.00. 

 

[bleacho]

i had one when they first came out.

purchased it when they were first introduced. i was charged for 2 installations because theyre 2 machines, as sears pointed out. it worked fine.... for a while..
tech came out a few months later because one drawer wasnt working well.. he said the water would go in, but quickly leave the drawer, ultimately not washing the dishes. since it was new he didnt know how to fix it, and wrote me a ticket to return the product, which i did.. although not necessarily a novelty, i was more concerned with spending 1,000 at the time for a product that wasnt working efficiently, and repairman couldnt, or didnt know how to fix it.

 

[rapunzel]

I don't want to jinx myself, but haven't had any kin

My F&P dds are working perfectly. From memory (getting dodgy now and can't be bothered to find the paperwork), I got my dds in 2003. Last year I did a kitchen renovation and had them standing on the rear balcony for a couple of months, where they got knocked about a few times. Had them serviced and put back into the new kitchen and they are doing just fine. On their website there is no indication that f&p are discontinuing the dish drawer design.

 

[DADoES]

 
I notice this situation last night when investigating for a response elsewhere.  Maytag & Kenmore no longer have drawer units on their web sites.  KitchenAid does but maybe their web designer is behind on his/her work.

F&P introduced a 36" wide single-drawer unit a year or so ago, and is coming out now with the next-generation release of the standard-width single- and double-drawer models. Their units have been on the market since 1997, so the machines apparently are good and popular enough to remain a viable, selling product for 14+ years.

John has repeatedly stated that DishDrawers are horrible for washing results.  I've cited several examples to him to the contrary in my experience.  I also offer these pics, which are not mine.  A woman I do not know posted them in a discussion on another board I follow.

 

[combo52]

DISH DRAWER PERFORMACE

Putting in two casserole dishes and running that machine for over an hour and 4-6 gallons of water later is a waste of energy and time. Any DW ever made would have cleaned those dishes and a whole lot more.

 

[aquarius1984]

what a joke!

Oh dear. Is that all that fits into one drawer?

Uk machines would take those both stood upright at the back of the bottom tray with around 10 plates in the tines at the front and the cutlery basket. Maybe even a saucepan or two. What a joke! one tablet/dtergent measure to wash 2 baking dishes.

 

[aquarius1984]

I can see why they are not catching on if that is the case. I thought they were wasteful washing an average load from most FL DW's using nearly twice the water and double detergent.

This frying pan and roasting tin i have in my dw i reckon must be around the same size as those baking dishes, the racks aint really well thought out in the F&P are they to make better use of stacking.

Disturbing for sure. Look at how much extra room you get in here with racks designed by realistic people.

 

[alfer]

FP dishwasher drawers

We have two single units, one on each side of the sink. no bending when loading, eleven years old shortly, work very well and quiet, we have soft water. Door switches and a water valve were replaced. Only problem is that items such as large platter or cookie sheets cannot be accommodated easily.

 

[rapunzel]

Now hang on a minute folks!

Dadoes loaded in those casserole dishes to demonstrate how well it cleans. Those two items could have been loaded standing at an angle as well and other stuff would have fit in with them. I do it all the time without any problems. You take two large frying pans or casserole dishes and place them face down flat in a basket on a conventional dishwasher and it'll look exactly the same.

The dishdrawer moves a good amount of water and the pressure is certainly not anemic. It does an excellent cleaning job and completes the heavy duty cycle in approximately two hours (including 1/2 hour air dry) - which is actually quicker than most other machines now. Moreover the filter assembly is highly effective and very easy to maintain. It comes in two parts, as opposed to three or four and is easily accessible.

The standard dual dish drawers are limited with very tall or long stem items, but I understand that the 36" wide single drawer model also comes with increased height.

Did Whirlpool manufacture the dish drawers themselves or were they re-badged F&P machines?

 

[combo52]

DISH DRAWERS

WP bought and sold the F&P DWs for the KA brand name before they bought MT. MT had been working on thier own DWs when WP bought out MT so they introduced a WP built models under the KM and KA names. The WP built machines are so much better built and far more reliable than the F&P models, but unfortunately clean EVEN WORSE than the F&P machines do. When ever we get a service call on the older F&P built KAs all three of us technicians try to get out of working on the piece of chap.

 

I have many customers that like thier DDs and I am sure that F&P will continue to build them, but I think the brief love affare of that US consumers had with them is about over. To me it is like comparing a small Haier washer with a real full sized machine, yes you can get clean clothes out of the portable Haier washer, but the DDs are not serious machines for big families or people like me that like to cook in quantity.

 

[rapunzel]

I thought that the F&P dd is a very simple design to service

When the tech came to service my units he just pulled the drawers right out and it all looked very easy to access. He had to change the motor in the top drawer, which took no time at all and wasn't all that expensive either. Few moving parts and little that can fail mechanically is supposed to be the strong point of the F&P design - why are these machines such a nightmare to work on?

We generate a lot of dishes. My house is a hive of activity with usually no less than half a dozen people mulling about at any one time and often a lot more. Rule of thumb being "if it fits it goes in" - no pre-rinsing, only scraping, no bottlenecks with loading, washing and unloading. No stooping, no spilling and when I drop something accidentally it doesn't have that far to fall resulting in fewer breakages.

