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Thread Number: 4921
Modern Day Appliances |
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| Post# 108425 2/7/2006 at 21:27 (6,650 days old) by johnb300m (Chicago) | ||
Ok, i just bought a Danby countertop dishwasher. During my research i tangented on regular dishwashers, namely KitchenAid. I know how bulletproof and awesome they used to be. My dad's family has always owned them. I helped my aunts buy their 1998 KA Superba with the standard tub. The KAs before that and including the '98 are very good machines. But...with Whirlpool's hijacking of KitchenAid and the tall-tub editions, i've noticed a pattern where people are not liking their new tall-tup KAs. There are all sorts of complaints about them on Epinions.com. I know that's not too much of a reliable source. But Epinions is usually good with a standard distribution of praise and contempt for products. But there seems to be an overwhelming anger over the new tall-tub KAs. Complaints from fit and finish, customer service, faulty electronics, poor washability etc. What's the deal? I've looked at these machines at stores and at first glance look very good. They have the same four-way arm and same middle arm as alot of previous KAs. I know the wash module is new. I've explored that unit and without seeing it in action, looks like a good unit. Big motor, big stainless steel food disposer. Decently sized micro-filtration chamber. But...people complain that they just don't wash! And it's not just KitchenAid. I've heard similar complaints about alot of brands. GE too. We have a GSD6600 Triton XL, from 2003, and it works amazingly well. Never had a problem with it. It washes anything you throw at it. But recently, people have been badmouthing the current GEs. I've noticed they made some of the holes smaller in the main wash arm. Would that matter? Why the design change when their 2003 design works flawlessly? If the design changes from KA and GE are upsetting people, you'd think they'd take care of their customers and ship them new wash rotors or filters or trip pieces or something. All i know is, with people dropping in excess of 800 bucks for dishwashers. The problems they're having are unacceptable, especially for KitchenAid. Are all appliances down to a life expectancy of 3-5 years now? Is it too much to ask at least 10 years out of an appliance now? What the hell's going on? | ||
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Post# 108429 , Reply# 1 2/7/2006 at 21:45 (6,650 days old) by frigilux  (The Minnesota Prairie) |
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Cheapening the 'build quality' of appliances is a sore spot for everyone here, which is why many at this forum choose to restore vintage (usually pre-1980's) appliances for their own use. Electronics problems plague most every species. Personally, I had to have the board replaced on my 2004 Frigidaire dishwasher when it was only a couple of months old. Fortunately it was still under warranty. While I liked that DW and had no issues with how it cleaned, it was definitely full of plastic and fairly flimsy. My sister needed a DW, so I gave it to her and bought a tall-tub TOL Maytag in late 2005, which has a stainless steel tub. The build quality appears to be more substantial than the Frigidaire. It cleans very well----does a better job on pots/pans than the Frigidaire---- but time will tell how it holds up. I tend to replace dishwashers and washers/dryers every few years just because I like having new toys. Unfortunately, this doesn't allow me personal experience with how long new appliances will last. The only appliance 'old' appliance I have is a 12-year old Frigidaire refrigerator, which has given me no problems. (Knock on plastic..) A Frigidaire front-loading washer and dryer I purchased in 1996 (the first of the Electrolux-built models) is still going strong, servicing a 3-unit apartment building. So, can modern appliances still be working after 10 years? Sure. But will they last upwards of 20 years, as did many vintage KitchenAids dishwashers or Kenmore and Maytag laundry appliances? Time will tell, but my hunch is they probably won't. | ||
| Post# 108430 , Reply# 2 2/7/2006 at 21:52 (6,650 days old) by johnb300m (Chicago) | ||
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Post# 108496 , Reply# 4 2/8/2006 at 06:33 (6,650 days old) by toggleswitch (New York City, NY) |
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Danby coutertop dishwasher- Sold by Compact Appliances. This site has some nifty items...come in look around. CLICK HERE TO GO TO toggleswitch's LINK | ||
| Post# 108517 , Reply# 5 2/8/2006 at 10:35 (6,650 days old) by johnb300m (Chicago) | ||
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Post# 108518 , Reply# 6 2/8/2006 at 10:59 (6,650 days old) by chachp (North Little Rock, AR) |
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I think it would be fun to have one just to be able to look in the window and see what's going on in there. They had them in Target not long ago and I almost bought one just for fun. I thought that was a little extragent for fun but if they go on sale I'm going to get one. I don't care if the husband thinks I've lost my mind or not LOL.
