My kingdom for a sturdy dishwasher

December 7, 2005 11:54 AM

My husband is ready to pitch our two month old Whirlpool Gold 3200 dishwasher. We need advice on what to expect from a replacement.

It's highly energy efficient, cleans beautifully, and is very quiet. But we have had the same electronic part (a timer that is inside the console at the top of the door) replaced twice in 5 weeks, with several days of downtime between failure and repair.

The repair guy said today that we should avoid slamming the door shut (that is, pushing the door from a distance of more than an inch with enough force to close and latch in one step). He recommends bringing the door to a closed but unlatched position, then pressing it until we feel/hear it latch.

I've been closing the door that way all along, but my engineer husband finds it ridiculous that an apparently delicate electronic component is so loosely screwed in, or unpadded, that it can't take a reasonable bit of angular motion. He cites the industrial Hobart dishwasher he used in our university housing coop as a sample of sturdy, sensible design.

Our experience doesn't fit Whirlpool's reputation for low rates of repair. What models or brands would you recommend that have their delicate bits inside the main cabinet and/or which use a different latching mechanism?

posted by maudlin to home & garden (12 comments total)

It is ridiculous, yes, but throwing it out?

Can't your husband the engineer engineer it a little bit to be more sturdy.
posted by jon_kill at 11:57 AM on December 7, 2005

Crappers. I think we just dropped a couple hundred on that exact model.
posted by Alt F4 at 11:58 AM on December 7, 2005

I'm assuming that the lauded Whirlpool warranty will let you exchange it, right? Especially given the ridiculous number of part replacements in two months. I think a good letter to corporate would get that to happen pretty quick.

My 15 year old Whirlpool washer has no electronic gizmos in it and works terrifically. Maybe just replace it with an older, less fancy/overdesigned model?
posted by luriete at 12:01 PM on December 7, 2005

jon, he's willing to tighten the screws himself (if it's safe to do so) the next time it goes on the fritz if that's what's needed. Ot perhaps he can add padding if the gizmo itself is being damaged rather than shaken loose. But this would probably void our warranty.

Customer Service says the replacement process doesn't even start until the third repair call, when they subsequently send out someone to assess and report on the machine. *marks January 11 on the calendar* I do have a call in to Customer Relations and hope I can get something worked out with them, ideally a replacement with a model that doesn't have this design flaw.
posted by maudlin at 12:11 PM on December 7, 2005

Just wait until January 11th and handwash until then.
posted by cloeburner at 12:20 PM on December 7, 2005

Agree with cloeburner: You should give Whirlpool another try to resolve the issue.

That said, since you asked for alternatives: I picked up a Bosch dishwasher from Sears about 3yrs ago and it has been absolutely flawless. Extremely quiet and washes very, very well -- I rarely bother to pre-rinse anything, unless something is truly caked on.

Downside: Bosch models are more expensive than comparable-feature models from other manufacturers... and I just noticed that Consumer Reports ranks Bosch on the lower end of their reliability-history scale. But they rank Whirlpool at the top -- so YMMV, obviously.
posted by skyboy at 12:45 PM on December 7, 2005

I'm no longer pro-Bosch: The black rubber doorseal in our Bosch dishwasher is dissolving. The dishwasher was pretty good for 5 years, but dissolving rubber seals? And where is the dissolved portion going? I hope it's not coating our dishes. Just in case, we're getting a new one, so I'm interested in recommendations.

We also got Bosch clothes washer and dryer a year ago. What a high-priced disappointment! Noisy, slow, complicated dashboard to select washing/drying sequences that don't make much sense...
posted by mediaddict at 2:25 PM on December 7, 2005

We got the same Whirlpool model several months ago and haven't had any problem like yours. I'm kind of suprised you can even slam the door shut. Our door seems quite heavily dampered...you literally have to ease it shut with a little "click". I mean, we're talking about an easy one-finger push. No need to slam it shut.
posted by Thorzdad at 3:17 PM on December 7, 2005

I've been in love with my KitchenAid one that came with my house. I used to think you had to virtualy wash the dishes before putting them in the dishwasher due to the performance I experienced with other ones. Not so with the KitchenAid...every bit of food is removed, even if you put that three-week old encrusted plate you found in your roommates room in there.

I have had no problem with any components not functioning in it.
posted by jduckles at 3:51 PM on December 7, 2005

Miele.
posted by polyglot at 11:25 PM on December 7, 2005

I've had good experience with a couple of GE dishwashers, including the one I now have. Puts the Whirlpools to shame.
posted by ikkyu2 at 9:15 AM on December 8, 2005

Update: Whirlpool's Customer Relations department called me back today. They re-engineered the dishwasher within the past year to add the Sani-Wash feature. They didn't discover until recently that one of the electronic components was now vulnerable to overheating. If you did not run the hot water for a short period before starting any cycle, the unit would attempt to bring the water to temperature, eventually cooking out the component.

Our first repair was before they discovered the problem, and we had the same flawed version of the component installed. But the repair we had this week used a revised component that should not fail. They did assure us that if the dishwasher failed again, that we would get a new machine. But I think we'll be fine.

Oh, and apparently we can close the dishwasher door any damn way we please.

Thanks for all the advice.
posted by maudlin at 11:38 AM on December 9, 2005