Modern Day Appliances

[johnb300m]

Ok, i just bought a Danby countertop dishwasher. During my research i tangented on regular dishwashers, namely KitchenAid. I know how bulletproof and awesome they used to be. My dad's family has always owned them. I helped my aunts buy their 1998 KA Superba with the standard tub. The KAs before that and including the '98 are very good machines. But...with Whirlpool's hijacking of KitchenAid and the tall-tub editions, i've noticed a pattern where people are not liking their new tall-tup KAs. There are all sorts of complaints about them on Epinions.com. I know that's not too much of a reliable source. But Epinions is usually good with a standard distribution of praise and contempt for products. But there seems to be an overwhelming anger over the new tall-tub KAs. Complaints from fit and finish, customer service, faulty electronics, poor washability etc. What's the deal? I've looked at these machines at stores and at first glance look very good. They have the same four-way arm and same middle arm as alot of previous KAs. I know the wash module is new. I've explored that unit and without seeing it in action, looks like a good unit. Big motor, big stainless steel food disposer. Decently sized micro-filtration chamber. But...people complain that they just don't wash!
And it's not just KitchenAid. I've heard similar complaints about alot of brands. GE too. We have a GSD6600 Triton XL, from 2003, and it works amazingly well. Never had a problem with it. It washes anything you throw at it. But recently, people have been badmouthing the current GEs. I've noticed they made some of the holes smaller in the main wash arm. Would that matter? Why the design change when their 2003 design works flawlessly? If the design changes from KA and GE are upsetting people, you'd think they'd take care of their customers and ship them new wash rotors or filters or trip pieces or something.

All i know is, with people dropping in excess of 800 bucks for dishwashers. The problems they're having are unacceptable, especially for KitchenAid.
Are all appliances down to a life expectancy of 3-5 years now? Is it too much to ask at least 10 years out of an appliance now?
What the hell's going on?

 

[frigilux]

Cheapening the 'build quality' of appliances is a sore spot for everyone here, which is why many at this forum choose to restore vintage (usually pre-1980's) appliances for their own use.

Electronics problems plague most every species. Personally, I had to have the board replaced on my 2004 Frigidaire dishwasher when it was only a couple of months old. Fortunately it was still under warranty. While I liked that DW and had no issues with how it cleaned, it was definitely full of plastic and fairly flimsy. My sister needed a DW, so I gave it to her and bought a tall-tub TOL Maytag in late 2005, which has a stainless steel tub. The build quality appears to be more substantial than the Frigidaire. It cleans very well----does a better job on pots/pans than the Frigidaire---- but time will tell how it holds up.

I tend to replace dishwashers and washers/dryers every few years just because I like having new toys. Unfortunately, this doesn't allow me personal experience with how long new appliances will last. The only appliance 'old' appliance I have is a 12-year old Frigidaire refrigerator, which has given me no problems. (Knock on plastic..)

A Frigidaire front-loading washer and dryer I purchased in 1996 (the first of the Electrolux-built models) is still going strong, servicing a 3-unit apartment building.

So, can modern appliances still be working after 10 years? Sure. But will they last upwards of 20 years, as did many vintage KitchenAids dishwashers or Kenmore and Maytag laundry appliances? Time will tell, but my hunch is they probably won't.

 

[johnb300m]

yeah, most of the appliances in my family are fairly decent now. I'll tell family members i'd rather repair their appliances than get new ones.

 

[Designgeek]

I've been thinking about that Danby countertop dishwasher too. It appears to be a decently made unit, gets good reviews, and the price is almost too good to be real. I have a Danby washer (the twin-tub unit) that's been excellent so far, and the front-loader gets rave reviews everywhere, so it seems they're on the right track. If I recall correctly from the manual (which I downloaded), the countertop DW has a high-temp sanitize cycle (over 160 Fahrenheit) that'll kill everything except prions (Mad Cow), and has a quick cycle that also uses the sanitize temperature. I'll bet that the cycle control is a mechanical timer with relays; simple is good.

