POD 7/9/22: a quiet Tappan dishwasher…

[daveamkrayoguy]

I remember a Frigidaire dishwasher commercial where two ladies were in the kitchen and one kept saying that the dishwasher was too loud, to which the other said she couldn’t hear her because the dishwasher was too loud…

Which vintage machines were the quietest and noisiest and how did it become as important back then to promote quietness as it did touting reliability and performance?

— Dave

 

[turquoisedude]

GE seemed to purposely build noisy dishwashers so that you'd know they were working... LOL  

The early impeller top-loaders sound like a tsunami is approaching and the later arm-and-tower pump systems had a distinct pump sound - distinctly loud! 

 

I think the quietest vintage dishwasher I've been around is the Frigidaire Spin-Tube.

 

[tomturbomatic]

We noticed that after having company for dinner which meant the lower rack of our bow tie impeller GE was filled with dinner plates and salad plates and saucers, the dishwasher was amazingly quieter because the plates channeled the water up to the sound insulated cover. I loved how as we cleared the table, first time guests jumped up and told mother that they were going to help with the dishes and she would invite them out to the kitchen and show them why there were no dishes to wash. She sold many GE Mobile Maids in our circle, especially when she showed how she did not have to rinse them before loading them into the dishwasher. She just scraped the heavy soil into the garbage pail before loading them through the big U-shaped opening in the top rack which was large enough to permit loading the 6 quart Revere Dutch Oven without moving or removing it.

 

[DADoES]

 
Type of dishware and density of loading surely has an effect on dishwasher water spray sound.

 

[norgeway]

The noisiest

Were hotpoint wash arm machines from the 60s, they sound like a garbage disposall fighting a chain saw.

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

Heard the first Maytag dishwashers (the "tiled" ones resembling Maytag's washers and dryers) were also quite noisy, too...

-- Dave

 

[cam2s]

I think one factor that influenced the noise level of vintage machines is the tank material . Many older units used porcelain on steel. I don't have scientific evidence, but porcelain tanks machines seem to be louder. I recently had two Power Clean dishwashers in my kitchen, one an older porcelain tank Ultra Wash and the other a later plastic tank unit. I've added tank insulation and a quiet tuned motor to the Ultra Wash and the newer unit was still quieter.

I don't know how much this matters to the average consumer, but I think those of us here of AW can appreciate that the quality of the sound makes a big difference too. A lot of us here love Reverse Racks, despite the fact that they where loud and even sounded like a freight train while draining, but it sounded like it was getting the job done, (and was in fact getting the job done). The above mentioned Hotpoint probably made a lot of racket and was an ineffective cleaner. I don't think many here are nostalgic for the Hotpoint.

My GE Potscrubber III is actually very quiet, although it's a bit of an unfair comparison since is has the newer PSC Quiet Power motor in it.

 

[bajaespuma]

I'll second that

Although it wasn't a particularly good dishwasher, we had one of the first GE Potscrubbers with the green vinyl racks and an all-plastic tub that was, in its time, the quietest DW we had experienced. Was that a Potscrubber III?

 

[cam2s]

Look familiar?

I guess to each there own but I find this to be an excellent dishwasher!

 

[bradfordwhite]

"GE seemed to purposely build noisy dishwashers so that you'd know they were working... LOL "

Funny but it was seriously policy at many appliance manufacturers back then. Even today product manufacturers will make their products have a certain sound or no sound...on purpose.
I always think of vacuums, how noisy and lacking power they were pre-2000 and how they've changed since.

New dishwashers for the most part are incredibly quiet.

Of course auto manufacturers are the same way, purposely designing vehicles to MAKE noise. appalling by my standards.

 

[jamiel]

I actually hold a patent on noisemaking for electric vehicles--it's an incredibly particular science within any manufacturing company--there are teams of people analyzing sound (both perceptible and imperceptible) at any car or machinery company.

 

[logixx]

 

[maytag85]

The sound of most modern vacuum cleaners gets on my ever lasting nerve since they are quite loud nor work very well since they simply don’t have the CFM of direct air vacuums. Yes, direct air vacuums can be loud BUT have more CFM which means your carpets and rugs will be cleaner compared to one of those modern bypass type machines.