dishwashers
Fisher Paykel Dish Drawer: A Review
Because the repairman will be here this afternoon, and not, as I was told yesterday, this morning; I find myself with a little time to burn in which I’d like to write about my experience with the dishwasher that warranted the aforementioned repair call: The Fisher Paykel Double Dish Drawer.
We bought it in 2004, in the midst of our whole house renovation, for our newly constructed kitchen. We chose it because it was not only innovative and beautiful, but liked the idea of being able to run two loads of dishes simultaneously. We entertain a lot, and because of our renovation project, we had been without a dishwasher for long enough that two loads at once sounded like heaven. At the outset, we loved it. It looks great in our kitchen and is nearly quiet as a mouse. For a three year stretch, we would have had only positive things to say about it. Then came 2007, and our troubles began. Sadly enough, by this time our two-year service warranty had expired.
The plastic brackets holding up the top drawer broke, causing the drawer to stick and rendered the top unit unuseable. We had them replaced. Within a month, they broke again. We had them replaced again. But this time, the weight of the top drawer on the bottom had caused some leakage, and the resulting water spill resulted in the frying of the sensor and control panel underneath both units. We had it replaced. The following year, the motor on the top unit broke. We had it replaced.
This time, this year, today, the plastic brackets have broken again. In fact, they broke two weeks ago, and though I called for the repairman immediately, the parts have been agonizingly slow to arrive. I understand the brackets are now made of metal, which, fingers crossed, will offset this pesky problem from happening in the future. But in the meantime, we have invested at least twice the purchase price of the Dish Drawer in its repair, and I find myself fantasizing about an alternate reality in which we just chose another make of dishwasher back in 2004.
In my experience, in this case, sometimes expensive is expensive, too.
09/24: edited to add: According to the serviceman last night, the brackets (though he called them “actuators”) are not now being made from metal. We get the same plastic ones. Again. And we were his second F-P Dish Drawer repair of the day. That might not be a big whoop in, say, Chicago, but we are very much downstate. According to him there are only about 25 Dish Drawer owners in his service area. Doesn’t bode well.
02/16/10, edited to add: a few weeks ago, the actuators broke again. Yep, the same ones that we had replaced in September. Guess how long the warranty on the new parts lasted? 90 days. How long did it take for them to break on us? Just over 90 days.
07/30/10, edited to add: The last straw: last week, the actuators broke again. Rather than call our repairman, we went dishwasher shopping, and adopted a brand new Whirlpool Tall Tub. No bells or whistles, just a good, inexpensive, well rated dishwasher. Our journey with Fisher Paykel is over. Well, almost. It’s currently sitting all alone in our garage, and we’re thinking about creative ways of getting rid of it and venting our frustrations at the same time. Target practice, maybe? See if it’ll catch on fire? Any suggestions?
Dishwashing, phosphate-free
Starting next year, Washington state is placing a ban on all dishwashing detergents that contain more than 1/2% phosphate. This legislation is being enacted due to the seepage of the phosphate into lakes and groundwater, which feeds algae and as a result, diminishes the supply of oxygen for fish. Other states, including Maryland, are considering similar legislation.
Those of you that have dishwashers have probably settled into a comfortable routine with the detergent of your choice, but if that comfortable routine involves a detergent that contains phosphates, I’m afraid a change is due. The market is already littered with a handful of phosphate-free detergents, and as I’ve tried many of them over the course of the last year or two (with a little nudge from my very eco-wise mom), I offer my experiences and my favorite pick from among them.
For comparison’s sake, it’s probably helpful to mention that all of the following detergents were tried with a Fisher-Paykel Dish Drawer:
- Ecover dishwashing tablets. Here is where I began, and was happily surprised by the cleaning power and efficiency of these little tabs. Dishes were consistently sparkling, without residue, and depending on the length of the dishwashing cycle, I could often get TWO uses from one tablet. Awesome!
- Seventh Generation dishwashing powder. Picked up one day when the local shop where I buy Ecover was out of stock. Since I already use many products in the Seventh Generation line, I was happy to give it a shot. As it turns out, though, this was the worst of the bunch. Glasses almost always ended up gritty with residue, and left a thin layer of residue on the Little One’s sippy cups. Ick. I was better off washing these things by hand, which was kind of contrary to the point.
- Seventh Generation dishwashing tablets. As soon as these also came on the market, I was willing to try. I didn’t want to give up on using 7thGen dishwashing products. Again, I experienced similar negative results as with the powder. Ick.
- BioKleen dishwashing powder. Better than 7thGen, but also left a thin residue on the Little One’s sippys. Deal breaker.
- And most recently, Method’s new dishwashing tablets. They do a good job of getting the dishes clean, once in a while leaving the thin residue on the Little One’s sippys, but I just have to remember to check them all before using. I would generally recommend them, but the thing is, the tablets themselves are HUGE! Just to fit the tablet in my dishwasher’s compartment, I have to break it in half. Seriously, Method, did you do research here?
And the winner, by a country mile, is Ecover Automatic Dishwashing Tablets
