old maytag dishwashers

[alr2903]

question? about D&M

What happened to D&M, bankrupt or swallowed up by WCI? We had 2 D&M designed kenmores when I was growing up. The one thing i remember is the soft food disposer tended to chew food into bits that would plug up the small holes in the upper wash arm. other than that, they did a great job. both of ours had the square top rack, we never had the rotorack. Thanks alr2903

 

[kenmore1978]

D & M

Swallowed up by WCI

 

[kenmore1978]

1995 KM(WP) DW

1995 and it's failing already? What's going wrong? Especially since WP makes good stuff. Or at least somewhat better stuff than other companies (take THAT, WCI!)

 

[bpetersxx]

The drain impeller shaft is cracked

I am going to insult sears whirlpool but they tightened the nut that holds the impellers WAY too tight as I as has to hold the wash impeller with water pump pliers and unscrew the nut with my fathers tru-test rachet wrench.

They also put the top cover of the ultra wash module on backwards and it distorted as I fastened it down.

 

[re563]

I Too currently have a whirlpool with the silverware basket in the door. It's about 6 yrs old and came with the house when I bought it last december. I'M OVER IT. You have to start off by thinking to yourself as you open the door to remember to take the basket out first before pulling out the racks. I has always thought I wanted one of these as I thought it was a very clever design, NOT ANY MORE.

 

[gansky1]

I used to think the same way about the In-The-Door silverware basket, but since finding a >2 year old WP tall-tub a couple of weeks ago, I've softened my judgements. I've had no trouble with cleaning but will admit that a little more pre-planning or thought is required for loading as the bottom rack will cover the basket when pulled out. Many of the later models have small hooks on the back of the basket so it can be hung anywhere for loading and/or washing. I've known many with WP dishwashers and the In-The-Door basket that have loved it, it does add space to the lower rack that would otherwise be lost to the silverware. The other nice thing is that it keeps the knives and fork tines from stabbing and jabbing while loading and unloading the dishes...

 

[coldspot66]

I have always thought the W/P silverware in the door was a clever idea. You do have to be careful how you load, but Greg, you're right. With the "anyware" basket I used to hang it on the front of the rack and it's convenient when loading. Next best thing is the Elite splitable basket. It has 2 small baskets and one larger, and I can use as many as needed and put them in different places in the rack. Also between loads i put the upper rack in the lower postion and place the bigger single basket in the upper rack, and voila; almost as convenient as in the door. You just open the door and the basket is right in the top rack.

 

[kenmore1978]

door basket dis-advantages

The one thing I DO like about the door basket is the ability to just crack the door and drop in stray silverware that I find lying around the kitchen without having to pull out a rack and that loading is even. Silverware basket in Sears machine was lengthwise along right side of bottom rack and household members would tend to drop silverware in the front part of basket, not wanting to pull out the rack to place items further back in basket. I'd have to even out the silverware along the length of the basket before I ran it, and other people wouldn't do that if they ran it, leading to not clean flatware. Based on all the designs I've seen, the one I like best is lengthwise along the front of the bottom rack. Gives the aforementioned "drop-in" convenience, not sensitive to loading of items in lower rack, doesn't catch debris, let's the water jets come up THROUGH the basket intead of AGAINST it (if the concave side of a spoon is facing the door it doesn't get washed well in door rack), and more even random loading by unknowledeable household members

 

[kenmore1978]

Stabbing & jabbing

"The other nice thing is that it keeps the knives and fork tines from stabbing and jabbing while loading and unloading the dishes..."

I have yet to read any DW instructions that don't warn you to load sharp things like knives and forks downward

 

[chachp]

My sister had an older Whirlpool model with the In Door Silverware basket. She didn't mind it so much because she was used to it. I didn't like it when I visited and did dishes for her. I hated the fact that the lower rack covered the silverware basket and it seemed like such a pain to continually push it in and out to load the silverware. It would have been nice if you could have hung it somewhere else or even put it on the counter while you were loading. As I recall the bottom was not flat so it had to stay in the door while loading. It sounds like the newer models allow you to be a little more flexible.

I am a Kitchen Aid lover from way back, and always loved the basket that went along the front of the lower rack. It was always easy to open the door and toss in a piece of silverware. I made a mistake in this condo when I purchased a Bosch dishwasher. It does a great job washing and it is probably the quietest dishwasher I have ever had, but I really don't like the lower rack and the fact that the silverware basket is in the middle of the lower rack and extends half way back the rack. It takes up a lot of room and really gets in the way of some of my bigger pans and bowls. My instinct was to purchase another Kitchen Aid, but I went with the Bosch because I liked the look. I won't do that again.