Like any product it is a design that will not appeal to everyone, but to say that it is ineffective and low quality crap is, in my experience, way off the mark. If it were I wouldn't own one.

 

[brisnat81]

Hi Olav,

I'm glad you find the cleaning to be good. I've worked in two places that had early models and in both instances the Pots and Pans cycle struggled to get coffee stains out of cups, even when using finish powder.

I lost track of how much time I spent pulling the basket out so I could remove the spray arm and disk filter, so I could scrub it out. The filter was always dirty and the things never ever cleaned properly. The cuttlery Baskets were replaced every 6 months because they fell apart. The impellor was undamaged, the spray arm not blocked and it was draining ok, but it just didnt work.

I was impressed by the design, having an impellor that doesnt need any bearings or an actual drive shaft, but the performance in the two workplaces put me off for life.

Maybe the newer ones are better, but I just couldnt imagine living with one of them at home.

 

[rapunzel]

Hi Brisnat,

Cleaning is excellent, not just good. I still have the original cutlery baskets, but had to get the fine mesh filter inserts replaced. I used to pull them out for cleaning, which caused the plastic tops to separate. When I remove them now, I just take out the large filter plates and push the smaller fine mesh filters out.

The filters get checked every couple of months. There has never been anything lodged in the spray arms and the filter plates are usually clean. Whatever finds its way in there usually dissolves in hot water, gets pulverized by the impellers and flushed out. A couple of times a piece of plastic or glass had found its way to one of the impellers and caused a racket, but that wasn't anything to worry about. All I had to do was take out the impeller unit, remove the offending item and put it all back into place.

Every six months I run a cycle with vinegar and baking soda. I do find that if I frequently wash at lower temperatures, using the eco option, a film of muck will accumulate around the micro mesh, but that's it.

Hygiene/housekeeping in commercial environments and workplace lunchrooms is a different kettle of fish. I bet you were the only person who knew how to load and use those dishdrawers correctly. Coffee stained mugs are endemic in many workplace environments even where machines do the work. Those stains can become permanent and require more than just putting them through a pots and pans cycle. At one of my workplaces they used to soak cups in bleach solution overnight before putting them through a commercial machine, to get rid of tea and coffee stains.

When the time comes to replace my current dishwasher I may consider buying another set of dishdrawers. So far I've been very satisfied with F&P. Ideally I would love to have a dishwasher with built-in food grinder and completely self-cleaning filter that requires absolutely no attention from me. That's what I used to have and miss very much.

 

[easyspindry]

I've never understood . . .

. . . the dislike of F&P appliances. I have a set of dish drawers by F&P and have been very pleased with them. As has been said previously, there are good and bad points about all appliances. I live alone but have guests over intermittently. I have never had any problem with what I can and cannot get into the drawers. Most of the time, I use one drawer for a meal. Sometimes i use both of them at the same time when there is a large amount of dishes.

I recently had a Corning casserole dish with baked-on pork chop renderings which I put into the drawer with no rinsing or scraping. It came out spotless.

When I have a large dinner, it is nice to have the 2 separate drawers -- one for the plates, silver, pots/pans, etc., and the other one for the glasses and/or lightly soiled dessert dishes.

The machines are quiet. I have had no repairs now in six years.

My F&P Aquasmart clothes washer and topload dryer are working perfectly after 8 years with no repairs and no complaints.

Jerry Gay

 

[norgeway]

And!

I can testify that the above statement is 100% true! I had the F and P washer and once Jerry saw mine he got one! and loves it, I sold mine when I sold my house in Lenoir, but would buy a new one without any hesitation...but for a dishwasher, I will take a vintage Kitchenaid over ANYTHING made today! 45 minutes beats 1 1/2 to 2 hours any time!

 

[pierreandreply4]

my toughs on drawer dishewashers

Well here are my toughts on why drwaer dishwashers might be disepiring from us and maybe canadien stores maybe the main reasons that drawer dishwashers are disepring from the market is maybe the main reason is that they where not selling well as most consumers prefer a regular dishwasher or maybe they are still avalable in the market but as special orders and are avalable in funiture stores but they are not out of the market i think that kitchen aid now makes drawer dishwashers and so do jenn air so they must be avalable but it depents on the brand you went.

 

[chestermikeuk]

DishDraws

They are a niche product and not for everyone, but having used them myself found them like any appliance - you need to use them and get to know how they operate, I found them easy to load / unload and v quiet in operation, suitable number of programmes and results where great...

Have sold 2 batch lots to a developer where they where used in urban Splash renovation developments, apartment loft style, one batch was the single integrated drawer where they where used under a combination micro oven in island units making use of the micro space...the other was the bow fronted ss versions for new builds - like whats been said it appears you either love them or hate them, - like any new product you get to know how to load them with your own stuff, we saw the new 90cm models at Grand Designs with Jon, Jack & Al last year, nice feature but I would go for the two stacked as i would use the heavy soil and glasses split option...

Heres the new Single Tall Option