Modern GE Dishwashers, Good?

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Oh, the GE I repaired had a single pump with a flapper valve to switch from wash to drain. Not sure of what might be wrong with yours, having two pumps. Maybe a clog or buildup somewhere?
 
Well over the years We've had a BOL Hotpoint, replaced with a KA replaced with a GE2800 ( loved that machine...) Another GE ( basic, but serviceable..) a Whirlpool ( HATE HATE HATED it!  went back to the store in weeks...) and Finally another GE that I love and cleans anything I toss at it.

 

I'd be hard pressed to decide on a new machine at this point, the current GE is 8 or 9 years old and I will keep it running as long as possible.  Odds are I'd go for another GE - MID or close to TOL
 
Further Training/Troubleshooting Material

More goodies on troubleshooting GE's current dishwasher systems.
Very interesting.

 
Install, Maiden Voyage!

SO! This friday I set up the GDF540. As a mechanical engineer, it was easy to tackle, but....it did take me about 2 hours! It was a bit complicated, and more of "some assembly required."
GE did not attach the counter clips, nor did they attach the drain hose extension.
The rear leg threads were tapped all crooked, so the rear legs don't sit flat on the floor. That was annoying.
BUT, the rest of the machine seems quite well made.

Pictures included of the cleaned load.

Comments:
- It's certainly quiet. There's almost no motor noise from the wash pump. It makes a faint DC current whine, but it's barely noticeable with the kick plate on. The drain motor is the familiar groan they all make.
There's a different sound for when it switches between lower and upper wash action. But it's nowhere as annoying as Frigidaire's old system where the middle arm got its water from the ceiling.

- Loading will be a learning curve for my parents. The layout is different. But we were impressed how much you can actually get in it, even with the slightly smaller racks.

- The silverware baskets sure are different. And the soap dispenser totally encroaches upon the lower basket. If you notice, one basket has a handle. The other does not. It seems best to put the one with the handle on the bottom, in order for soap to clear. Which is too bad, since it would make more sense to have the handled basket on the top for ease of pulling the top rack. Oh well.

- There's hardly ANY room underneath. It's SO low profile. And the door is lower to the ground, which helps interior space. But if you have standard 'man' hands like me, it's best to do all the hookups, if possible, BEFORE you push the machine back.

- Maiden voyage was run on AutoSense with Heated Dry. It honestly didn't take as long as I thought, or heard people complain about. The load was a mixed load with some dinnerware and non-stick pots and pans.
Took about 70min or so wash. Did 2 pre-rinses, main wash, and 2 post rinses. No idea how long the dry took. We went to bed.
Everything WAS clean in the morning. Only one issue. Where two bowls were touching, some crud got stuck. But as long as there's space between all items, everything came clean. The spray DOES sound quite forceful, from each alternating arm. More forceful than what it sounds and looks like from Whirlpool's alternating systems.

- Drying performance was noticeably different from the old 2003 machine. All the dishes were dry, but the interior does leave a lot of moisture, including the silverware racks. But the silverware was dry. Just not the baskets.
It's BEST to unload the lower rack first of course. Then top.

- I inspected the fine filter and there was a thin film of gook on of the quadrants, but it was no big deal. The rest was clean. I instructed my parents to just check it once a week, and rinse it out as needed.
To my surprise, they were elated that it was easy to remove and clean. Instead of calling their son to take it all apart to clean ;)

- Other complaints I saw online were from water dripping from the exhaust vent. After the cycle in the morning, there was noticeable condensation around the vent. And it could leave some drops on the floor when you open the door. But nothing too different from our old machine when heat boost was used. (shrug).

Overall, we're impressed and I think my parents will enjoy it. I rather liked it too.
Now here's to hoping it lasts for a few years, problem free.

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I'm glad the purchase has worked out well. 

 

It seems that with many "maligned dishwashers," user stupidity plays a HUGE role in poor results. On US machines, I understand purging the hot water line can be hugely beneficial. As is the type and quantity of detergent used. 

 

I speak this from experience with the supposedly crap F&P DishDrawer. 4 years on, no mechanical failures and dishes are clean (they are *never* pre-rinsed, complete waste IMO). None of the failed pumps, blocked drains, dirty dishes, computer-board failures that the reviews carry on about.

Yes, it does have filters, although running hotter cycles keeps them clean. The drain for the DW is cleaner than for the kitchen sink. I have run without the drain filter in place. The machine does dispose of soft foods. Makes some interesting noises with rice (LOL). 

 

Please let us know how this machine continues running in the longterm. It will be interesting to hear if the machine is reliable and continues producing good results. 
 
Detergent Cup issues

Well it's been 1 week my parents have been living with the GDF540, and they're really liking it.
(This model is now discontinued by GE btw :/ )

There's just one glaring issue.
The detergent pods, like many have said online in various reviews, often get stuck in the soap cup.
It just seems like not enough water gets to it. And if the pods are moist, they stick in the cup.

I'm thinking the next time I'm over, of tapping a little rinse hole in the middle spray arm to splash at the soap cup.
We'll see how that does.

Despite that, they say it's cleaning very well thus far.
 
I've never had a detergent pac/pod fail to dissolve in my GE, but the silverware rack isn't in front of the dispenser as it is on your parents' machine. Mine has a different wash system/wash arm configuration, so that may play a part, as well.

The lower wash arm on mine looks like this:

frigilux++9-11-2015-11-30-20.jpg
 
Quad Blade

Frig, when I get my own house in the next several months, after I save money from the W/D purchase, the DW will be next. And I TOTALLY want one of those quad blade Profiles.
Your reviews have been very reassuring.

