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I was using the Maytag today and.. zoned out a bit in front of the washer, cause I was texting someone... and .. happened to notice from the time I started the conversation to when the dishwasher drained, the first prewash cycle lasts 10 minutes and it is a full fill of water.

After it drained and filled again, I heard the door pop open for the detergent dispenser. I'm pretty impressed so far..

I had it on auto clean cycle with Hi-Temp wash, Heated Dry and Steam Sanitize set as my options.

My favorite thing about this machine is how much water it uses.. I just kinda wished it had two wash dispensers for the detergent instead of doing just one long wash cycle.. The long prewash does make up for that sorta though.

I really haven't found anything bad to say about it yet and I've been putting some really cruddy stuff in it..

I wonder with the soil sensing stuff, if it doesn't have some kind of trap in it or something with the grinder because I know when I put heavily soiled stuff in, it'll run for a bit on prewash then it will stop, spit out a bit of water that is pretty much solid debris and fill at the same time and it stops pumping water out at the exact moment there isn't visible debris.. When I don't have heavily soiled items in, it doesn't do that on the prewash. It's pretty cool.. Its like its backflushing its strainers as needed.

I mean, it makes up for having several water changes because if there isn't a lot of debris in the water, why waste the water until the cycle change, but if there is debris in the water it flushes them out as needed and replaces the water at the same time.

Sorry if I am rambling, have had the flu the past few days and I think my night time meds are ... kicking in :-D
 
One thing I probably should mention.. If any of the new KitchenAids consume as much water as this Maytag, I think I would have gone with the KitchenAid...

Don't get me wrong I love the Maytag so far, but ... If the KitchenAid uses as much as this machine does, that means we'd almost be back to Hobart-esque machines... Could you imagine, The above pictured cleaning setup, the gluttonous water consumption that the Maytag has, adding steam and even the proscrub options to it? This truly would be a KitchenAid we've been waiting to replace the hobart machines with.

I'll stick with my Maytag for a while, but heres hoping KitchenAid is going back to high water usage and food grinders :-)

I did notice that I could do a quick cycle with heated dry and it was under 90 minutes and was over 10 gallons of water in consumption.. The glasses and stoneware came out clean.. I've yet to flick any debris off of anything.
 
I have the MDB4709...

And I have to say that if you want anything that can compare to the Whirlpool PowerCleans, or the power of the old KitchenAids, this machine is perfect. I wanted a WP PowerClean so badly but they were discontinued, and I thank god I found this. As far as pump design and body style, it's identical to Whirlpool dishwashers before they switched to the "efficient" models. It uses the Point Voyager module, but with better improvements. The chopper is a 4-blade rather than two, and the lower washarm has slightly smaller holes than the Thunderbolt arm, though the holes are in the same location. The spray even follows the same "towards the middle" patter of the old PowerClean arms. I was skeptical, but I like that the holes are smaller because it packs more of a punch. Running a GoPro inside is like seeing an intense hurricane. And yes, all arms move simultaneously, none of this alternating arms junk.

What I love about this machine is that it's almost as though the engineers on the Maytag side are trying their best to hold on to the quality workmanship of older machines, while adding modern improvements. The first fill stops and starts so that the cavitation sensor can tell when no more air is being pulled in, so that it has the perfect amount of water. All the other fills are solid, I guess because it calibrates at the beginning of each cycle. Even with the washer/shower/etc going, it's never gasped for air.

Also, during the prewash, it pauses a few times because there is a sensor on the right side of the sump. If the water is super dirty, it simultaneously drains and fills to pull the debris out without wasting water with a complete drain/refill. The action of the wash arm spraying down on the filter, and the drain pulling at the same time clears the filter chamber.

Myself, I load the dishes filthy, only scraping. There may even be a stray noodle or green bean, or dried oatmeal. With the Normal cycle with no options, I've noticed it will either do a long main wash-purge-long rinse (just like the 2001-2010 PowerClean), or a prewash-main wash-rinse-rinse. I've yet to find a speck left over at the end of a wash. And when measuring the water coming from the drain, it normally uses 6-7 gallons, the same as the new "filtered resource savers" with heavily soiled dishes.

All in all, I've had this machine since July 2013, and I couldn't be happier. The only thing I'd wish for is a door mounted silverware basket, but with Whirlpools new shortcomings, it's something I can deal with. Seriously, if you're in the market for a new dishwasher, or you have a new "glorified rinser" and want something you can actually put dirty dishes into, Maytag is as close as you'll get to a new machine with the qualities of the old school. I only hope they won't be taking the route of KitchenAid and Kenmore and all of Whirlpool's other children anytime soon. Thank goodness Maytag is being the rebellious step-child!
 
Re-Badged Whirlpools

I thought the modern Maytags (Since whirlpool bought the company and name) were nothing more than re-badged Whirlpools. I can't see them spending much money on engineering different machines for the Maytag line. I have a KitchenAid and have always been pleased. I won't buy a dishwasher without a stainless steel interior-- I think they get hotter than the plastic tub machines and seem to dry the dishes better.
 
I think to Whirlpool's credit

They are allowing each of their brands to maintain some of their own identity. Kitchenaid has retained, at least in some models, the hydrosweep lower spray arm. Maytag has kept the high/low upper rack that I liked in my Jetclean.

I don't think Whirlpool is stupid, if all the machines looked alike and had the same features; then why buy a premium brand Kitchenaid over a Roper?

This also makes sense that if they have one model that some consumer mag says it sucks, they still have corporate brothers that are different enough to not suck.

[this post was last edited: 2/25/2014-22:40]
 
That does make good sense

lheartmaytag-- that does make very good sense, I just wasn't thinking. There has to be some differences among them for sure. I just really wished Whirlpool would make Maytags like Maytag did years ago, but that would not fit in with cheaper materials and water conservation.
 
While Whirlpool owns each of these brands...

...they still are able to make some decisions on their own. Sort of the same way Motorola worked after Google bought them. Moto could still produce their own products, but Google had the rights to everything, and could govern and change what they wanted. While WP is the parent company, it seems the engineers of Maytag and KA still have some say in the design of their products. Maytag has to use Whirlpool equipment, but they've chosen to stay with the Point Voyager wash system, and instead make improvements on how the cycles behave. The cavitation sensing fill at the beginning, the simultaneous drain/fill to pull the debris from the filters without a total refill, and the purge between the wash and rinse are all ways that filling with a decent amount for each interval and running all arms at once can still be more efficient while maintaining great performance. This model and the new "eco" models use the same amount of water for a normal cycle, except that the Maytag has cleaner results, plus there is no messy filter to clean afterwards. KitchenAid is unfortunately using the filter/alternating washarms, but at least have (somewhat) brought back the HydroSweep arm. While I'm not holding my breath, I'm hoping people will see the difference, and Whirlpool will take the hint. It's just sad that Consumer Reports is biased enough to deliberately rate anything with the new systems and filters much higher than the ones that have worked so well for years.
 
whirlpool gold dishwasher

My dad's Whirlpool Gold dishwasher works in a similar fashion, except it does solid fills and it has a timer display. It sounds like a storm going on in there.

 

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