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What difference does it make whether the motors have fans or not. Many motors have not had fans on them in years. They're just open chassis designs for convection cooling. Some might have little fins on their rotors, but that's it. The Point Voyagers have no real fans in them to my knowledge.
The DC magnet motors you so scorn as not tough, in new GE and Frigidaire machines, DO have little cooling fans in them.
The WP Durawash plastic housed motors are the only induction type dishwasher motor with a true cooling fan.
So I have no idea what you think you're hearing.

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What would you guys

consider a satisfactory amount of time to own a dishwasher before it dies? If you buy a dishwasher, and it lasts 9 years with no problems, then it suddenly dies, would you feel you got your money's worth? Or does it need to last longer than that? My last dishwasher was a Whirlpool 2005 point voyager. It lived for 9 years and 2 months and then died a horrible death. You should have heard it. It sounded TERRIBLE! Just before it died, it drained out all of the water (thank God!) I hope my current Maytag lasts at least that long. If it does, I will be happy.....Would I like them to last even longer? Sure! But with today's appliances, I'm not holding my breath - but so far, this Maytag is the best dishwasher I've ever had.
 
Rule of thumb for us here in my household for things like washer, dryer, DW etc:
100€ investment = 1 year.
That includes warranty, price of the new item, service actions, parts etc.
Though not actually in any relation to any real life factors, it seems to be what we feel as good value.
 
10 years and counting on our Quiet Series 300 Maytag. Pretty impressive considering their reputation to be junk. Never once had a part replaced. If anything goes now I'll check parts availability and price it out, if it's reasonable enough I'll repair it. If not then it's new Maytag or Bosch time! (Or perhaps vintage time)
 
Hey I like that 100$/£ = 1 year.
Seems fair to me!

Jerome it doesn't really matter. What in heaven sake will you do when dishwasher motors no longer have fans period?
Motors with fans mean they need cooling. Which means energy is being converted to heat, which is waste.
I would figure any motor not needing a fan would be more efficient.
 
Mark,

That used to be 7 years on average, when used every day.
But now Consumer reports doesn't know everything.
I am sure a DW ran every day on the super hot long cycle fries the board sooner if nothing else. Heat and humidity are enemies of microchips, and motors.
 
I know for a fact...

I know for a fact that the whirlpool point voyagers have a cooling fan because I have seen the back of the main pump that had a vent on the back. I still have the whirlpool which is running. Here's an example. The spray maybe weak, but you maybe able to hear the whirring of the main wash pump from the cooling fan. I have heard a durawash and a point voyager and know that they both have a cooling fan.

http://https//www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQqjJJ7YmWw
 
I just watched that video again

at the top of this post. A couple of things that suck really bad about that video.....they way they seem to show it in progress at regular speed while it's still filling with water, flashing back n forth between the top and bottom rack while it's still filling with water, then when it's finally done filling, they speed it up.....To me, it's so stupid to make a video inside a dishwasher, then alter it. I mean, the whole point is so that we can see what really goes on, not sped up.
 
@mark - THANK YOU!!! I love that they are even doing videos like that, but people that actually care about seeing them DO NOT want them sped up. The whole point is being able to accurately see what's going on, to be able to see the exact spray patterns and how the jets are aimed and what speed the arms rotate at.

Also, I think the question of "what is a reasonable lifetime for an appliance" is an excellent question that I feel can be different for each person. In my way of thinking, I think an excellent appliance would run flawlessly or near flawlessly (with minor repairs, like maybe a wash arm bearing) for 10-15 years. Some people may argue more, but my reasoning for that timeframe relies on a few factors. I think my aunt's WP PowerClean is the best example I have; excellent machine, excellent performance, build quality, design, etc. It is a MOL model bought in 2003 when the house was built, and has been running nearly every single day, sometimes twice daily, and has had no issues to speak of until very recently that it's begun making a horrible rumbling and sometimes failing to drain. My assumption is that the drain impeller may be chipped or broken or that something is caught in the chamber preventing the check ball from opening, etc. That's basically 13 years with no problem. Now, of course the machine can be easily repaired and can last for another 5, maybe 10 years, but at the same time, the design is showing its age. It's a magnificent dishwasher still to this day, but it was also designed alongside detergents at the time that had phosphates and worked properly with a 10-12 minute main wash. Detergents aren't designed for that now. All of us here know very well how to make a "vintage" machine do its job just as well as a modern designed one, but 99% of the rest of society don't care, my aunt being one of them. So in my honest opinion for her, it may be time to let the beast rest because she could care less about making sure to use heavier cycles or options to compensate for the time the detergent needs to work. That said, in 13 years, will my current modern WP still be "designed" to work with whatever chemicals we're using in 2029?

