My new dishwasher!!

[lavamat_jon]

Hiya guys,

As some of you might know, my old 2001 AEG (which was actually a rebadged Zanussi) dishwasher has been playing up recently to the point where it had more or less given up. After coping for a week with only being able to use one basket only (the uperp spray arm kept falling off), on Sunday I took my dad to Powerhouse, showed him round the dishwashers, and we came out having bought a new (genuine) AEG Favorit 40850. Unfortunately on Sunday they didn't have any in stock, so we had to wait until today when Powerhouse got their delivery from AEG until we could pick it up and install it back home.

After unpacking it and modifying the plumbing (the inlet hose has an Aquastop-type flood protection device which means the hose cannot connect straight up out of the pipe like the old dishwasher was; instead I had to add a 90* bend so the tap was horizontal) I got it all installed and... well... let's say I'm very impressed with it!!

Anyhoos, I got it up and running, and ran the first load through which was the dinner stuff from lastnight which had dried on overnight - a great test load! So off I went and loaded the dishwasher, put in the 3in1 tablet into the dispenser, and selected the Automatic programme. The Automatic programme does as it says on the box - it uses sensors to determine whether or not it has a prewash, what temperature it washes at, how long it washes for, and how many rinses it does. And I must say that I've used this programme twice now and have been very impressed by the results.

But the most amazing thing about the dishwasher is how quiet it is. I ran an empty load on the 30 min programme first to rinse out the dishwasher, and was disappointed at how loud it seemed to be. However this was I assume because it was an empty load, as I found out later when I switched it on full of dishes, it was almost silent! All I could hear was a gentle swoosh every couple seconds as the upper spray arm sprayed across the door, and the very quiet hum of the pump. A very intriging thing about the dishwasher is that it also alters the spray pressure during the wash, and also does for about 10 seconds before it drains out the water.

I've linked to my webshots folder with more pics of the dishwasher; more reviewing/photos will come soon when I have used it for a wee while longer. Any questions/photo requests before hand feel free to ask on here :-D.

Take care guys,

Jon

http://community.webshots.com/album/249373838SuZbCv

 

[jmirawm]

Very Nice!

That new dishwashers looks great! Can you explain to me what the sensors do? After a first wash cycle does it sense food gunk in the water and then decide from there to do extra washes ? I dont think it could sense the dishes while nothing was going on in the dishwasher. very interesting feature.

 

[appnut]

Tom, sensors in dishwashers today are pretty common on mid-upper and upper end machines.

Jon, a beatuiful machine. congratulations!! I wish AEG was here in the States easier to get. They are marketed in Canada I know.

 

[appnut]

Jon, please dive detail about the 3 in 1 programme.

 

[jetcone]

Nice machine Jon, I like the front panel styling and the cycle control looks like a great automatic idea! Now we have to convince the makers to start putting in windows!

Its nice to see styling coming back in vogue!

jet

 

[kenmore1978]

sensors

From everything I've read about the "dirt sensors" in upper line dishwashers, they tend to error on the side of "overwashing" more than what may actually be necessary for clean dishes.

 

[gansky1]

Very nice looking machine John, even your old one looked very easy to install in the kitchen - not like here, it takes several hours to swap a machine in my kitchen!

Enjoy your new toy - I love the smell of a new appliance in the morning!

Greg

 

[foraloysius]

Well mr Jetcone, you don't have to convince AEG anymore because soon this apparatus is coming on the market. It's called AEG Visi

Jonathan, very nice pictures, cool that you made pictures with both dishwashers in it. The new one sure is an improvement. And AEG sure put a nice styling on their new dishwashers.

 

[appnut]

Luigi, maybe they'llb e avaailable by the time you get here in June. I mean, two extra passenger tickets for two dishwasher (one for me and one for Jon). Now, where did I put my pack of cigarettes?

 

[peteski50]

Beautiful Dishwasher!

I love this dishwasher. They should all have windows.
Peter

 

[kenmore1978]

US, vs European

Hmm, I notice the finished sides and top, which built-in dishwashers don't have here.

 

[kenmore1978]

life

2001-2004 seems like a relatively short life for a dishwasher, repair wasn't considered?

