sold at Lowes.
This was the unit installed by the builder who sold me the home. I've done several loads in it and used Cascade Platinum paks and the Finish Powerball tabs.
Typically I run the load after it has sat for some time. This means food and beverages have plenty of time to really get baked on and hardened. This is certainly a stern test for any dishwasher.
It has 3 cycles, heavy, normal, light. All my washing was done on the normal cycle.
Other than, like the GE, the drying element not staying on long enough to really get stuff dry, this basic machine works quite well. Right off the bat, the wash pressure is much stronger than the GE as it flipped over my microwave bacon tray within the first 15 seconds of wash. This was on the lower rack.
It seems to spend more time, overall, powering the lower wash arm than it does the top arms however I have not noticed any lack of cleaning for the top rack. 5 day old cereal bowls with dried bran flakes are removed without a trace. Ashtrays cleaned completely when using Cascade; Finish leaves some ash residue behind.
The biggest drawback is the noise. It is without a doubt the noisiest unit I have owned to date. You can really hear the water splashing around during the cycle. As such with the open living plan where the kitchen, dining area, and living room are all one area, I usually run it before retiring to bed or before I leave for work in the AM.
It does have a water heat option which I use. It has a glass trap that is a pain to remove but alas, no filter to clean. You can delay the wash start by 2,4, or 6 hours. I have never used this feature on any machine. I use Jet Dry rinse aid as per instructions.
While Frig recommends the Finish powerball things, I get better results with the Cascade paks. I have the same water supplier as I did at the other place. Water temp incoming is about 135 give or take, from a Bradford White 220v electric water heater. Yes I set it higher than the lukewarm 120 factory setting.
Wash time does indeed vary. I clocked the quickest at 1 hour 40 minutes to just over 2 hours again using the normal cycle. It is about 23 feet from WH to dishwasher and my plumbing is under a concrete slab and the water comes out very cold during this time of year. At least the DW can sense that and extends the cycle as needed for the water temp to come up. That I can appreciate.
Loading is certainly different than the GE. The plates will tilt towards the right no matter how I arrange them. Same with bowls up top, they will tilt forward when placed on the tines as indicated in the manual.
The weakness is the silverware basket. Just a plastic basket with 5 open individual compartments that create a nesting situation with spoons. Would be nice if they had a lid for at least one to separate the spoons from each other. Also it is not very well secured, in fact I had to put 2 plastic ties to hold it against the lower rack because when removing things as it flopped around annoyingly.
First Frigidaire unit I have owned. I'm willing to bet this is a sub $400 unit. But having said that, it does the job albeit with lots of noise. Not much in the way of cycles and I cannot comment yet on heavy or the light cycle. It does not autosense anything except the incoming water temp. I have not used plain jane powder and probably won't since the Cascade paks seem to carry the freight just fine.
We'll see how it holds up. I am impressed with the force of water that comes from the lower arm. I mean the GE would NEVER tip over anything. As old school as I am, I do believe that some force is necessary to remove gunked on food. Along with plenty of HOT water to boot! If it lasts longer than the warranty then I would say thumbs up.
This was the unit installed by the builder who sold me the home. I've done several loads in it and used Cascade Platinum paks and the Finish Powerball tabs.
Typically I run the load after it has sat for some time. This means food and beverages have plenty of time to really get baked on and hardened. This is certainly a stern test for any dishwasher.
It has 3 cycles, heavy, normal, light. All my washing was done on the normal cycle.
Other than, like the GE, the drying element not staying on long enough to really get stuff dry, this basic machine works quite well. Right off the bat, the wash pressure is much stronger than the GE as it flipped over my microwave bacon tray within the first 15 seconds of wash. This was on the lower rack.
It seems to spend more time, overall, powering the lower wash arm than it does the top arms however I have not noticed any lack of cleaning for the top rack. 5 day old cereal bowls with dried bran flakes are removed without a trace. Ashtrays cleaned completely when using Cascade; Finish leaves some ash residue behind.
The biggest drawback is the noise. It is without a doubt the noisiest unit I have owned to date. You can really hear the water splashing around during the cycle. As such with the open living plan where the kitchen, dining area, and living room are all one area, I usually run it before retiring to bed or before I leave for work in the AM.
It does have a water heat option which I use. It has a glass trap that is a pain to remove but alas, no filter to clean. You can delay the wash start by 2,4, or 6 hours. I have never used this feature on any machine. I use Jet Dry rinse aid as per instructions.
While Frig recommends the Finish powerball things, I get better results with the Cascade paks. I have the same water supplier as I did at the other place. Water temp incoming is about 135 give or take, from a Bradford White 220v electric water heater. Yes I set it higher than the lukewarm 120 factory setting.
Wash time does indeed vary. I clocked the quickest at 1 hour 40 minutes to just over 2 hours again using the normal cycle. It is about 23 feet from WH to dishwasher and my plumbing is under a concrete slab and the water comes out very cold during this time of year. At least the DW can sense that and extends the cycle as needed for the water temp to come up. That I can appreciate.
Loading is certainly different than the GE. The plates will tilt towards the right no matter how I arrange them. Same with bowls up top, they will tilt forward when placed on the tines as indicated in the manual.
The weakness is the silverware basket. Just a plastic basket with 5 open individual compartments that create a nesting situation with spoons. Would be nice if they had a lid for at least one to separate the spoons from each other. Also it is not very well secured, in fact I had to put 2 plastic ties to hold it against the lower rack because when removing things as it flopped around annoyingly.
First Frigidaire unit I have owned. I'm willing to bet this is a sub $400 unit. But having said that, it does the job albeit with lots of noise. Not much in the way of cycles and I cannot comment yet on heavy or the light cycle. It does not autosense anything except the incoming water temp. I have not used plain jane powder and probably won't since the Cascade paks seem to carry the freight just fine.
We'll see how it holds up. I am impressed with the force of water that comes from the lower arm. I mean the GE would NEVER tip over anything. As old school as I am, I do believe that some force is necessary to remove gunked on food. Along with plenty of HOT water to boot! If it lasts longer than the warranty then I would say thumbs up.
