Thread Number: 53763
Question about the performance of vintage dishwashers? |
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Post# 760794 , Reply# 3   6/1/2014 at 16:49 (3,615 days old) by kenmoreguy89 (Valenza Piemonte, Italy- Soon to be US immigrant.)   |   | |
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I think it was not a matter of performance...heck no! But, it was rather a matter of flexibility in loads, I mean possibility to put larger stuff, put stuff on flat and or on top of other things and on both the racks, so increased capacity and flexibility in loading... and also without the risk of block spray arms etc...
The speech I am doing is kinda the same effect as in this video.... Water would reach pots thru the dishes, but not dishes thru the pots, so in certain models you had to run a cycle just for pots if they were larger and then for dishes... This post was last edited 06/01/2014 at 18:34 |
Post# 760797 , Reply# 4   6/1/2014 at 17:24 (3,615 days old) by turquoisedude (.)   |   | |
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I grew up with an impeller-wash dishwasher and I still use one almost every day I am at my house in Ogden - yes, they do have some limitations but if loaded correctly they will still do a good job. Even the 'one arm' machines I have in my collection do a good job, again if loaded correctly. Now I think I need to get my KDP5 back into the kitchen to play with... LOL
I agree that all dishwashers probably evolved to use multiple wash arms to simplify loading, |
Post# 760824 , Reply# 5   6/1/2014 at 21:06 (3,614 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage)   |   | |
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Somewhere in the archives a member posted a great theory on why impeller dishwasher designs faded out, will see if one can find it or you can search for yourself.
As with the early days of washing machines there are plenty of designs that ultimately faded from use when it came to dishwashers. Water powered machines were an answer to small kitchens, lack of electrical power, motors that were small enough yet had the power required, or a combination of all of the above. They used incredible amounts of water for the load size and would certainly not be allowed to exist in todays energy conscious appliance world. Impeller designs for the most part flung pools of water up at dishes. Depending upon several factors results ranged from excellent to fair or poor. But upper rack cleaning to some extent is largely dependent upon what is below. Plates and other shallow items that helped direct water upwards helped. Bowls and other deep items OTOH could cause problems As dishwashers progressed from a novelty, to something only wealthy households owned down to Mr. & Mrs. America, Madame Housewife wanted more from a machine that was supposed to (in theory) wash dishes. If one had to pre-rinse/wash things and or they came out of the machine more dirty than they went in, what was the point? Might as well wash them by hand and get things over and done. Better washing means better designed dishwashers that could send water everywhere inside the tub to reach dishes not only on lower but upper rack. Said design must also allow flexibility to use either rack for various items. Many impeller dishwashers had very powerful sprays because that was all there was to reach the upper racks. This is all very well but said spray could send items in lower racks flying, and or cause damage to glassware or other delicate items. The Hotpoint service manuals I have for their 1960's era dishwashers clearly warn against say placing glassware in lower racks. The other fly in the ointment was/is water and or energy use. Early dishwashers like modern commercial units often relied upon multiple wash and rinse cycles, along with perhaps a few purges to clear food and waste out of the machine/keep it from creating yibbles. Well the energy crisis of the 1970's put a crimp in that party so dishwasher makers had to find ways to do more with less. Not as little as today, but still less. You can have longer cycles in a dishwasher but it requires methods to filter or otherwise deal with solids. Merely pushing a pool of water about with an impeller often was not going to do the trick. |
Post# 760829 , Reply# 6   6/1/2014 at 21:41 (3,614 days old) by roto204 (Tucson, AZ)   |   | |
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Post# 760841 , Reply# 7   6/2/2014 at 01:45 (3,614 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage)   |   | |
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Post# 760844 , Reply# 8   6/2/2014 at 03:07 (3,614 days old) by arbilab (Ft Worth TX (Ridglea))   |   | |
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My first 2 were impellers (Hotpoint) and the third Frigidaire rotospray. Good results with all, if solids scraped off and loading procedure observed. I still do it that way, even with triple-arm modren (sic) machines.
As an assigned chore for a number of months around age 14 I got a pretty snazzy Schwinn 3-speed for managing the dishwasher. Less an incentive today I spoze. |
Post# 760852 , Reply# 9   6/2/2014 at 06:12 (3,614 days old) by turquoisedude (.)   |   | |
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Post# 760863 , Reply# 11   6/2/2014 at 07:56 (3,614 days old) by PhilR (Quebec Canada)   |   | |
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As it was said by others, some vintage machines require careful loading and many also have limitaions on the size and quant of dishes that fit in...
The one I'm currently using daily is a 1963 Frigidaire that I got from Robert and it does a decent job at cleaning and a great job at drying the dishes because everything is angled towards the spray tube on the top rack so water doesn't stay on the top of the coffee mugs like it did on my Bosch. I do have some plates that are too tall and don't fit well on the lower rack. You can fit some pots on the upper rack but I rarely do. The loading instructions are printed inside the door and it's also possible to be creative and load it not-as-instructed and still get correct results but don't expect most people who try to help you loading it to read the instructions or to figure by themselves how to load it correctly! And honestly, I have to admit that I have been used to pre-rinse my dishes and I still do most of the time (but I like to do some "tests" occasionnally!). |
Post# 760923 , Reply# 12   6/2/2014 at 13:51 (3,614 days old) by twintubdexter (Palm Springs)   |   | |
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From a standpoint of energy consumption, I would assume most new dishwashers are more economical. Here in the desert where 2 cenrtal air conditioners are necessarry to keep my very modest but very well insulated home cool I am concerned with just about every kilowatt I use. Fortunately with these new meters I can monitor electric (and gas) consumption at any time using the computer. Most people use their dishwashers every day, not just for parties and such like me. Having an energy-efficent model would be important...of course it could just be that I'm just cheap.
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Post# 761001 , Reply# 13   6/2/2014 at 20:08 (3,614 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage)   |   | |
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Post# 761002 , Reply# 14   6/2/2014 at 20:13 (3,614 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage)   |   | |
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