Pimp my Dishwasher

[cuffs054]

The GE Nautalus dishwasher that came with my cabin sucks. The bottom rack cleans OK, but the corners of the top rack are always a problem. MUCH more important is the detris that is left on the concave bottoms of anything on the top rack.
So, what about putting in a top of tub sprayer? The tub has an indentation in the top where one would go and I'd bet there is a port off the pump for it. Anyone have input?

 

[toploader55]

HI

I would look on Craig's for a used Kenmore,Maytag etc. for $100.00 or less.
My friend in Florida has a TOL GE. And with all the Optioms turned on, it still does not clean good at all.
My 2 cents.

 

[cuffs054]

TopLoad, where is your sense of adventure! A new DW is a given but think of all the damage I can do with my plan! I'm thinking water leaks, shorts, sparks and maybe even flames could be in the offing.

 

[deedub]

Pimping

Love your work.
I think hotter water would help the cause also, perhaps you can install a secondary heating system to get it nice and hot!

 

[cuffs054]

DeeDub,
tried the hotter water, changed detergents and use rinse aid. The problem is the DW has no filter and no top wash so anything heavy goes into the concave areas and stays. Like I said the bottom rack and most of the top rack does ok, but there is some things a "tower-wash" unit just can't do. Sears has a pretty good price on a KM/WP unit but that seems so easy.

 

[retropia]

If I were to approach this project, I'd see if I could find a parts donor dishwasher. If you think that there might be a GE model with a top sprayer that is otherwise similar to your dishwasher, that would be the parts donor to buy.

You might get lucky and only need to transfer a few parts from the donor dishwasher to yours to add a top sprayer. Or, if the pump has special ports to direct water to a top sprayer (that your existing pump doesn't have), you might need to replace that, too.

It sounds like you're prepared to replace the dishwasher with another if the project blows up, and you're not happy with the way the existing dishwasher works, so I don't see any harm.

 

[whirlcool]

Look for a older Kitchenaid or Maytag, you won't be dissatisfied.

 

[rp2813]

A fellow member advised that in a former living situation, he was cursed with a GE dishwasher that produced dishes that were dirtier than when they went in.

Yours could be that model. I'd say find a fun way to kill it off completely rather than trying to fix it, as you may be wasting your time.

You can probably find a good deal on a machine on CL that will be a fun one to use, and that will clean your dishes like a dishwasher is supposed to. Presuming you've got some phosphated detergent.

 

[appnut]

Ralph, I know very well what that felow member's GE dishwasher was and there isn't a comparison between the two, the members' was even worse than this one.

 

[maytagbear]

This is interesting........

I have the Nautilus portable, and I have been satisfied with it. Is it the best cleaning dishwasher I have ever had? No. Is it far better than the worst dishwasher I have had? OH, no doubt about it!

I just make a point of very hot water, the "pots and pans" cycle, fresh(ish) detergent, and I put flat things in the upper rack corners.

Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

[cuffs054]

MTB, does yours leave stuff in the up-turned bottoms of cups? The dishes that get good coverage of spray do ok, but the lack of filter is stupid.

 

[maytagbear]

No, not if I

scrape well, and I believe in scraping, but never rinsing. To me, rinsing is a waste of time and water, and defeats the entire purpose of the thing.

Please check the email in your profile soon!

Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

[stevet]

Is there a ....

Cap or plug on the top that would indicate that a rinse assembly could be installed? I did that years ago to my Aunt's machine which was a simple single dial, builders model. It had the port on the pump and all I had to do was go to GE and buy the homes and spinner assy and it screwed right in and made a world of difference.
Maybe check sears.com/parts for your model and see if it shows one on a more upscale model. Then get it and install it.

 

[lovestowash]

Cock your cups!!!...

Cuffs...

my experience is that any dish with a "concave bottom" (like some of those at LJ's) is going to hold water, even if you can filter the debris...

I avoid buying those...but if you already have them, give them a serious tilt in the rack...not enough to block the spray, but enough to keep them from holding water...

that's worked for me, in dw's with and w/o a top spray...I hate to roll out the top rack and find waiting water, debris or not...

be happy to give you a demo next time we're at the campground...

George

 

[cuffs054]

Rumor has it that some of them hold fuzzy navels as well. See you this weekend?

 

[rp2813]

Cock your cups/cup your cocks, it's all good.

My '85 Thermador has no filter. I have to make sure all chunks are off the dishes before placing them in it, but the flip side is that there is no filter to clog or retain gunk that will be circulated again and again through the various cycles. Whatever yiblets can fit through the opening get "disposed" of when the machine drains. I've come to appreciate that system.

I believe fellow member Nate (roto204) successfully pimped a GE (not sure if it was the funky one I referred to above) a couple of years back. You can probably find his detailed thread if you do a search for his posts.

 

[roto204]

Well

The GE I had was a mid-seventies builder's grade model, and it was horrid. This machine would be better than that.

Even so, it may have the same pump port covered with a stopper. If it does, then adding the constant rinse is trivial once you have the parts.

Roger and I did a pimping of a GE into a Youngstown Kitchens jet-tower configuration for the 2006 wash-in, but I don't have any pics of it (for shame!).

That may be a touch more extreme than you're shooting for, though ;-)

The other thing I did was rig a filter out of vinyl windowscreen stretched across a circular A/C register that fit over the round offset sump. (I called it the "Filter-Flo.") It caught food and prevented indefinite recirculation. It improved the performance, but at the cost of forever rinsing out a filter.

 

[mark_wpduet]

That GE in that last picture looked EXACTLY like the one I grew up with and it cleaned some of the NASTIEST dishes......I remember we were kids and we would put dishes in there with pancake batter dripping, not loaded properly etc, and everything came clean. I was always amazed. It was dark green in color though.

 

[gadgetgary]

Nate

From the '07 AZ wash-in