The Apprentice-Dishwasher Style (U.K)

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platinum6

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May 15, 2007
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Hi all. I'd like to share with you my current dishwasher. A Hoover Crystaljet D820 which was brought new in Heelas (John Lewis) in May 2000.

It's a fairly basic model but it's quite good, had it for 8 years now and remarkably, it hasn't broken down or gone wrong in the time I had it. And yes, I am talking about a Hoover lol.

But it's starting to get on a bit and it's not cleaning as well as it should do which means now is the time to get a new dishwasher. Which one is entirely up to me by doing my own little thing.

Coinciding with the current series of The Apprentice on BBC1, I've made my own little version of it with 16 brands on my list and each week, 1 will be fired and that's mainly down to brand quality and reliability.

Here are the candidates:
AEG
Beko
Bosch
Candy
Electrolux
Haier
Hoover
Hotpoint
Indesit
John Lewis
Maytag
Miele
Siemens
Smeg
Whirlpool
Zanussi

In week 1, the Indesit was the first to go due to overall poor quality and reliability and cheap models don't go down too well in my household lol.
 
From your list, fire the following machines...

Indesit Group machines (Indesit and Hotpoint);
Candy Group Machines (Candy and Hoover);
Electrolux Group Machines (AEG, Electrolux and Zanussi possibly also John Lewis);

Haier,Smeg and Maytag. And I'll tell you why...

Some of the above machines are noisy whores from hell. The above mentioned 'Group made' machines have very flimsy baskets and the baskets don't always run smoothly. Basket wheels can also deteriorate over a short space of time, actually dropping off.

Haier machines have a flimsy design too, and they have had problems with spare parts availability. Also, overfoaming of the tub can lead to flooding of the base, short-circuiting the low-slung electrics by all accounts.

I have seen Year 2005 Maytag models, and when I tried to open the door in the shop, the plastic handle on the control panel flexed alarmingly.

Smeg suffer from the dispenser solenoid going wonky, which causes a back-EMF to scramble the computer board; apparently a common fault.

In short, the only machines I would entertain are Bosch/Siemens/Neff Group machines (of the upper price bracket; cheaper versions are thought not to be 'Made in Germany'). The upper Bosch 'Exxcel' & 'Logixx' models are usually seen to be the superior models. Parts are readily available from Bosch, and the exploded parts diagrams are viewable online.

Miele is also OK, but expensive. Parts are only available from Miele, and only their service network has the technical info and know-how.

A year or two ago, Which? Magazine had reliability data, which came to the conclusion that Bosch/Siemens had the best reliability, and that Smeg was problem prone, and even Miele had problems, too.

Bosch machines have a 2-year Guarantee, Miele sometimes has a 5-year on selected models.
 
In week 3, The Hotpoint was the next to go, again due to poor brand quality and reliability. It did however score on style but didn't excel elsewhere.
 
Hmm, I didn't think that Electrolux's dishwashers were that good, certainly not as good as Siemens or anything from the BSH group.

Tom.
 
Smeg

@ rolls_rapide: Can you tell me more about the problems that Smeg DW have? You can send me an E-Mail if you want. I'm thinking about buying one, but your post unsettled me...
 
Fire AEG/Zanussi/Elecotrolux!

Since I had an AEG DW for 5 years I can tell you that it wasn´t a good machine at all. The racks didn´t run smoothly and the washing results often weren´t satisfying. At year 5, the upper spray arm stopped running, cos the machine didn´t use enough water...Finally we all werde upset about this machine and bought a TOL Bosch, which was rated best at a german consumer magzine, even better than Miele! I´m so satisfied with this machine and would never give it away!

Hehe, maybe I´ll get soon a second Bosch from my aunt :) Just the same as Rolls-rapide has :D
 
Having owned, and used(abused) a Whirlpool dishwasher for 3 years before moving home, I have to say although not super silent it wasnt all that loud. It produced spotless dishes every time, cycle lengths are not extreme, and maintenance was very easy.

I had the semi integrated ADG3552W i think it was.... Said made in germany and had 5 programmes.
Prewash 12mins
Rapid40c 30mins
Eco 50c 130mins
Normal 65c 89mins
Intensive 70c 95mins.

Have to say a brilliant machine, never failed on us. Being used upto 4 times a day at times... It also has a delay start...
There is still some brand new graded models floating around ebay for around the £200 mark if u want to check them out!!
 
In week 4, The Beko was the next to go. Although it's slightly better than the Indesit and Candy, the models were a little too basic for my liking and it was no longer good enough to carry on in the competition.
 
Then in week 5, The Hoover was the next to go. Over doubts of whether it will be as reliable as the current one. Candy underpinnings don't help much either.
 
MrWash

The UK Consumer magazine WHICH? had reported previously, about the elegantly designed SMEGs being unreliable (and they weren't cheap either!).

According to postings from field technicians and their associates (have a look through www.ukwhitegoods.co.uk), the cause of failure is usually a faulty dispenser coil, sending a pulse of energy back to the computer board. This apparently scrambles the chips, and the only remedy is to replace the computer board AND the dispenser.

Failure to fit a new dispenser when fitting a new board, can lead to the same problems all over again within a short space of time.

Hope this hasn't scared you to death!
 
Thank you so much for telling me. You havn't scared me. I will now look for alternatives :-)
 
In week 6, The Whirlpool was the next to go. Due to average quality and reliability as well as not having something good or special to offer.
 
In week 7, 2 brands were fired instead of the usual 1. The first to go was the Zanussi for having average quality and reliability and also not being the upmarket, innovative brand they once were in the 80's and 90's.
 

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