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| Post# 108555 , Reply# 7 2/8/2006 at 15:44 (6,650 days old) by johnb300m (Chicago) | ||
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Well i just did two loads in the Danby today right after i got it. It works splendidly! It came via FedEx and is flawless. The interior is beautiful stainless steel with mirror finish. It feels very solid, and is quite heavy. It does look huge in our small kitchen, but it does the job. Flexability: It can fit 99% of whatever dishes and cookware we have. I wish the tines where a bit more standardly laid out, but they're laid out so you're sorta forced to load the machine the way they wanted you to. But that's ok. Operation: I put a full load of plates, silverware, glasses and a skillet, and it ran it on normal wash. Everything came out great! The wash rotor has two driving jets and 6 fan spray washing jets. It looks like good coverage. It sounds powerful when running, yet quiet. I'd compare the noise to a middle end GE machine. Ya know, the ones with little insulation, but with the quiet motor and pump. It has a lift out filter screen that catches everything, and the holes are just the right size to filter crap you, yet not clog up on you. The window is really cool but it's way too dark. You have to put a flashlight to it to see much of anything happening inside. Bad idea, they should've not tinted the window. Durability: The hoses, connection and unit seem very solid. Nothing flimsy anywhere. The adapter is iffy on our faucet cuz it's an apartment special from the 60s. All in all i'm very happy. I cut myself badly doing dishes by hand a few weeks ago. Needed 6 stitches, so i'm done with that BS. NO more hand washing. The only thing i don't like about it is the dark window, and the fact that there are no words on the unit. Everything's international icons...and i find that a bit annoying. I'll take pictures soon. | ||
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Post# 108557 , Reply# 8 2/8/2006 at 15:53 (6,650 days old) by toggleswitch (New York City, NY) |
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| Post# 108609 , Reply# 9 2/8/2006 at 20:32 (6,649 days old) by johnb300m (Chicago) | ||
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There are two main wash cycles. Normal and Quick Wash. I havn't sat with a stopwatch, cuz i'm sure my roommate would think i'm freaky [he already thinks i'm wierd buying this, i guess he likes washing dishes]. But i'd guess the Normal wash takes about 35min, and the short wash aprox. 25min. It seems to do great so far, i just ran a 3rd load now, LOL. I'm experimenting with ways to remove the exterior deeply tinted window so you can see in via the interior clear window. The exterior window seems to do nothing to hold water in, and is there purely to make the thing look like a microwave. Here are the pictures i promised: CLICK HERE TO GO TO johnb300m's LINK | ||
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Post# 108615 , Reply# 10 2/8/2006 at 20:52 (6,649 days old) by dadoes (TX, U.S. of A.) |
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| Post# 108624 , Reply# 11 2/8/2006 at 21:29 (6,649 days old) by kenmorepeter5a () | ||
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Compact Appliance Hi Steve, how are you doing? I'm deaf and my name is Peter. Before I look of the laundry for washer & dryer...I found of it! I looked a newest frontload washer, it's "Supra" by washer combo. -- Peter (kenmorepeter5a) ;-) | ||
| Post# 108627 , Reply# 12 2/8/2006 at 21:31 (6,649 days old) by kenmorepeter5a () | ||
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Compact Appliance Hi Steve, how are you doing? I'm deaf and my name is Peter. Before I look of the laundry for washer & dryer...I found of it! I looked a newest frontload washer, it's "Supra" by washer combo. -- Peter (kenmorepeter5a) ;-) | ||
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Post# 108680 , Reply# 14 2/9/2006 at 09:45 (6,649 days old) by toggleswitch (New York City, NY) |
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| Post# 108747 , Reply# 15 2/9/2006 at 20:13 (6,648 days old) by johnb300m (Chicago) | ||
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Post# 108794 , Reply# 17 2/10/2006 at 03:18 (6,648 days old) by foraloysius (Leeuwarden, Friesland, the Netherlands) |
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Post# 108799 , Reply# 18 2/10/2006 at 06:29 (6,648 days old) by tomturbomatic (Beltsville, MD) |
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Georgio, remember the carts for microwave ovens in the 80s? Why couldn't you put the dishwasher on one of them and then roll it to the sink to run it? Nothing is excessive when acquiring appliances you want. | ||
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Post# 108818 , Reply# 19 2/10/2006 at 08:08 (6,648 days old) by gadgetgary (Bristol,CT) |
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Danby | ||
| Post# 109400 , Reply# 21 2/12/2006 at 21:07 (6,645 days old) by johnb300m (Chicago) | ||
