INTERESTING thread folks!
John, are you having a bad day? When I got my 1200 from you last fall, you seemed to sing more praises about this line of machines than you are today. Now they seem to be relegated to Maytag's best cousin status?
I have had what are probably several very good dishwashers, and one piece of sheet, at least in my opinion, so I admit that for many years I've been spoiled. Having a WP DU6000, a new GE Potscrubber 2200 (the lightweight electronic version of the 2800 with a lot fewer fancies), a Potscrubber 1200 which I bought new, a GE tall tub heap of stanky crap PDW7300, and now the used 1200 with the new motor/pump, all I can say is it is VERY nice to be freed from 8 years of dishwasher hate.
I am right back to my old use habits, usage patterns which didn't want to die but had to in order to make the '7300 work anywhere near sufficiently. I generally do not challenge a dishwasher but in one way -- in that I load it throughout the week, do not use rinse/hold and expect it to remove dried on foods that have been sitting for days. The only dishwasher of mine that had an isue with that was the '7300. Now that it has moved on to trouble someone else incessantly, I don't worry much about dried on stuff once again.
That said, I don't totally agree with a few comments made regarding the 1200/2800's lower rack (this rack was used in most other GE dishwashers of the period too, including my Mom's 1987 Potsrubber 900). I will say that my last 1200 was of a newer generation than the one I have now (with the Ivory racks) and it held one more plate on the right side in both front and rear quadrants), but even with my current 1200, I can get at least one dozen dinner plates in the bottom rack if need-be, and still litter the edges of the rack with bowls (I don't wash bowels in the dishwasher typically) and cookware and not have a washability issue with items in the corners of the top rack. I will admit that this rack in general lacks capacity and is primitive as compared some newer racks, but I will not judge a 30 year old appliance using current standards.
Oddly, and perhaps I am an easy GE customer for these machines, I LOVE what you all call the saucer rack. BUT, I defy you to call it that in all seriousness because I never have saucers to load in it; instead I usually fill it with a half dozen cereal bowls. This is a perfect place for them - they are out of the way, they don't flop around on themselves there, and they are placed far enough apart for easy loading and water flow.
On the old style motor - some may think they are junk, but who really cares about it's horsepower rating if it gets the job done? My mother's 900 was in service for 17.5 years. It ran about 8 times per week for its first four years, then about 3-5 times weekly after that for almost 14 years. The motor is not what killed the machine, in fact it was useable when it was replaced (the door spring broke). To me that's not a bad motor design, period. I'll not argue that the replacement motor is better, but the old one worked fine and did what it was supposed to do and could obviously carry the appliance through its service life.
If given a choice of the Potscrubber 2800 or the 1200, I would go with the 1200 time and time again due to the lack of electronics, but either way I think these are GREAT machines and I am glad to be able to enjoy using my dishwasher again.
Here's a pic from installation day last September.
Gordon
