Dish Drawers are nice, but repair-prone
Written: Jul 20 '07 (Updated Jun 21 '09)
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Pros: Convenient 2-drawer system. Drawers slide easily. Quiet. Better results than any of my previous dishwashers.
Cons: Repair-prone
The Bottom Line: If I were shopping for a dishwasher again, I would not make the same choice.
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| cgkel's Full Review: Fisher and Paykel DD-603SS 23 in. Built-in Dishwas... |
June 2009 Update
Although the Dish Drawers clean effectively, are convenient and nice to use, we would definitely not buy them again because of the frequency of repairs.
The extended service conract was well worth the money. The main card has been replaced in both drawers multiple times, and other components have been replaced as well.
I do enjoy using them and hope that they hold up for awhile. But now that we have passed the 5-year mark and the extended conract has run out, we plan to replace the Dish Drawers the next time they fail.
Why I chose Fisher & Paykel Dish Drawers
Until I walked into the appliance store to choose kitchen appliances for our new home three years ago, I had not heard of Fisher & Paykel. But it was the first dishwasher that the sales rep showed to me, and I was impressed. With traditional dishwashers, it is often difficult to move the racks in and out. The drawers have a good solid feel and are easy to slide.
The sales rep claimed that most of their repairmen have Fisher & Paykel Dish Drawers in their homes because they are less problematic and get superior results. Hmmm . . . these things are twice the price of a quality traditional dishwasher. Does that translate to twice the commission ?
Another factor that I consider when purchasing household equipment is efficiency ratings.
What Energy Guide Rating do these Dish Drawers have?
The Fisher & Paykel Dish Drawers earned the Energy Star symbol for efficiency. On a scale of 222 to 653 kwh usage per year, the Dish Drawers received a rating of 323 kwh/year.
Can both Dish Drawers be run at the same time
Yes. Each Dish Drawer has its own control panel and runs independently of the other. You are buying two dishwashers. You can run both of them at the same time, run just one, or get one of them started and then run the second one any time you want.
Our Dish Drawers get a lot of use. We enjoy cooking and eat at home most of the time. So both Dish Drawers are usually in some stage of use. When I get up in the morning, at least one of them will be sitting full of clean dishes. If the other one is empty or only partially full, we add the breakfast dishes and run a rinse or wash cycle as needed, then empty the other one.
There are times when they are both full and a few dishes sit by the sink until I get time to empty the Dish Drawers. But with the two-drawer system, it does not happen very often. For me, that is the biggest advantage of having two Dish Drawers.
The other advantage is that, when you are cooking a big meal and have a lot of dishes to clean up at the same time, you can load pieces requiring a longer cycle together in one Dish Drawer and wash pieces requiring a shorter cycle in the other one.
How to operate the Dish Drawers
1. Remove food scraps and load the dishes.
2. Add detergent and rinse aid.
3. Press the Power Button.
4. Select your wash program. The Dish Drawer will remember the last cycle you used. If you want to use a different setting, press the Program button to cycle through and select the desired wash setting. The read-out will display the number of minutes required to complete each different wash setting as you cycle through.
5. Press the ECO Button if you want the wash program to use less energy and time. The red ECO light will indicate that the feature is on. You will notice that the minutes required to complete the cycle decrease when you press the ECO button.
6. Check to make sure that nothing is placed in a way that will prevent the spray arm from rotating freely or the lid from sealing. (See Loading Errors below)
7. Close the Dish Drawer and press the Start / Pause button to initiate the wash program.
Rinse Agent Reservoir
The rinse agent reservoir is located just under the detergent dispenser. When the reservoir is empty, a red LED shines through the screw-on plug. Turn the plug counter-clockwise to remove it, fill the reservoir with liquid rinse agent, and replace the plug.
Lock Button
There is a lock button on the front of each dish drawer. Press and hold to disable all the other buttons. Press and hold again to deactivate. We have not used this feature.
Delayed Start
The start of the wash cycle can be delayed from one to twelve hours by pressing and holding the Start/Pause button until the desired delay time is reached. We have not used that feature either.
Fill Her Up!
So, you get two Dish Drawers at twice the price of one fairly high-end dishwasher. I guess that makes sense, kind of. But if you are expecting to get twice as many dishes inside, you will be disappointed. They do not hold quite as much as two traditional dishwashers.
At first, it seemed like it took both drawers to hold what I used to get inside the extra-capacity Whirlpool model in my last kitchen. Gradually, I learned to load it more effectively. I would now estimate that one drawer holds approximately 70% of what I got into the Whirlpool.
The User Guide is clearly-written and has a helpful section with pictures showing how to load and how not to load your Dish Drawers.
Instead of having a full upper rack, each dish drawer has four individual shelves, two each along the right and left walls. The shelves on the left side of the drawer are wider than the ones on the right. Laying both shelves down on either or both sides creates a long shelf (shelves) going from the front to the back of the dish drawer. As you get used to the layout, you learn how to use it to get the most clean, dry dishes out.
As with all dishwashers, you need to load dishes in a way that will allow the soap and water to effectively reach all surfaces. It is a bit more of a challenge in the Dish Drawers, because there is less space between the bottom rack and the shelves.