Only thing holding me back is my cabinets are just a tad too low for it to fit conveniently anywhere in the kitchen (my Emerson microwave just barely fits). OTOH I may be moving soon enough, and that's going to be one of the first things I get at the new place. (That and a Panasonic bread machine: measure the ingredients, press a button, and 4 hours later you have a nice fresh loaf of bread made to order. All for $150. Speaking of "almost magic"!)

So, I'd be eager to know what you think of the Danby DW in as much detail as you care to write; pictures are also always appreciated here.

 

[toggleswitch]

Danby coutertop dishwasher-

Sold by Compact Appliances.
This site has some nifty items...come in look around.

Bathroom, Kitchen - Faucets, Sinks, Hardware - Ferguson Home

Huge Online Savings on over 500,000 home improvement projects: Shop faucets, sinks, lighting, hardware, fans, appliances and more at Ferguson Home.

compactappliance.com

 

[johnb300m]

The Danby arrives today! i'm gonna thouroughly test it out in the same fashion i test everything Update coming shortly, with pictures!

 

[chachp]

I think it would be fun to have one just to be able to look in the window and see what's going on in there. They had them in Target not long ago and I almost bought one just for fun. I thought that was a little extragent for fun but if they go on sale I'm going to get one. I don't care if the husband thinks I've lost my mind or not LOL.

 

[johnb300m]

Well i just did two loads in the Danby today right after i got it. It works splendidly! It came via FedEx and is flawless. The interior is beautiful stainless steel with mirror finish. It feels very solid, and is quite heavy. It does look huge in our small kitchen, but it does the job.

Flexability: It can fit 99% of whatever dishes and cookware we have. I wish the tines where a bit more standardly laid out, but they're laid out so you're sorta forced to load the machine the way they wanted you to. But that's ok.

Operation: I put a full load of plates, silverware, glasses and a skillet, and it ran it on normal wash. Everything came out great! The wash rotor has two driving jets and 6 fan spray washing jets. It looks like good coverage. It sounds powerful when running, yet quiet. I'd compare the noise to a middle end GE machine. Ya know, the ones with little insulation, but with the quiet motor and pump. It has a lift out filter screen that catches everything, and the holes are just the right size to filter crap you, yet not clog up on you.
The window is really cool but it's way too dark. You have to put a flashlight to it to see much of anything happening inside. Bad idea, they should've not tinted the window.

Durability: The hoses, connection and unit seem very solid. Nothing flimsy anywhere. The adapter is iffy on our faucet cuz it's an apartment special from the 60s.

All in all i'm very happy. I cut myself badly doing dishes by hand a few weeks ago. Needed 6 stitches, so i'm done with that BS. NO more hand washing.

The only thing i don't like about it is the dark window, and the fact that there are no words on the unit. Everything's international icons...and i find that a bit annoying.

I'll take pictures soon.

 

[toggleswitch]

How much time does the normal wash cycle take?

 

[johnb300m]

There are two main wash cycles. Normal and Quick Wash. I havn't sat with a stopwatch, cuz i'm sure my roommate would think i'm freaky [he already thinks i'm wierd buying this, i guess he likes washing dishes].
But i'd guess the Normal wash takes about 35min, and the short wash aprox. 25min.
It seems to do great so far, i just ran a 3rd load now, LOL.
I'm experimenting with ways to remove the exterior deeply tinted window so you can see in via the interior clear window. The exterior window seems to do nothing to hold water in, and is there purely to make the thing look like a microwave.

Here are the pictures i promised:

Photo Storage

Store your photos and videos online with secure storage from Photobucket. Available on iOS, Android and desktop. Securely backup your memories and sign up today!

photobucket.com

 

[DADoES]

Cool unit!

 

[kenmorepeter5a]

Compact Appliance

Hi Steve, how are you doing? I'm deaf and my name is Peter.

Before I look of the laundry for washer & dryer...I found of it! I looked a newest frontload washer, it's "Supra" by washer combo.

