New dishwasher in the dumpster...

[gizmo]

I  recently found a BRAND NEW dishwasher in a dumpster behind a store that supplies many of my finds.

It has a small scratch in the front panel, easily visible but not obvious.

It still had the instruction manual sealed in a bag inside, and the polystyrene packing pieces in place to protect the racks.

It isn't a particularly flash model, an Italian brand (part of the Whirlpool empire) but made in Poland.

I can't believe this was thrown out - why didn't they just knock $100 off the price and sell it as scratch and dent?

I suspect it was damaged during installation - slitting the packaging with a Stanley knife would do it - but they have probably claimed from the manufacturer as "arrived damaged" and just had a replacement sent out. What a waste.

 

Oh well, my gain.

 

I don't have a dishwasher at home and don't have a spot in the kitchen for one, I'd have to lose two of my pot drawers to make room, and that isn't happening...

I intend to make a place for it in my new shed, there will be a small kitchen in there and the dishwasher will be useful for washing parts and range hood filters.

 

I have done a few loads in it, everything came out clean. It has a salt dispenser in it, you can set it to a soft water setting but can't shut off the salt system completely. Salt in dishwashers isn't really a "thing" in Australia - out cities mostly have soft water and it isn't needed. This machine shows a light at the end of the cycle to indicate the salt tank is empty, but seems to function OK without it.

 

It is otherwise a basic machine, there is no top spray, only the bottom and middle spray arms. There is an impression in the stainless steel liner for a top spray, but it isn't there. Maybe the next model up has it?

 

[turbokinetic]

Wow; that was a nice find. It's incredible what shops throw away!  

Here in the States, it usually goes this way:

 

1 - BubbaJoeBob III misses a gear on the forklift and drops the $3000 appliance, making a minor dent.

2 - Store places the appliance on display with a sign "Clearance, scratch and dent $2500 NO WARRANTY AS IS CASH ONLY!"

3 - Appliance sits in store for many months without any interest.

4 - Store places it out back in the dumpster because none of the ungrateful peasants took advantage of their generosity.

5 - Scrappers get to it and scatter pieces all over the back parking lot of the store getting $2 worth of copper wiring out of it.

6 - Store places large locked fence around dumpster area so nobody can get anything any longer.

 

 

[mrboilwash]

What a great find! Finding a new toy for free is so much more fun than buying something.
I think a top spray arm (or nozzle) is only necessary if you block most of the middle spray arm. Like if you wash a large cookie sheet in the upper rack.
Is it legal in Australia to take things from a dumpster? Here it would be considered stolen.

 

[gizmo]

legality

It is a grey area here. It is certainly unusual for a store to have the skip (dumpster) in a public access area. Usually they are locked away. I have asked police in the past about salvaging things from household hard rubbish collections at the roadside, generally I have had approval, they say things like "the owner has discarded it. It is no longer owned" but some local councils prohibit "scavenging" from roadside hard rubbish as they say it creates noise and nuisance, and deprives the collection contractor of valuable scrap. Usually though, roadside hard rubbish is "open season." Dumpsters - it's not so clear. Stores generally lock their rubbish up, I suspect they are embarrassed about how much good stuff they waste. They may also be concerned about liability if someone plugged in a faulty appliance or ate dumped food. But "dumpster diving" is certainly a thing here and I have never heard of anyone being prosecuted.

 

The skips I get these items from are in very open places, easy to access, by the store's rear roller entrance, with some passing traffic. They are not locked or secluded.

 

I always ask permission before taking anything. Every time. I approach the stores person at the back roller door of the premises - the person who accepts deliveries and uses the forklift. "Do you mind if I take something?" They always say yes, they generally say something friendly like "help yourself, it's just rubbish to us" or similar. I make a point of waiting patiently till they are free before asking and making sure I create no mess or inconvenience to them.  This is a very unusual situation. I value it highly and, apart from posting here, I tend to keep quiet about it. I suspect if the manufacturers found out, they would instruct the store to destroy any warranty returns and make sure they cannot be reused. I really value these sources, and I would be sad if they stopped. I make no money from what I salvage, I either keep the items or give them away. Sometimes the item I scrounge is better than my own appliance, so I might keep the new one and give away the old one of mine. I always test appliances for safety before fitting a plug and firing up. I have a "safety box" device with earth leakage breaker and 10 amp circuit breaker, everything get tested with this first.

 

New / nearly new toasters seem to appear there regularly, and it seems the most common fault is tripping the safety switch (earth leakage breaker) but that is usually a small piece of burnt bread stuck against the element. Remove the charred bread and the toaster is perfect...

 

The appliances generally have the cords or plugs cut off before being dumped, but not always. The dishwasher cord was complete.

 

[gelaundry4ever]

cycle testing

What cycles are you planning on testing?

 

[mrboilwash]

Thanks for the detailed explanation about legality.
When I was a kid in the 70s to early 80s we had hard rubbish collection twice a year and appliances were still part of it.
Those were the days!
I found lots of vintage small appliances and as I was always equipped with pliers and screwdrivers on my raids I could salvage things like plugs and timermotors, switches and those little neon lamps from large appliances to tinker something new or just for collection. I never gave it a thought back then if it could be illegal nor did anybody else.
Unfortunately my parents didn`t support my hobby, so hardly anything made it to my adulthood.
Today those street collections are rare, few communities still have them and it`s generally not allowed to dispose electric appliances this way. You have to bring them to a recycling center and if you ask them if you can have something the answer is usually no. So there`s not much opportunities left here for free appliances.

 

[gizmo]

cycles

So far I have run a 30 minute quick wash and a 55 degrees wash.

There are only 5 cycles, not much variety. Each cycle can also have a half load selected, the manual doesn't say what changes when you select half load. There is also a "tablet" button for when you use all-in-one detergent tablets. This just de-activates the rinse aid dispenser.