Dishwasher

Ours went goofy tonight. Think it might be in the control panel iffin the appliance repair guy says junk it, what brand?? The one we got now is a Frigidaire

we recently went through this effort, the ppliance repair guy told us the parts for our old (20 years old) dishwasher were no longer available. He recommended KitchenAid or Bosch. Either way, be sure that the device has a stainless steel tub. We bought the KitchenAid, got a good price and a rebate for the installation expense and haul off for the old one. Very happy with it so far.

Bosch

Dishwashers have come a long way in the past years. I’m running KitchenAid. It’s whisper quiet, in fact when I installed it and turned it on I was p.o.’d because I thought it wasn’t working it was that quiet.
Tip – when using pods, just throw them in the bottom don’t try putting them in the detergent dispenser.
Can’t go wrong with Bosch either.

Bosch

If you get a Bosch make sure you get it with dryer element in it. Otherwise the door just pops open and it air drys. So dumb. The Bosch is super quiet and has a blue light that shines on floor so you know it’s running. Didn’t realize there’s different models when we bought ours.

Full disclosure – I work in the appliances department at a big box hardware store. Consumer ratings have Bosch and Kitchenade as the top 2 brands.
Regardless of what brand you go with, I urge you to consider the following:
1. Get a dishwasher with a stainless steel tub – far less noise than a unit with a plastic tub.
2. A third rack is a very useful option allowing you to place more items in the washer / safely wash items that could melt near heating element.
3. Make sure the brand you go with has repair people near where you live.
4. All appliances come with a one year warranty. While dishwashers aren’t often used on a daily basis, they do work “hard” when washing a load of dishes. An extended warranty can save you quite a bit of money should the unit need service outside the manufacturer warranty period. The extended warranties we offer will refund a third of the warranty cost if you never use it.
Just my two cents.

Replaced ours with a Bosch, If it wasn’t for the light I wouldn’t know it was running.

About a month ago our fridge went out. We found a sale and I bought all new stainless steel kitchen appliances. We went whirlpool if I remember correctly. I think It was just under 3500 cash when I paid the lady. I installed they delivered. Very happy so far . Dishwasher has stainless inside and 3rd rack. But the wash cycle is double the time as my old one. We saved 2400 bundling a early black Friday deal.
I also can’t tell that ours is on besides the light that comes on.

Avoid LG – I’ve been disappointed with pretty much ALL my LG appliances (Full Kitchen set and Laundry). My wife is the only one that can start the dishwasher – she has the special touch and it only likes her. When I do it errors-out. Had service come out several times, they’ve tried everything. Re-leveling, new control unit, just keeps being a POS.

I’ve got about a one year old Whirlpool from Warners Stellian. It has the energy star rating on efficiency so I also received a recent water rebate from the city I reside in for it.

We just bought a Maytag dishwasher, hasn’t arrived yet. Correct me if I’m wrong, but the same company owns Whirlpool, Maytag, Kitchenaid, Frigidaire.

Greenhorn wrote:

Correct me if I’m wrong, but the same company owns Whirlpool, Maytag, Kitchenaid, Frigidaire

Quite possible.

I’m sure all the components originate from the same location in China too.

My two cents about dishwashers…
Look for a dishwasher with a soft food grinder, the new super quiet ones are a filter system that you will need to clean with so regularity…

I don’t care how quiet it is if it doesn’t get the dishes clean…

We have a 13 year old Whirlpool, it still work resonably well with some care, we have a septic system with a tank and lift pump… My wife and I disagree, I scrape and rince before I put the dishes in the washer, she just drops them in, food and all. I unload the washer most of the time and about 10% to 15% of the time hers are not spotlessly clean.

A dishwasher is a tool it all depends how you use it…

I run ours every night full or not, an over filled machine doen’t have a chance sucess… My two cents…

Since you know it’s the control panel the first thing I would do is search the model number and get a part number for the control panel.

Then go on eBay and see if you can find a used one.

This is an easy fix if you can find the part. In the past I’ve saved both our microwave and our dishwasher by sourcing used control panels or keypads.

New appliances are so expensive and quality is such a crapshoot that my preference is to always fix what I’ve got before I go out and possibly take on new problems at high expense.

I’ve had a KitchenAid for ~10 years, maybe more. Stainless steel tub. Works well. I had to replace the touchpad a few years ago but easy fix.

Agree with comments about a third rack, I was surprised how useful it is. Installer who put ours in was chatting with us about maintenance, had started it prior to the conversation and we didn’t notice until I saw the panel lights and asked him if it was running.

another happy Bosch customer here

Greenhorn wrote:

We just bought a Maytag dishwasher, hasn’t arrived yet. Correct me if I’m wrong, but the same company owns Whirlpool, Maytag, Kitchenaid, Frigidaire.

Whirlpool, Maytag and KitchenAid are owned by Whirlpool. Frigidaire is Electrolux.

Bosch, there damn expensive but man they last forever!

sorry fellers been nonstop excitement and running today and been meaning to get back to this thread. not sure if its the pump or panel.

anyway we got an appliance repair guy coming on thursday. my wife called and talked to his first, said it could be pump or panel, price range to fix 250 to 450. like someone said i prefer to fix then replace and deal with possible other stuff.

i dont go to ebay or amazon, i’ve looked at them but they just make my head hurt!!!! and i way prefer to pay someone that does that for a living then me playing repairman and end up costing more.

and thanks for all the advice and suggestions!!!!!

so the tech was here yesterday…. 20 minutes and 99 bucks later, 2 of our Q tips and appears to be fixed.

had no idea but there is a sensor under the 2 drain screens that was full of gunk!!!!!tech said not many know about this and it took them 8 hours a couple years ago on another dishwasher to figure it out.

he recommended a dishwasher cleaner call AFFRESH and to use it about every 30 days. i’ll admit i clean the dishwasher but maybe not that often, and in no way did i know about that sensor under there!!

glenn57 wrote:

i’ll admit i clean the dishwasher

Your supposed to do that?

Would agree that the food grinder is a good idea, the washer at our last house had one and it was great-now we have a filter that needs to be cleaned about once every 2 months. You always hear people say extended warranties are a good deal but they are usually not. They have those to make money at your expense, they have people who track them to make sure they make money-if for some reason you thought your use was alot more than average they it could work out for you,
but for most insurance though, the house always wins.

and thanks waytogo waytogo waytogo for all the advice and suggestions!!!!!

Never a shortage of that here on IDO.