Maiden wash for WU702 RR

[reactor]

When I moved, I swore no more dishwashers and I gave my collection away...but..I found a nice Maytag RR convertible in Knoxville for only $40. But this will really be my last vintage dishwasher.

The man I purchased it from said it belonged to his Aunt and she had taken good care of it. He had "built-it-in" for her by cutting off the Unicouple, and drilling two holes in the side of the cabinet for the drain and fill hose. He then moved it into a cubbyhole next to her sink and hooked it up.

When his aunt passed away he took the dishwasher intending to use it himself, but he said he needed the money now. He had stored it in an out building and the butcher block top was very dried out. The cabinet was good, no rust. However, mice had gotten into the cabinet and had tore up the insulation and made nests So I had a lot of mice droppings to clean up and had to remove some of the insulation. At least they had not chewed any of the wiring.

The interior was almost pristine. No build-up anywhere and the filter was nice and clean. The unit is a 1988 model.

Here are some pictures. Also, I had to install my Maytag disposal of the same vintage, so I would have a matched set!

I didn't take any close-ups of the front of the machine so you wouldn't see my less-than-professional paint job. I sprayed the front panels black as Harvest Gold would be a little out of place in my kitchen.

The dishes came out to perfection, not a speck of food anywhere. This was not a particularly demanding load. I'll try to do a "Bob Load" with dirtier dishes and post pics sometime in the future

 

[tomturbomatic]

Nice machine, but

I just don't have that many plates in a typical dishwasher load. Glasses, bowls, pitchers, pans, but not plates.

 

[electronicontrl]

That's beautiful!!

Congrats on your awesome dishwasher!
I love my Maytag RR dishwasher(s). It's like having a Maytag washer...for dishes!

 

[reactor]

nice machine as well, Michael

Your dishwasher is awesome, too. Nice "Bob Load" of dishes!!

 

[reactor]

thanks, Tom

Sorry I didn't mean to ignore your comment Tom (tomturbomatic) I didn't see it before Michael's post. Thanks for the compliment. Yes, that is one of the nicest things about the reverse rack is the loading flexibility. Even when I have an abnormally large amount of plates, such as I did in this load, they fit right it.

The dedicated bowl racks are super, the RR is the only dishwasher I've had that can hold the extra thick china bowls, extra deep bowls and/or bowels with sharp curvature, upright. The intermediate tines where I have extra plates are made for saucers, extra plates or extra bowls and add great flexibility.

Of course, the cups and glasses you mentioned play no role in the space taken by the extra plates in the upper rack, as they all go in the lower rack and there is a boat load of space for them there.

The pans, which you also mention, can go in either rack as you can see from Michael's pictures (and pictures I have posted from my past RR machines). This is one of the things Maytag promotes in their literature, the flexibility of pots and pans going in, and washing equally well, in either rack.

A well designed machine, indeed!

 

[whitetub]

Love the pictures. I miss my reverse-rack. I wish they still made them. They were the best to load.

I wonder how well they would do with less water usage, a longer cycle and the new detergents. If they could make them energy efficient to today's standards.

 

[reactor]

new detergents

In reference to your comment, Steve. You asked how would the RR's do with less water usage, longer time and newer detergents.

Heaven forbid the thought of modernizing the near perfect dishwasher and ruining it!!

This is not the first RR that I've had, but I still never cease to be amazed at how well the dishes are scrubbed with only a 13 minute main wash.

On this particular model, there is no way I can increase the wash time (not that I need to) The "sani-wash" cycle heats water in all phases but does not increase the cycle time.

The "temp boost" will increase the wash time only as needed to reach 140 degree F. (Note: on models that have the "Power Boost" option the main wash is extended, but only for about ten extra minutes.) In my case, I have a water heater set about 140 F set so the water comes out of my kitchen faucet at approx. 134 - 136 deg F after the heat loss in the plumbing.

On the "Temp Boost" setting. The dishwasher's heating element comes on at the beginning of the main wash. The timer does not reach it's stop point to check for water temp until well into the wash phase, so by this time the water has already heated to 140 deg, so I get zero delay and no wash time extension.

So, no mater what cycle I choose, the main wash remains at 13 minutes. But even with today's enzyme based detergent that is all the time that is needed. I had a BOL Maytag RR that I once modified so it would have the same wash extension as the TOL Reverse Rack models (just to see if I could). But there is really no difference in performance, that I have noticed.

My Reverse Rack washes every bit as well, if not very slightly better, than my Whirlpool/Jenn-Air tall tub, that has a main wash longer than the entire cycle of the Maytag Reverse Rack.

With my soft water, unfortunately the Jenn-Air/Whirlpool etches my glassware badly.

That's one of the things I like best about the Reverse Rack is that it virtually eliminates etching of dishes/glassware. Etching occurs only during the wash component when dishes are in the presence of strongly alkaline detergents, especially in softer water conditions. It is magnified by time and temperature. So long main washes markedly increase etching of glassware.

With only a 13 minute main wash, glassware does not have time to readily etch in a Reverse Rack. Someone with only 120 def water temp, will get a longer wash cycle, if they use the "Temp Boost" option, but even then it would only be a fraction of the time of a modern dishwasher where just the main wash alone can be 1 1/2 hours or longer.

So, when using my Reverse Rack, I can have a load of dishes washed, dried and put away while my Jenn-Air would have still have been on just the main wash My dishes are just as clean, slightly shinier and are unetched when compared to my more "modern" Jenn-Air.

My Jenn-Air is not even that new, approx. 15 years old. From what I hear many newer dishwashers take even more time.

It seems as if many "modern" appliances are experiencing evolution in reverse.

 

[combo52]

JennAir/Whirlpool dishwasher?

Hi Barry, what JennAir dishwasher model do you have? If it’s 15 years old it wouldn’t have anything to do with whirlpool.

John

 

[reactor]

jenn-air

Hi John!

There is no manufacturer's label on it, it must have come off. But in looking online it looks like it's one of the JDB 1100 series, as best I can figure out. Was that series a Maytag built series??

If it is, it must be one of the latter series before Whirlpool purchased Maytag.

I don't tend to pay much attention to non-vintage machines. When I bought this current house, I left this dishwasher in, because it's very good looking, and matched the other stainless appliances. It washes quite well--its just slow!