 

[appnut]

cachp, what's your Bosch Model #, do you have a splitable silverware basket?

 

[re563]

Chachp:

My "sister-n-law" has a bosch SHX46UC. We went to her house this summer for the hurricanes and again for Thanksgiving. I got to load and use the dishwasher and I LOVED IT!!!!. The silverware basket is in the front, but she keeps it long ways across the front. Her's also splits. However, When I loaded it and used it I had no problem with it. MUCH BETTER THAN A WHIRLPOOL IN THE DOOR, like I have. And it seemed to me that I could get more in it than mine. Porbably cause there was no tower to stack around.

 

[gansky1]

Stabbing and Jabbing

The Maytag WC-400 dishwasher pictured earlier in this thread came with the instruction book and it instructs the user to load the silverware with the handles DOWN in the basket...

Many others (like the WP tall tub user guide) suggest alternating handles up and down to prevent nesting of items like spoons, etc.

Learn something new every day!

 

[chachp]

APPNUT and RE563:

The link below has a few pictures of my dishwasher (towards the end). You can see how the silverware basket fits in the lower rack. Unfortunately, it does not split. Recently, I was in Best Buy and noticed the IDENTICAL machine branded under the Siemens name. I noticed the lower rack was slightly modified and the silverware basket was split and could be placed along the front or the side. I thought about looking into replacing my lower rack with that one.

Other than that, I like the dishwasher. I always push it to the limit, and have never been disappointed with the performance. It is also so quiet, you really don't know it's running. I have had guests open it while it was on because they didn't hear it running. It's always pretty funny when it happens because they open it so quickly they usually get a little squirt in the face.

http://www.chachp.com/images/Hobby/dishwashers.htm

 

[Unimatic1140]

That 3 push button Maytag DW was our second DW, my parents bought it new in 1972 in harvest gold.

 

[chachp]

I guess we did get off track a bit didn't we? Sorry.

I had a top load Maytag dishwasher around 1981. I always liked the flexibility of the top load because you could get a lot in the bottom rack and not be concerend with things shifting as the rack goes in and out.

It eventually began to clean very poorly. I was living in an area with very hard water and I think the water intake clogged I didn't know enough at the time to try to clean it out. If I added water after every fill I could tell it was washing better but it was a pain. I replaced it. I sure wish I still had that machine. I recall seeing a photo on one of the member's pages of the exact machine I had.

 

[appnut]

Ralph, In the year or two I"ve been looking at Bosches, I've never seen a basket that big in the lower rack. That would drive me crazy. You do an awesome job of loading, but I bet our rssident Bosch cramming expert TCox6912 in New Orleans could give you some pointers. I'll make sure he see this thread.

 

[scott55405]

I love my new (yes new!) Kenmore Elite Talltub KA Superba clone. Its silverware basket runs along the righthand side of the machine, and there are things in the top you drop the items through that prevents them from nesting. I love those! They lift up, and serve as a cover if you want to use a section as a small items holder.

It has 3 sections, one big one in the center, and two smaller on either end. You can split them up but mine are all together.

This is a wonderful machine in every possible way.

http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=999&gid=5562970&uid=814581&members=1

 

[westie2]

Yes I agree with Scott. We have almost the same but the controls on on the front. It replaced a 25 year old Whirlpool that in the end would drive us out of the house although it cleaned well. This holds more and is so quite. Have to walk up to it and place you hand on it to know it is doing its job. The Whirlpool had the in the door basket we were very leary of the basket's but is great. Also nice to be able to take out the top rack to clean the big pots.

 

[chachp]

It's amazing all the options available since I bought my machine.

My sister recently replaced her 24 year old (and never repaired) Kitchen Aid Superba with a new one. It was still running well, but she was remodeling her kitchen and wanted a new one. Her new one looks very much like Scott's machine on the inside. I don't remember the controls but I do remember how much I liked the rack configuration. She does have the hidden controls like Scotts, and I know she has the delay start because she uses it every day.

Her old one had the lights on the left and the buttons on the right. Like the machine on the right in the attached picture. I can remember the Soak and Scrub cycle. It would heat the water, wash for a minute or two and sit for a little while. Then it would repeat it a number of times. While it was sitting you could hear the water heating in the bottom of the tub. I sure wish they made machines these days with that kind of quality. That machine was built like a tank.