-- Peter (kenmorepeter5a) ;-)

 

[kenmorepeter5a]

Compact Appliance

Hi Steve, how are you doing? I'm deaf and my name is Peter.

Before I look of the laundry for washer & dryer...I found of it! I looked a newest frontload washer, it's "Supra" by washer combo.

-- Peter (kenmorepeter5a) ;-)

 

[Designgeek]

Well, *that's* way cool. And thanks for posting the pictures. Clever design points abound. The filter seems like it would catch all the food-bits from a full load, so you don't have to scrape the dishes almost-clean before putting them in there. The spray arms have nozzles at different locations to maximize coverage without need of excessive water pressure. The whole exterior is typical Danby: clean, modern, no gimmicks, neatly laid-out. And yeah it's big, but there's no way around that if you want an effective interior capacity. Lucky you not having cabinets that hang down low over your counters.

Tonight I did a sink full of dishes in less than ten minutes. Realistically that's not bad for a daily chore, but it's still one of those tasks that would rather be mechanized, and of course during cold & flu season, sanitizing everything would be good, particularly when having friends over for shared meals.

If I had space for one of these (i.e. if my cabinets weren't so low over the counters, and yes, I've measured carefully), I'd order it as fast as I could dial the phone. Right now the only way to do it would be to put it on a movable cart, which I could custom-build to fit over the washer. But the ideal case for a dishwasher is that it's next to the sink so it's basically ready to work at any time without moving a bunch of stuff around.

Re. replacing the pesky dark window: probably there are concealed screws that hold the door assembly together. When you take out the tinted window you could take it to a plastics place such as TAP Plastics and have them cut a piece of clear perspex to match the size and shape exactly. When you disassemble the door, beware of little mechanical doodads jumping out at you and getting lost on the floor, for example springs or whatnot that control the detergent feeders.

Re. those international-label controls: make a photocopy of the page in the manual with the pictures on it, and tape that up on the wall near the machine, and mark it with blue pen to note what the settings are for. Or, for cycles you know and use frequently, get some masking tape, and using a scissos, cut tiny triangles of tape and stick them on the dial face, pointing toward the dials in the positions you want to set them. The tiny bits of tape won't leave a lot of tape stickup on the dials later; they're relatively discreet.

It occurs to me, one of the reasons Danby can keep their prices so low for such good equipment, is that they don't need a large advertising budget because they get such good word-of-mouth.

 

[toggleswitch]

Thanks John and Peter.

 

[johnb300m]

I got the tinted front window off! Now you can totally see inside. It was held on with pressure clips.

 

[Designgeek]

Good for you getting the tinted window off. Can you post a couple of pictures of how that was done (and what it looks like now that you can see the interior)? After you got it off, were there any gaps between the gaskets or trim that could collect dirt from outside the unit? And does it appear that a replacement piece of clear plastic could be slipped in there if needed to close up a gap?

It's way cool that at least one company is making appliances that lend themselves to hacking so easily. First came the water-level mod switch for the front loading washer. Now this minor but aesthetically pleasing modification on the dishwasher. A lot of companies make products that are effectively hack-proof to avoid liability or for other dumb reasons, so the exception stands out even more.

Here's the next bit of Danby hacking I'd like to see: a continuously variable thermostat input for the front-loader, to control the internal water heater. So then you could hook it up to cold water only, and get any temp from cold to 200-degree sanitize. Though, strictly speaking, this could also be done as an external inline on-demand heater with a thermostat, that could be attached to any washer depending on the design of the water inputs. Hmm, I see a product idea here..!

 

[foraloysius]

Doesn't the Danby have a continuously variable thermostat then? All cheaper European frontloaders with separate thermostats used to have that.

 

[tomturbomatic]

Georgio, remember the carts for microwave ovens in the 80s? Why couldn't you put the dishwasher on one of them and then roll it to the sink to run it? Nothing is excessive when acquiring appliances you want.