D&M
During my childhood I remember my Aunt constantly having the dishwasher repaired. The Linoleum under the front of the dishwasher had began to suffer water damage and I remember later on it was just used to store dish towels. She never pulled it out, her husband was a hardcore Sears guy, everything down to the HVAC came from there. This was a bedford stone ranch built in 62. in 80 or 81 the entire kitchen was completely redone in Avocado, dishwasher, and the matching BD washer. The stove was older, it was a 40" and she had the upright freezer and fridge side by side. I always loved her kitchen. She passed away a few years ago and her son, who owns a large HVAC company here decided to rehab the house as a rental and gutted it. The sub-floor in the kitchen under the dishwasher was gone. The only remaining wood was along the front lip and the dishwasher was wedged on that relying on the counter to hold it in. The machine was nothing but rust on the outside of the tub and underneath with some very scary wiring.
This is just my experience with a D&M from this era. I currently have an 18" version of the D&M compact with the Kenmore name on it. With a sanding wheel and some rack goop the racks are good again and with the new wash-arm unit it's still going. I like the size. I'll leave it at that, but if loaded exactly it will produce decent results, you just have to learn the machine. Currently it's on month 3 or washing for a house of 3, it runs 1-3 times per day and so far has been a champ. I run it with old stock phosphated Cascade and I do NOT pre-rinse. I know people that have the 24" BOL Frigidaire and can get a clean dish out of it though. It serves it's purpose to me in an akward kitchen. If I want really clean dishes, the 1981 Power-Scour awaits in the garage, I love that thing, it's just so noisy and the wheels are shot. It will make a good built-in someday.
-Tim