 

[lavamat_jon]

Freestanding Dishwashers, 3-in-1 Tabs, More Photos, and the

Hey guys,

The automatic programme uses 2 turbidity sensors and automatically decides whether to drain water after pre wash or use it again for the mainwash, how many rinses it does, how long it washes for, and how high it heats the water to in the main wash. So, for a light soiled load, it would do only the one lower temperature (50*C) wash, one intermediate rinse, final rinse with rinse aid, and the drying phase. If it's a heavier load with food baked on, it will drain the water after the pre-wash phase, do a 65*C main wash, do 2 intermediate rinses and so on. I haven't noticed my AEG overwashing at all - lastnight I put on a load which I would have used the strongest cycle for in the last dishwasher, but when I put it on yesterday at half past 6, the timer read out 110 mins, however when I went back into the kitchen at about 8pm it had finished. So thus proves that it does work - and the dishes were sparkling clean! However the night before with 2 roasting trays in the load (that my old dishwasher couldn't clean on the strongest cycle), I sat through the cycle and it did the full prewash - wash - 2 intermediate rinses - rinse aid - drying, which was 110 mins. So obviously the sensors do work and I'm very impressed.

3-in-1 tablets over here are very popular - they are dishwasher tablets which combine the salt, detergent, and rinse aid function. Therefore theoretically there is no real need for rinse aid and salt to be used along with these tablets. The 3-in-1 function alters the cycle by altering some phases so that different parts of the 3-in-1 tablets works at the ultimate time. However I only tend to use tablets for convenience; and I haven't been too pleased with results without rinse aid or salt, so I still use rinse aid and salt, however I have adjusted the dosage down from what I would use if it was regular powdered detergent.

Over here in the UK dishwashers are more often freestanding than built in. They are separate units, like washers and dryers, that slot underneath a kitchen counter. It is much easier (and cheaper) to fit and replace that way aswell. It took me about 10 minutes from arriving back home with the dishwasher, to having it running on the 30 min cycle to test it out.

Jaune,

The old one was only a cheap dishwasher to be used temporarily, and had already had 2 major repairs in 3 years (a new recirculating pump and a a new timer). It was also Zanussi made, (it was badged as AEG for Comet) and the build quality was relatively poor, the racks were horrible to load (as you may have noticed on the old dishwasher pics - the upper rack especially). We decided to replace it after the upper spray arm kept coming off, and rather than wasting more money on repairing it, a new dishwasher would have been more cost effective. Plus the fact it didn't have an Intensive programme, never cleaned very well, the racks faced sideways and were awkward to load, and only had a timer dial, I managed to convince my parents it needed replacing. It could have been repaired but I would have much rather replaced it as the old dishwasher drove me mad as it couldn't fit very much in (note the dent in the old dishwasher's door... my foot "slipped" one day, lol). So all in short, even though it could have had the spray arm replaced for £10, getting the new dishwasher was the better option, mainly because we now have clean dishes with the new dishwasher! as well as my personal hate campaign I've had against it for the past 2 years... Those damn Zanussi racks, lol!

Louis,

Is it my imagination, or is that a Zanussi bottom basket in that windowed AEG dishwasher?? Over here AEG's extra height integrated dishwasher also has Zanussi racks... I hope this isn't a sign of things to come!!!

Take care all,

Jon

PS I've added photos of inside and other fun stuff - press the forward button above the photo to browse through them.

http://community.webshots.com/photo/249373838/250000824mOXMhN

 

[foraloysius]

Jon,

You might be right, after all it looks like the cutlery basket is in the middle. Another reason to draw this conclusion is that Zanussi is the brand that does design things. Hmmmmmmm... I guess we must wait until we see this thing for real.

Bob,

I think it would be better to ship a whole load of these to the convention LOL

Luigi

 

[appnut]

Jon, thank you for the added pics. I love the way the plates face forward in the bottom rack. Just like the spray tube Frigidaire dishwashers (and a couple of other brands) did from 1955 to 1965. The top rack, the way you loaded it, reminded me of a Whirlpool top rack from the late 1960s until sometime late 1970s or so.

You white swirled edge dishes look very similar to mine. Are they John Brothers Regency?

 

[david]

Beautiful machine Jon. This new model has a lot of style to it and looks well made. God, I wish they would put some styling bak in American models. Enjoy!

 

[kenmore1978]

Salt & free-standing dishwashers

Adding salt to a dishwasher? That's a new one, too. Reason?

We USED to have free-standing models that weren't "portables", but they died out early on. A lot of the portable models could be "built-in" later if desired.

Sounds like your experience with teh old dishwasher wasn't a happ y one, I imagine you had no input back when it was first purchased? Yes, I guess timers failing so early is a warning sign of things to come.

 

[kenmore1978]

Aquastop antiflood device

So describe how this "Aquastop" works on the new dw as opposed to the old dw?

 

[foraloysius]

Jaune,

Almost all European dishwashers have built in water softeners, that's what the salt reservoir is for.