Then again, there's the idea of getting a 500 series GE, and just twisting on some quad blade upper arms to both the top and bottom. They're only $20.
MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA!!!! It's aliiiive!
 
New GE dishwasher model GDT 514

I have been testing this dishwasher in my house for about a month and done about 12 loads in it so far.

First impressions it's impressively quiet although the drain pump is very annoying as a pulse is on and off and I can hear it in the office in the next room over.

The racks feel cheap and I can't stand the almost black color of them it makes it very hard to see to load the racks themselves are very sparse and don't hold much compared to the K DSS 20 KitchenAid that I had.

Most items come out clean but about one and four dishes have to be rejected because they are particles on the glasses in the corners of the upper rack absolutely don't get washed the X arms are stupid they're not long enough to get into the corners.

Overall if it were the only dishwasher I had I might get used to it but the performance is just not there it just doesn't have enough water Force to dislodge particles were two dishes are touching slightly drying performance is nonexistent. The problem is when you compare it to the performance of my 1987 whirlpool there's just no contest and this GE dishwasher will not be here long.
 
I had a GE (sorry, I forget the model) bought new in 2011. It was excellent provided Sani-Cycle was used (even if 'quick wash'/'short cycle'), otherwise, not so much even though the water heater temp was quite high. I always purged the hot water line beforehand.

One positive side note: Gas service went out once in the middle of winter. Curious, I ran a load on Sani-Cycle knowing there'd only be COLD water going in. The GE took a little over an hour longer than usual, but the dishes came out spotless.

Jim
 
John--- Spoiled by the brawny, versatile racks and cavernous interior of the 2008 LG, I also find GE's racks lacking versatility and kind of flimsy. They make that cheap 'scraping' sound when you move them in or out, too. I have the PDT750.

Manufacturers: The door and racks are what the consumer has the most contact with---don't skimp on them!

The interior of the GE is easily several inches shorter, narrower, and shallower than the LG, too. Things like big, rectangular hotel chafer pans have to hang over the rack a bit to fit. I have a tall soup kettle that won't fit in the lower rack unless I raise the upper rack, which then won't accept large mixing bowls. I could fit all those things into the LG without a problem, and it had a cutlery rack on top of it all!

I love how quiet the GE is, and haven't had a problem with redeposits on my tall iced tea glasses in the corners of the upper rack. I regularly put saucepans and saute pans in the upper rack with excellent results, too.

Have to admit: If LG hadn't changed their wash system (for the worse, of course) I'd gladly have purchased another one. They are one of the most repair-prone machines according to CR's data, but mine took 5.5 years of almost commercial-level use without a problem. That's like 10-12 years in most kitchens. But when that cracked drain hose ruined my kitchen floor and subflooring, I didn't trust it anymore, so out it went. Most reasonable people would have simply replaced the drain hose and kept it. In fact, after replacing the hose it is still in service in someone else's kitchen.

So, no complaints about cleaning ability or its super-quiet operating level, but I miss the more substantial/flexible racking, interior space, and the cutlery/silverware rack of the LG. I never once used the silverware basket, so the entire lower rack was always available for cookware. The interior was lit, too, which seems like a trifle, but I miss it.
 
Interesting. Thanks Frigilux!
I haven't noticed the racks being any more or less durable feeling than the older GE it replaced. Then again, we didn't have an LG, or any other model with ball bearing racks.
The racks certainly are different, and do feel slightly smaller than the ones it replaced. However....we can still cram a surprising amount of stuff in there. And as long as nothing touches, it all comes clean.

The parents are grousing about the LONG cycle times, LOL. But they're all like that now.
I was over there last night to engineer some kind of fix for flushing out the detergent. But my Dad flip flopped and "didn't want me voiding his warranty."
So I re-leveled the machine with a -1 degree level toward the back, hoping that'll help the detergent pods fall out of the cup better.
 
Wow...reading my post above it would seem I'm not happy with the GE. It does a great job and I'm very happy with it. It simply isn't as big inside as the LG. A couple of months after purchasing the PDT750, the PDT760 became the GE's new top-of-the-line model, complete with---you guessed it---the cutlery/silverware rack I so coveted. While I have a hard-earned reputation for changing appliances frequently, there was no way I could rationalize getting rid of the PDT750 before the 'new dishwasher' smell had even worn off. And, frankly, the cutlery rack might exacerbate an already tight-space situation.

I'd have no problem recommending the PDT750.

Of course, those brand new KitchenAids on the showroom floor at the local dealership have been flirting shamelessly with me, LOL.
 
Cool to hear, Frigi!
Sounds like that LG really had a hold on ya.

I must admit, the more I go home, the more I like that new GE machine.
Now that it's re-leveled, my mom had said the soap issues have gone away.
They still have washability issues sporadically, because my dad likes to nest things! And once in a while the silverware doesn't come clean, but it's mostly because they're not taking too kindly to the 2+ hour cycles, so they're Under-running the machine.
They really bungled the engineering of the soap dispenser IMO as an engineer, as it encroachest on the silverware. It's probably the worst on the market right now. Which is sad because the rest of the machine I think is quite good!
Otherwise, it washes fantastically.
Drying is a little weak though.

I cannot wait to get a Profile with the X-arms like you have when I move to my new place in January. I'm looking at the 720.

I think a lot of people are still really hung up on their old dishwashers from 10-15 years ago.
And of course while those were literally THE BEST the market ever produced.....They're gone :(
But I really think these GEs and new Maytags are the best we got today.
I'm still not a fan of the chintzy stuff WP and KA are putting out today.
 

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