New Whirlpool DU945 Dishwasher

[llmaytag]

As I type, my new Whirlpool DU945 is being installed to replace my DU8150 which came with the home when it was new. I suspect the 8150 was a model only going into new homes rather than a model on the consumer line. The DU945 seems to be the same shell, water injector, detergent dispenser. The difference is that there is a full upper and top wash arm with their own enclosed supply hose so there's no center post on the bottom rack for a tower. This is nice because the entire lower rack is useable, and even the silverware rack is now in the door. Anyway, I've heard great things about this newer model and and so I bought the last unit that Lowe's had and it was sitting in my garage boxed up until today.

My original dishwasher had a dial that I've determined simply had a series of six fill/drains. The first two are fills with short period of pumping/washing, a third fill with a very short pump/wash period, the fourth is the main wash which has a long pump/wash period, another very short, and a long final rinse period. Oh, of course drying at the end. This machine has been pretty good for the most part, but occasionally during the main wash it sounded like it wasn't throwing the water quite as vigorously as it should. I used to think this was because of a short fill and maybe the pump was sucking air, but a friend told me that depending on the load, it could be foaming. Since then I've always used the Pots & Pans wash instead of the light wash knowing this would give me three full fill/drains before the main wash. The washing has been much better.

Reading the user guide for the new dishwasher, even the Pots and Pans cycle has only one complete fill/drain before the main wash. In fact, the Pots & Pans cycle on the new machine seems to have the same fill/drain cycles as the light wash on the old. I was hoping with teh new washer to be able to load more liberally without having to rinse as much since the new one supposedly has a soft disposer as well. Has anyone had an issue with foam affecting the wash performance?

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[appnut]

this is the last of the PowerClean design. It will clean the chrome off a trailer hitch. I'll look at the onlikne manual, I think there are some things (nuances) you're missing.

 

[stainfighter]

issue with foam affecting wash performance

yes we did; realized that we were causing it due to the detergent plus the JetDry when it kicked in. We emptied out the JetDry and switched detergent. Our webmaster uses Cascade all-in-one packs in his pimped-up KA dw so we decided to try them. The a-i-o packs work great!!! It now cleans great, has a great 'clean' scent.

 

[appnut]

OK, on the Pots & Pans cycle, the prewash is heated (and delayed) until it heats to 140 degrees. The same for the main wash, just as I thought. The heavy wash is the same but with no water heats. Normal wash is the main wash without prewashes. Light wash is like the normal wash, but you cannot use the high-temp wash option. Also the final rinse is only heated to 135 degrees and the dry cycle is a pulse of 7 minutes on & 7 minutes off for about 30 minutes.

 

[toggleswitch]

And once again y'all

A quick pre-wash using "rinse-only" (formerly "Rinse & hold") with or without detergennt, folowed by a normal cycle does WONDERS for boosting performance.

I'm nto fond of POTS & PANS cycles (like on WP brand DWers) that heat water ("forever") in the first water-fill. That muck and dirt circultes for a very long time and detergents abilitiy to hold such soil in suspension diminishes over time.

It much prefered my GE's super quick pre-wash and THEN later in the cycle the water-heating time-delays!

 

[peterh770]

We learned that selecting the hi-temp wash button, an "extra water exchange" is added. More on this as he tests...

 

[mark_wpduet]

ON my WP DU1055XTP

I always use normal wash with "hi temp" selected. It fills then pre washes for a bit, drains, fills, washes for quite a while, then drains, fills partly, pulses for a few seconds, then drains, then fills for the last rinse. It takes about 70 to 80 mins. I really have no complaints with mine at all. I do have to use Cascade Complete in it though.

 

[appnut]

That's one of the differences between the tall tub and the std. tub machine with high-temp selected--a full fill post wash rinse is added instead of that purge rinse Mark. Mark, is that 70-80 minute cycle time include heated dry?

 

[llmaytag]

Tall & Std Tubs

So do you mean that the tall tub doesn't change the purge to a rinse with the Hi-Temp option?

 

[mark_wpduet]

No it doesn't include dry cycle at all. I never use that. One thing I forgot to mention. I stopped using rinse aid liquid since the dispenser started leaking, so I just don't use rinse aid anymore. I do add citric acid with each load along with cascade complete (I read an article how citric acid can extend the life of your machine.) I never have really timed the normal cycle/hi temp/no dry exactly, but I'm pretty sure it's like 70 or 80 min's total.

I do wish WP would change their dispensing technology since those leaks develop eventually in the liquid rinse aid section. I've read several reports of this happening.

 

[appnut]

So do you mean that the tall tub doesn't change the purg

That's exactly what I mean.

Mark, when I got my machine, I ran it empty on Smart Wash like it instructed me to do. I'm the opposit, it's extremely rare when i don't use heated dry. i figure the element wattage is so small it won't make much of a difference and I have a digital electric meter outside and it tracks my usage every 15 minutes. It hardly costs me anything to run the dishwasher, even with the water heater recovering. I keep it pretty low, between 115 and 120 degrees. It's a whirlpool EnergySmart water heater and I keep it on Low Energy most of the time, but ramp it up to 155 when I wash whites. Last night I ran a load on smart wash that defaulted to normal soil with probably 140 degree main wash. It ran a total cycle time of 1:55 minutes, so it was a litttle less soil than usual. The main wash was like 53 minutes. I've seen it go as long as 78 minutes. Those loads usually run for like 2:35 to 2:45. I ran the machine a few weeks ago while I was washing a load of whites--turned on the hot tap before I turned it on as usual. The main wash was only like 33 minutes long. Thee was rice still stuck on a bowl and a pan at the end of the cycle. I guess the very hot pre-wash kinda baked on the food just like TomTurbomatic has stated a Youngtown set at 180 degrees would bake on food also. It's extremely rare4 I put deterrgent in the prewash cup. That rice residue load convinced me the slow but steady approach actually does quite an outstanding job given the proper conditions. My computer is in the kitchen area, so I'm usually around when the dishwasher is running. That's how I know so much about its variations of cycle length. It's very rare I don't use the Smart Wash cycle. Most of my loads default to a Normal Wash with high-temp option selected due to soil level sensed. And it's rare I use the sani-rinse option, especially on Smart Wash. If I select any option other than heated dry on that cycle, it pretty much elminitates any variance and intelligence in the cycle sequence. If I do use those options, or even Turbo Zone, then I will use either Normal or Pots Pans cycles explicitly with the options I do want.

 

[mark_wpduet]

I remember when I was little my mom and dad always forbade us to use the dry cycle. I think part of me still remembers that and thinks if I use it, the power bill will skyrocket.

I keep my hot water heater on 140 because of a paranoia of bacteria growing in water not hot enough. What do you think? Should I lower it?

My dishwasher when purchased was 350 dollars with a WP employee discount. I think it was around 400 (5 years ago).....It was discontinued shortly after I bought it, but it looks as if it's been brought back. The DW in this link is almost identical to mine with a couple of subtle differences. Mine does not have smart wash.

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[llmaytag]

New WP Model

That model looks like they took my model, made it a tall-tub, and wanted to save on the console.

I never use the heated dry...I just wish they had an extra rinse option. I'm most concerned about a good rinse, perhaps more so than a hi-temp wash.

 

[mark_wpduet]

Mine looks a little different and has a couple of more buttons

 

[mark_wpduet]

Mine looks a little different and has a couple of more buttons