No More Whirlpool Portable dishwashers?

[cny4]

I was surfing the net on the Whirlpool web site and noticed they no longer list any portable dishwashers. This is a shame, my model 940 is an excellent cleaner. I do see Maytag and GE still have them on their web sites. Fridgidaire only has an 18" model left ( no loss there).

I guess the portable market must be really shrinking.

Comments?

 

[gansky1]

I read in Appliance magazine about a year ago that convertible/portable dishwashers accounted for 55% of units sold in the 1950's & 60's. Those numbers have steadily declined to around roughly 6% now.

 

[toggleswitch]

Well, WP went from a decent model to their BOL model as a portable. I suppose they wonder why their sales of portables has fallen.
It may be the same amount of money to rip out a cabinet and connect a regular machine than to buy a portable anyway.
Looks like the portables are "specialty" items now.
One could always buy a dishwasher enclosure/cabinet from IKEA in a pinch and make a regular machine portable.

 

[exploder3211]

I am suprised there are no more mechainical control wp branded dishwashers. Only Roper

 

[appnut]

The $449 Kenmore Portable is a Whirlpool product that's based on their DuraWash system. There is a $329 built-in Kenmore UltraWash that's an electronic unit based on the Whirlpool PowerClean that's equivalent to your DU940. The last.

 

[exploder3211]

Ah-ha! Although i think a GE would be cheaper.. Plus it would get built in right away

 

[appnut]

Chad the Estate TUD6710 & TUD6750 are mechanical control PoswerCleans. Go check them out via Whirlpool site and looking at their other web site options. I know you can find it if you do some digging.

 

[exploder3211]

Yuppers i found it.. Where are they sold? I said in the other post, my brother hates electroniv touch pads and broke the one in house because he pumched the control panel when he couldn't make something work... So he has to replace it, and this would be fine

http://www.estateappliances.com

 

[appnut]

I have no idea where they are sold. I think you can do a search on the Estate site and see, that's pretty common with web sites--dealers and such. I refrain about saying something about your BIL. A GE would be ok.

 

[exploder3211]

Brother.. Yeah he gets a bad temper..

 

[danemodsandy]

The BIL

'Sploder:

In your BIL's defence, I do not have any electronic-control appliances in my house, nor will there be any if I can possibly help it. They are failure-prone, they are short-lived, and they are damned expensive to replace or repair. It only took two failures before I figured out I didn't want any of 'em around. Even my microwave is mechanically controlled. I can almost understand getting that mad at an appliance that suddenly decided to die for no good reason.

 

[exploder3211]

No he couldn't get the thing to start.. He and i both have massive finger so that makes it an issue

 

[DADoES]

The only failure I've personally had on an electronic-control appliance is a Sharp microwave that has been stashed in my garage since January 2005. Thanksgiving 2005 I brought it into the house for use as a spare, and the fluorescent display had gone wonky (but it otherwise works). Unfortunately a non-working display is problematical on this model as it has prompts and scrolling instructions for the various programmed functions.

 

[danemodsandy]

DADoES:

I think the reliability of electronic control boards has a lot to do with the quality of the power supplied by someone's electric company. Here in the Atlanta area, we have an ageing infrastructure that contributes to frequent power failures in some areas, and surges. Those conditions are murder on electronics. In another area, with a better-maintained electric grid, they might be less problematic.

That still doesn't speak to the truly wretched availability of control boards once appliances are a few years old. We're all familiar with how rebuildable mechanical timers are- you send 'em to Reeco and you get 'em back like new. That's a lot harder to do with control boards. I have seen SO many later-model appliances in thrifts whose control boards are DOA.

All things considered, I'm sticking with mechanical controls. They're proven, rock-solid technology, and they're renewable. Can't ask for more than that.

 

[appnut]

Unfortunately, you can't get anything even part-way decent without electronics anymore. It sux.

 

[launderess]

Yeah! Mechanical Controls

That is what I've been saying all along! Long as Miele continues to stock parts, my mechanical timer washer will stay in use. Ditto for my Frigidaire/Kenmore dishwasher.

Look around, there are literally hundreds if not thousands of washing machines and dishwashers with mechanical controls either still in use or just sitting unused because some fool consumer thinks new machines with electronic controls are better. Beauty of mechanical machines is YOU control the cycles, not relying on what some fool programmer designed the system to have.

L.

 

[agiflow]

I have a WP portable that is coming up on 17 years this october. It was the first DW i have ever used...and hopefully i will still be able to get parts for it.

The porcelain tub is still like new, though it is a thin coating, but i keep after it trying to maintain it's longevity..ESPECIALLY after finding this site jus a little over three years ago.

I am a true believer in NOT prerinsing...otherwise why have the thing?

All i know is that this machine is an excellent cleaner...and very dry dishes to boot at the end of the air dry cyle.

WHY OH WHY did WP ditch the powerclean system?

 

[lavamat_jon]

Beauty of mechanical machines is YOU control the cycles, not relying on what some fool programmer designed the system to have.

I have to disagree... I've found that the dishwasher we have with electronic controls has better thought out cycles & cleans much better than the first two dishwashrs we had with mechanical controls, and also gives more flexibility IMO and allows for features such as the Sensor Wash. The electronics on my washing machine allow me to control the cycles fully - I can control whether or not I want a prewash and/or soak, as well as the soak time, whether I want extra water in the wash or in the wash and rinse, whether I want an extra rinse or not, what speed I want the laundry to be spun at and what temperature I want the laundry washing at.

Electronic controls aren't bad, if anything they add more flexibility IMO especially to the average user who doesn't have the time nor want to mind a machine flicking a dial back and forth to create a cycle that could possibly be easily found on an electronic dishwasher.

Jon

 

[launderess]

Uh, my Miele W770 allows me the option of choosing a pre-wash and or soak, and for how long; simply reset the timer. Can add as many rinses as I fancy as well. Again simply reset the timer. Then again am not one to set any appliance, much less a washing machine and leave the house, so going back and forth does not bother me. Truthfully my Miele does well enough on it's own with cycles as they are, do not need to mess about with the controls.

L.