The types of dishwashers overhere are different too. You have the freestanding models, like Jon's old and new dishwashers. Then you have a kind of built under machines, without a top but still with side panels and a full door. The third type is the integrated model, no sidepanels, no top and a door on which you can put a panel in the same style of the kitchen cabinets. With this model the control panel is still visible. The fourth type is the totally integrated model. This type has the controls on top of the door so you can put a full size panel on the door. When built in this dishwasher is totally invisible. I don't think I have ever seen a 'portable' model overhere, I mean one that you can roll over to the sink.

 

[kenmore1978]

Dishwasher

Sounds like the 3rd type is what we call a "built-in" model here in the US, no back, side, or top panels.

 

[lavamat_jon]

Aquastop

Jaune,

The Aquastop device is a valve attached to the end of the inlet hose where it joins the plumbing, and if the machine sense overfilling at all it will trigger the valve at the end of the inlet hose to stop filling. It's not a very good description; I'm sure someone else could go into more detail, not very "with it" at the moment. Anyway, it is a special fill hose type thing guaranteed to prevent flooding; it is just part of the Aqua Control anti flood system. My old dishwasher just had a standard rubber fill hose.

You can see the aquastop inlet hose on the back of the new dishwasher in this pic - it is the braided hose with the box type valve on the end.

Jon

http://community.webshots.com/photo/249373838/249381992SxbEKb

 

[lavamat_jon]

Plates

Bob,

Just looked now and our dinner plates have Johnson Brothers on the back - is that the brand you have? We originally had a set of dinner plates, side plates, bowls, cups, and saucers, but over time (and naturally for a family of 5) we only have dinner plates, 1 side plate, and 1 bowl left, but still the original set of cups and saucers.

Jon

 

[appnut]

Jon, yes they're the same plates. I have a service for 8 bought in 1962. Added another 4 place settings about 10 or 12 years ago.

 

[cleanteamofny]

Great AEG

You have a great looking new dishwasher!
Here in the States, CU would have a Sh*t fit for having a box of detergent that is half full and the balance is full of air!
But if it get the job done, who really cares???

LOL

 

[kenmore1978]

Aquastop

Is this device electrical or mechanical? Most US dishwashers have had overflow protection for years, but this typically consists of a float in the tub that rises and cuts off power to the water inlet valve if the water level gets too high. This works fine IF the water inlet valve isn't defective. The manufacturers are betting that the chances of the timer getting stuck in the fill position is greater than the chances of the water valve getting stuck in the open position. If this Aquastop valve is mechanical, it would address both possible problems, unless IT fails for whatever reaason.

 

[wireman]

AEG and Bosch-Same design/ manufacturer?

After looking at your photos, I am amazed how much your DW resembles our new Kenmore Elite( made by Bosch) inside and out-subtle differences, but the racks are basically the same, as is the interior and the control panel- though we have round bottons instead- is there any connection between Bosch and AEG?

 

[foraloysius]

I'll answer that question. No, there is no connection between Bosch and AEG. And I think there are a few differences between the racks of both. The AEG has the silver basket in a corner while the Bosch has it in the middle I think. Jon's old one had the basket in the middle too.

What you see is probably a difference between European and American dishwashers. American dishwashers are basically a bit bigger and the racks are quite different from the European counterparts. I think the biggest difference is the tines in the bottom rack, there is more distance between them in American dishwashers.

 

[lavamat_jon]

Jaune,

I believe it is electrical. It's really only there as a safety precaution, and I see it as a nice-to-have feature rather than necessary.

Duane,

AEG and Bosch are made by different companies - AEG is made by Electrolux in Germany, whilst Bosch dishwashers are also made in Germany but my BSH. There are considerable differences to the racks - firstly, on AEGS the plates face forwards rather than to the side, the cutlery basket is tucked in a corner (much better position for it IMO), and the top basket is differently laid out. The AEG can accommodate for larger items in the top basket more, the top basket is set at a tilt, and can also fit full size dinner plates in the top basket.

Hope this helps,

Jon

 

[glenfieldmathk1]

Reply #7
"Well mr Jetcone, you don't have to convince AEG anymore because soon this apparatus is coming on the market. It's called AEG Visi "

Well did it ever come to the market? I remember a Electrolux kind of like this, but never an AEG, I would love a glass door dishwasher, but I guess its not possible, due to how little suds build up inside, might give manufacturers different reviews (negative ones) or people will start pouring in dish soap?

 

[passatdoc]

Are dishwashers in Europe the same size as in US?

US models are 24 inches/60 cm wide, and fit under a 32 inch counter (80 cm). Having been in many European homes, but never having actually measured anything, they seem to be the same size on both continents.

Bosch has a plant in the USA, which produces machines with somewhat different features than are produced in Germany, but the size of the machines seems to be the same. Of course specs are different since they run on 110V in USA and 220V in Europe.