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Hey guys, the tinted window is held by clips that slide into friction slots inside a 3mm groove around the window area. All i had to do was slide a knife edge under and pry it out. I did marr the finish and knick the edges of the window and door a bit, but they're so minor you can't see them unless you stare at them. The grooves and exposed parts do not look like they would collect dirt easily, though anything's possible. With that said, it wouldn't be hard to clean. In the not too distant future i will post some more pics, of the unit operating with the window exposed, as well as of the hoses and faucet adapter with measurements. MODIFICATION: The spray arm was spinning a bit fast for my taste, so i slowed it down a hair so it could have more contact time with dishes. I took an allen key and bent the drive jets to a higher up angle so they would drive the arm with a bit less force. I got the results i wanted. Previously, the arm would spin aprox. 95RPM, and i slowed it down to about 55 RPM. So it still has good velocity, but it won't be flying around like it used to. All the other holes have excellent 30deg. fan spray coverage, so i won't be modifying anything else. | ||
| Post# 109403 , Reply# 22 2/12/2006 at 21:14 (6,645 days old) by johnb300m (Chicago) | ||
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Some ideas of my own
this is off topic, but the thing that drives my interest to dishwashers out of all the other appliances is their spraying, filtering and sometimes macerating characteristics. Whirlpools and Frigidaires are some of my favorite, even though we've had GE all my life, because they have excellent hard food macerators. The one issue i have with the Danby and other countertop dishwashers is their cleanable filter screen. I like the idea of the food being ground up and stored in a micro-filter chamber. So i've sketched a few countertop dishwasher modules of my own with macerating characteristics. The mechanisms are obviously horizontal, so they emulate whirlpool's current module with a big blade in front of a screen and a filter chamber that is flushed during draining. I took the love of appliances [that all you have] and my engineering driven mind, and soared to a new level of appliance geek-dom. | ||
| Post# 109508 , Reply# 24 2/13/2006 at 13:17 (6,645 days old) by johnb300m (Chicago) | ||
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Engineering
I'm an Industrial Engineering Technology student at Northern Illinois University. I've been facinated with electronics and machines since i was crawling. I took the interior of our 1983 Kenmore microwave apart at 4yrs. old, figured out how to turn on our 1978 GE dishwasher with the door open, and sketched the engine compartment of our 1983 Chrysler New Yorker with 80% accuracy [according to my dad], so Engineering/Technology seemed like a logical choice for an educaiton. Technology is more the hands on/business side of theoretical engineering. So i would be managing engineers in the workforce, yet i still need to learn much of what they do, as well as business/industrial skills. I'm loving it so far! | ||
| Post# 110179 , Reply# 25 2/16/2006 at 20:06 (6,641 days old) by johnb300m (Chicago) | ||
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Danby Dishwasher Discovery
In amazement, while looking in on my Danby while doing a load after dinner, i realized the Danby machines are sort of a 2 level wash system. On the right rear of the interior tub are two small ports. Well, upon looking at them with a flashlight, i found out they spray water! Not at the same time, i think they alternate. But they shoot across the tub and ricochet off of walls and dishes, distributing water everywhere. A pretty cool idea with the limited space. | ||
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Post# 110192 , Reply# 26 2/16/2006 at 20:55 (6,641 days old) by dadoes (TX, U.S. of A.) |
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Post# 110318 , Reply# 28 2/17/2006 at 12:54 (6,641 days old) by petek (Ontari ari ari O ) |
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They are cool little dw's and so relatively inexpensive. Just the other day I was perusing a local super drug store, more non-drug items than drugs and they had the Danby model without a window but with a sani-wash and another one oddly without the Danby name on it but still a Danby, with a window but I can't remember if the window was tinted or not. I felt like carting one home but figure the ensuing fight over misspent money on non-necessities is probably not worth it. Stupid me saw one at a yard sale last summer but it looked like the window had been damaged and re-caulked in with rubber sealant and messy too so I left it.. I should have taken it just for fiddling around with. BTW Danby also makes a superior mid size microwave oven with that same mirror like metal interior and it's very inexpensive. How they can do that and others can't is beyond me.
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Post# 110326 , Reply# 29 2/17/2006 at 13:57 (6,641 days old) by toggleswitch (New York City, NY) |
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| Post# 110554 , Reply# 30 2/19/2006 at 04:10 (6,639 days old) by designgeek () | ||
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Or lack of expensive advertising campaigns. Word of mouth works wonders. Yes, poor wages are a problem with offshore manufacturing. But I haven't seen any specific allegation that Danby is using sweatshops. If that's of concern it should be investigated further. | ||
| Post# 110993 , Reply# 31 2/20/2006 at 21:42 (6,637 days old) by johnb300m (Chicago) | ||
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