All those bells and whistles are off key!
Written: Feb 17 '04 (Updated Oct 12 '04)
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Pros: It's quieter than our last one, but that's not saying much.
Cons: Third rack useless. Can't fit many dishes, can't clean them well either.
The Bottom Line: If you really want to spend your money on a good dishwasher, get a Miele.
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| mothra3's Full Review: Maytag MDB8600AW Jetclean II 24 in. Built-in Dishw... |
This is a "tall-tub" dishwasher, meaning that the interior goes from a few inches above the floor up to the underside of the counter. Maytag makes two main variations of this dishwasher: one with two racks, allowing for tall items, and one with three racks, which sounded like such a novel idea that I jumped right in with both feet and bought it. Every day since it arrived, I have been wishing I'd bought the other one.
When we finished installing it I was so excited, I was like a little kid with a new toy. We were finally getting rid of our old, noisy dishwasher that only washed the dishes if we washed them first! And since our kitchen and family room are all one big room, we were hoping to be able to actually watch TV while the dishwasher was running--without having to turn up the volume so high that the floor rumbles.
This model has an "auto clean" cycle in addition to the usual rinse only, light, normal and heavy wash cycles (though it's unclear how it "senses" the "soil level of each load"). On top of these cycles, there are options like "tough scrub", extra rinse and "sanitize," which, I am told, heats the water if the incoming water temperature is not hot enough. You can also delay the start from 1 to 9 hours.
Inside, the three racks are arranged as follows: the bottom rack is a flat rack, with the middle rack a few inches above it. Both the middle rack and top rack slant in opposite directions, to give you more "versatility" in loading. The middle rack can adjust up or down to give you more space on the bottom rack if necessary. I couldn't wait to see how much stuff I could fit in, and not have to wash it all beforehand.
Eight months, six brands of detergent, and three service calls later, I can honestly say that I have been crushingly disappointed on all fronts. The problems:
1) Just forget the bottom rack. With the middle rack on its lowest setting, I couldn't even fit a COOKIE SHEET down there without the wash arm hitting it. With the middle rack at its top setting (there are only 2 settings), my dinner plates won't fit. As John Stossel would say, "Give me a break!"
2) Because the two main racks are tilted, dinner plates (and anything else remotely tall) will only fit on one side of the middle rack, so you can't wash more than 4 dinner plates and a tall bowl or pan at the same time. It's one or the other. The same problem shows up on the top rack with the glasses, but that requires its own item:
3) If you put more than 2 or 3 glasses in the top rack (specifically, in the corners), plan on scrubbing the food out of them by hand when the dishwasher is done. If you were ever wondering where all the food goes when the dishwasher washes your dishes, now we know. It's in anything unlucky enough to be stuck in the four corners of the top rack.
4) Don't even think about nesting anything. No bowls stacked one behind the other, even if there is space between. Unless every single item has lots of room around it, it won't get clean.
5) If, like me, you have to run your water for quite a while before it gets hot, you are destined to have problems with this dishwasher on several levels:
a) wasting water while running it until it gets hot before you start the dishwasher;
b) if you don't do this, the water won't be hot enough to break down the soap correctly;
c) using up extra energy using the sanitize cycle. You will not have much choice but to use the sanitize cycle, because the dishwasher fills several times during the wash, with enough time between them that the water tends to cool off. See b.
To be fair, I cannot guarantee that this would not be an issue with other dishwashers.
Conclusion: I have ended up being able to fit less in this dishwasher than in a standard dishwasher, and I still never know from one time to the next whether my dishes will come out clean or not. The Maytag repairman that was here the last time told me my glasses must be too tall. I don't think I've seen a more average glass. I don't think that repairman has seen a dirtier look. Then again, if Maytag is having as many problems with this model as I might gather from the other complaints on this site, maybe he has. I guess I should just be happy that at least we can hear the TV a little better.
Update: After a fourth service call and a few more hours on the phone with Maytag, I finally convinced them that while the repairmen may have found nothing wrong, I'm still having to wash dishes by hand. They had me speak to a special department of theirs that works specifically with Home Depot customers (that's where I bought the machine) and they are actually going to refund my money!!! I guess lots and lots (and lots and lots) of persistence has finally paid off. I can understand that they would not want to be replacing units left and right just because the owners claimed to have a problem, but especially given that we bought all Maytag appliances for our new house, it makes sense for them to do their best to keep a customer, and they have done so. (If they had refunded me the current purchase price I might have bought another Maytag dishwasher, but the price has gone up, so I think I'm going to buy a Miele. For the amount I'll have to pay, I want a really good dishwasher. But should I ever need new appliances again, I am more likely to stick with Maytag for the others--see my positive reviews of Maytag's wide-by-side MZD2766, their Gemini range MGR6772 and their Over the Range Microwave. Though I'm beginning to have some doubts...see my review of their Neptune Washing Machine.)
For more on choosing the dishwasher that's right for you, see How to choose a Dishwasher--Is Miele right for you?
Or to see my review of the Miele dishwasher that replaced my Maytag, see How to choose a Miele Dishwasher
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 600
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Epinions.com ID:
mothra3
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Location: oblivion, awaiting a heroic rescue
Reviews written: 48
Trusted by: 27 members
About Me:
Loss of mind now complete. I am, however, feeling much better...
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