The other factor that comes to mind is that most people, myself included, get the itch for a "new" gadget even if the one they have works perfectly fine. If I have my dishwasher or washing machine for 10-15 years before a malfunction, I'll probably be MORE than ready to have something new and up to date regardless of how much I loved the previous appliance.[this post was last edited: 3/6/2016-00:54]
 
Very true about older machines and new detergents. With my Hobart KA, I now use powdered Cascade. I bought the ginourmous box at Sam's so I measure it into a disposable Ziplock container and add about half the amount in STPP. I think these powdered (and liquid) detergents are still being made with older machines in mind. You can tell just by reading the directions....the pacs say to use one per load, while the powder says to fill all detergent cups completely for best results. Older machines do wash faster and I can't even imagine using say, the Finish tabs in my machine. I honestly don't think they would dissolve completely by the time it drains...if anything I'd put it in the prewash compartment so at least it would be released early on. The Sam's pacs weren't too bad...I just used 1 in each cup, but they produced a lot more foam than the Cascade powder. They dissolved very quickly, as would the Cascade pacs I imagine...they look softer than the Finish rock hard tabs lol.
 
@ Andrew

Yes - I know exactly what you mean. I've been itching for a new front load washer for YEARS honestly, but my Duet keeps pumping out clean clothes with no issues! I like the cool new things too. But I also appreciate the fact that it's lasting as long as it has and does it's job, so I'm not about to get rid of it until it DIES!

Good point about the detergents now vs then, but I don't EVER remember (even the older dishwashers) having a main wash cycle that only lasted 10 to 13 minutes. I think my grandma's old WP 1984 dishwasher even ran an hour or so before the cycle was done? I may be wrong......I just don't ever remember those older 80s/90s dishwashers completing a cycle that quickly.....
 
Cycle times

Mark I think he meant the times that it washes in between fill and drain of each "wash". My Hobart KA has wash periods of about 10-13 minutes thereabouts. The whole cycle is longer of course, but they last about that long before it drains and fills again.
 
But how would it even have time

to heat the water with 10 to 13 min's between drain/fills?

Maybe I just never paid that much attention with past dishwashers - but I know when the cycle was done, you opened the door, steam poured out...so I assumed the dishwashers were heating the water regardless if they had a hi temp wash button or not...but I would think it would need to run longer than that between fills and drains to heat the water.....I dunno. Maybe I'm just remembering wrong.
 
I honestly don't remember on machines from when I was a kid. Mine now has a water heating light and it heats the water for about 15 minutes first before the first wash. Other washes it doesn't though, as far as I can tell.
 
If I'm not mistaken, that was Whirlpool's very first iteration of any silverware "focused" feature that wasn't just aimed nozzles on the wash arms, and I think they're the first to have tried and succeeded with that feature as well. I can't seem to find any documentation of any dishwasher manufacturer that had anything like the TurboZone or Silverware Blast before Whirlpool first had them on their machines. They've come a long way with it though; the silverware spraybar in my machine now has much better coverage and seems to address any issues with the basket being built onto the door. I think it's cool to see that in the Maytag, they used the same coupling on for the silverware blast that was normally used for the PowerScour/TurboZone bars. Same little junction with steel balls that were magnetically shifted to redirect water from the upper arms to the other spray zone. I would have loved to have one of those machines when they were available. I wonder why they stopped offering it as a feature by the time Mark and I got our Maytags.
 
Wash times

I just listened as my KA went through a normal cycle. It did two 10 minutes washes and two 5 minute rinses. Before the first wash it heated the water for about 15 minutes, then the wash cycle started. The whole cycle time is about 1h15m that includes start to finish with heated and fan dry.
 
I just did a bobload of dishes today in my Maytag

and I timed it using autoclean. I guess it really does do soil sensing because using ONLY the autoclean option, it rain 103 minutes with no dry......the last time I ran autoclean it ran 91 min's with no dry.

@ Andrew - I wondered the same thing when I watched that video. I kind of wish my silverware holder was in the door for more room. But I often end up just putting stuff on TOP of the silverware holder itself, since there is enough vertical space to allow clearance without blocking the upper spray arm, and they still come clean......
 
Those times are similar to my Frigidaire. It's a decent machine actually...new features but it doesn't take forever to wash.

Bob load and no pics?? Wth Mark! ;-)
 
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