Tappan Reversa-Jet
Paul (turquoisedud): You are confusing the older Tappan "Dual-Drench" dishwasher with the later produced Tappan Reversa-Jet.
Indeed, the Dual Drench was an "Awful dishwasher," as you say. It used a large horizontal rotating drum to pick up water from the tub bottom and spray it on the dishes. It periodically reversed it's direction of rotation, hence the name "dual" drench.
The later Tappan "Reversa-Jet" was entirely redesigned from the ground up. Apparently Tappan gave it's engineers carte blanche to design a new DW after the dismal reviews its Dual Drench DW received.
The Reversa_Jet was in many ways over engineered and ahead of its time for 1965, with rack dividers, fine particle filtration, automatic door latch, dual wash arms (both self-reversing), thermostatically controlled drying, etc.
It was a sterling performer. In the November 1965 consume Reports, it tested with "above average" washing and drying performance. Consumer Reports wrote that it would have received a "check rating" except for the fact that the high pressure of the second wash arm "tumbled" glassware on the upper rack. Of the reversing wash arms, CU wrote, "...the separate wash arms reverse several times during the cycle in an effort to get at any partially masked items."
Consumer Reports went on to state
that the Tappan (and the Tappan made O'Keefe and Merritt), "managed the heavily soiled and 'aged' dish load perfectly without pre-rinsing."
[this post was last edited: 12/1/2020-13:33]