My first dishwasher


 
My dishwasher is so old, my mom gave it a name over 60 some years ago.
She called it Jim Lampe.

The last apartment I rented (1984-1990) had one.
We lived there 4 years before trying to use it. But I could not figure out how to turn it on, so I called the landlord.
She couldn’t believe that I’ve never used it before that day I called.
There was a light switch on the backsplash in the kitchen that turned it on.
And I thought the light switch was for some outlet that didn’t work.
 
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That unit looks like a nice unit for the price. Nice thing too is it is metered so only recharges when needed. Only thing you need to do is get test strips and determine the grains of hardness you have or look at the federally required water report your utility puts out. So if you see you typically have 28 grains hardness set the meter for that and you're done. Then even if your DW is running, a shower is going what have you, you wil always have treated but not over treated water
 
Your report doesn't show dissolved minerals so you'll need to find a way to test it for that. Primarily you'll be looking at lime/calcium. You show some iron content but not enough IMO to warrant a separate iron removal filter. The softener should handle the 1 PPM you have
 
LMichaels said:
Your report doesn't show dissolved minerals so you'll need to find a way to test it for that. Primarily you'll be looking at lime/calcium. You show some iron content but not enough IMO to warrant a separate iron removal filter. The softener should handle the 1 PPM you have
Click to expand...

Yea, that's what I thought, medium hardness.

Tim
 
We used the dishwasher pods (for convenience) for 6 months and got mediocre results. Started using liquid out of the bottle - bazinga! sparkling clean dishes.

So... if using pods, give the liquid a try to see if makes a difference.

Russell
 
I use the pods with great results. Though next lot of pods we're going to try the Costco branded ones. So we'll see how they work, but the Cascade branded ones we're using work just great
 
After the problems we had with the HE Kirkland branded liquid laundry detergent, some things I just won't trust with the Kirkland name. The laundry detergent failed to dissolve completely, and led to leaking water on the floor. Switched to a name brand that did dissolve completely, no issues after.

I do get the Cascade tablets in Costco.
 
I didn't buy the Cascade ones there because Sam's has them cheaper but the Kirkland ones seem to be doing a really good job in my dad's machine so thought I would give them a try. One nice thing about Costco. If one of their branded products ever makes you unhappy bring it back they will refund it
 
Stay far away from brands associated with Frigidaire (Electrolux, Kenmore) total junk made in China. Same with GE (made by Haier) more Chinese junk. Stick more with brands from Whirlpool (Whirlpool, Amana, JennAire), can't go wrong with Bosch, and Samsung is a good choice.
Another thing to watch out for. They typically use one of 2 methods to dry. They either vent steam into the room (and under your cabinet). This is "ok" unless you have laminate counters with particle board substrate. The steam will destroy it (ask me how I know).
The second method is condensation drying (which I prefer) since no steam is released under your cabinets. It works by allowing moisture on the dishes to condense and fall away into the bottom of the unit where the pump will expel it to the drain.
It works GREAT except if you have hard water "no bueano" it will spot and fog. You can use a "sheeting" or Rinse Agent such as Jet Dry and it will help but not completely. I have come to prefer just putting these https://cascadeclean.com/en-us/products/by-line/platinum-actionpacs-lemon-scent in my machine. I just put one packet into the dispenser and it contains everything. Dishes come clean, no hazing or spots and I don't need any other things. Just one packet and it works.
For your price range all the recommended brands I mentioned have models available. The biggest differences being number of cycles and noise produced. FWIW even in the lowest priced models Bosch will be about the quietest you can buy, most effective and have condensate dry method. BTW you mention not needing a quiet machine because of the open floor plan, well, that is precisely why you'd want a quieter machine. Nothing is worse than listening to a noisy machine grinding away while you try to watch TV. Honestly I would go Bosch. BTW I know you mentioned not needing it but they're also VERY efficient. Typically only needing less than 4 gal water to do a load
There ya go!
 
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I concur with everything Larry said. Personally, we have a Whirlpool, can't remember the model #. It's been great, quiet, efficient, dishes dry well. Cleans everything I have put in it, including some pretty nasty dishes and pots.

This is a good time of year to shop for a dishwasher. Most, if not all retailers will be having November sales.
 
I was interested in one that had a garbage disposal in it but the guy @ lowes said it was just another part to break. I still like the idea of having a food chopper in the bottom.

My Bosch is working well, I liked the display on the LG better.
 
Stay away from the food chopper ones. Had one like that some years back and that was what failed and it blew water all over my kitchen. On the Bosch there is an easy to clean filter that works just fine. So big deal once every 3 or 4 mos if your careless about scraping dishes off you have to clean it.
I forgot to mention stay far away from LG appliances as well. Bought a $1200 gas range and find out it's junk. Finish is bubbling off the cook top, oven is useless. Says it's convection but convection fan rarely turns on when it's used, The oven is vented in such a way that anything on top of the stove will become super heated and DANGEROUS to touch, Total utter piece of garbage. And if you call LG for "warranty" they treat you like a second rate criminal. BTW they do this with their electronics as well as I had an LG G6 cell phone with so called 2 year warranty. A promotion that LG advertised as a way to garner customers away from rival Samsung. Mine had issues under warranty the first year. Sent it to them. They returned it no fully fixed, called them again re additional issues and they refused to respond or honor their own warranty. Thankfully AT&T stood by me and sent me a new Samsung S8 to replace it.
 
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I wouldn't buy an LG if it was the last thing at the store. We have had LG appliances before, and will never, NEVER have them again. They are the worst.
 
I agree with Larry and KE, don’t buy LG. I bought a $900 LG dishwasher and had three service calls on it under warranty. Two months after the warranty ran out it died. $600 to fix it so I scrapped it. Never washed the dishes properly and had to dry them by hand as you unloaded it. On top of that, if you are handy yourself, you cannot fix them as they will only sell parts to a dealer after they setup a service call for you through that dealer. (At least here in Canada) I have lots of LG electronics that I love, but will never buy their products again. Sorry for the rant! Richard.
 
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