One advantage that I appreciate with them is that, using other pieces you are putting into the rack below, you can prop the shelves at whatever angle works best to accommodate odd pieces. For example, if you have a piece that tends to hold water, you can prop it on the shelf at an appropriate angle and have one less puddle to deal with when you unload the Dish Drawers.
How much noise does it make?
Not bad at all! We have an open floor plan. Our kitchen, dining area and living room are all actually one big L-Shaped room, with the Dish Drawers located just a few feet from the living room.
When the washer and / or dryer are running in the mud room which is adjacent to the kitchen on the opposite side, we have to turn up the TV. When the Dish Drawers are running, we can usually hear without turning up the volume.
Pitfalls to Avoid:
~~ Too Much Detergent
I learned the hard way to be super careful with the dishwasher detergent. It is easy to use too much, especially if you have soft water. Excess detergent is hard on your glasses and dishes. It can also cause water and suds to overflow. That is bad news!
First of all, there is the obvious reason. What is located on the level below your dishwasher? For us, it is a painted concrete floor on the utility end of our basement. So that is pretty easy to deal with.
But, once the overflow soaks the sensor located under the Dish Drawers, it will beep and flash an error code relentlessly! until you come and deal with it. And here I thought that middle-of-the-night sleep interruptions were over after the kids grew up.
The first time it happened, I opened the drawer and closed it again. It stopped beeping and flashing, so I went back to bed. About the time I fell back to sleep, it started beeping again. So I opened the drawer and left it that way. Back to sleep. More beeping!!! Finally, I went out to the garage and turned off the breaker. That did it. Lesson learned.
We soften our water and have found that literally one drop of detergent each in the pre-wash cup and the main wash cup is the ideal amount. If we use any more than that, suds remain in the bottom of the tub after the cycle is complete. Any time there are suds in the dish drawer, whether you open it mid-cycle or after the cycle is complete, you are using too much detergent.
~~ Loading Errors
Ensure that there are no handles, etc, protruding below the bottom rack. That will prevent the spray arm from going around, and you dishes will not get clean.
Ensure that no items extend above the top ledge of the dish drawer. When you close the drawer and press the start button, a lid drops down to seal the drawer. If an item is extending above the ledge where the lid sits, it will prevent the unit from sealing and the water will overflow.
So what fits, and what does not?
My dinner plates are 10.25 inches across, and they just make it, standing up on the right side of the rack only.
Larger pieces can be put in on a slant. Most of my pots and pans fit. I often put them in because they come out all shined up. Sometimes there is a little food residue to clean off, such as starchy residue from potatoes or pasta.
Most of the mixing bowls will fit in, too. But sometimes it makes more sense to hand wash the bigger pieces in order to get more of the regular stuff in there.
Our Experience with the Dish Drawers
Overall, I enjoy using the Dish Drawers because of the convenience of the two-drawer system and the ease of moving the drawers in an out. The cleaning results are also a nice improvement over what I got with the traditional style dishwashers I used in the past -- Kenmore, Kitchen Aid, Maytag and Whirlpool.
On the other side of the coin, they are more problematic and repair-prone than my previous dishwashers.
To be fair, the first service call for our Dish Drawers was the result of user error. We were using too much detergent, which caused an overflow, flooded the sensor, and made a puddle in the basement. The technician emphasized using minimal detergent and ensured that the sensor was still functioning after it had an opportunity to dry out. No repair was required and no expense incurred since the Dish Drawers had only been in use for a couple of months.
About a year later, we had a more serious issue. The lower drawer quit working and flashed a different service code. The technician did not have previous experience with the issue our dish drawer was displaying. He was unsure what was causing the problem, so he was back and forth a couple of times and spent several hours troubleshooting to determine the source of the problem.
A small foreign object apparently got into the mechanism and damaged several mechanical parts plus the main board. The technician said that this sort of problem is very rare, but something as small as a shred of glass could possibly create that type of damage and then be washed away. It would take a few weeks for the parts to come in.
At that point, we were concerned that we were going to have a giant repair bill. But we were fortunate. I dug out the owners guide and discovered that we were within the 2-year warranty period. We were fully covered.
When the technician returned several weeks later to repair the dish drawer, I asked him what the repair would have cost. He responded that we would not have been charged for the time he spent trouble-shooting because he was inexperienced with our particular problem. But all the major parts in the dish drawer were replaced and the repair bill would have been roughly $400.
We have had another episode recently with middle-of-the-night beeping, which may have been due to a storm.
Buy the Extended Service Contract
Since our factory warranty had not yet expired, we were eligible for a 3-year extension to our 2-year factory warranty for $253. We bought it.
If you do not buy the contract on new appliances, you will most likely have a larger pay-out in the form of repair bills. It is annoying, but it seems like most manufacturers have purposely shortened the lifespan and dependability of their appliances.
That being the case, it probably makes sense to figure the price of the service contract into the cost of a major appliance before comparing prices and making your final decision.
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 1200
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Epinions.com ID:
cgkel
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Location: Pennsylvania
Reviews written: 15
Trusted by: 6 members
About Me:
Retired early and loving it! I enjoy the grandchildren, graphics, and tending the flowerbeds.
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