Compact dishwashers

Hi all,

Just wondering if anyone has had a good / bad experience with those smaller compact design dishwashers?

I've heard they tend to break down more than the conventional full size ones. Any truth to this?

I can't fit a full size one into my IP so I'm looking at putting one of these in eventually.

Thanks for your advice :)

Regards,
M&M
 
We stayed in an apartment once that had one of those half drawer dishwashers (Fisher & Paykel?). It was great, because it was a drawer we just stacked everything in and off it went.

Depents on your IP and what sort of tenant you attract. Probably not so good for a family, but perfect for one or two people.
Marg
 
I've mentioned before that the F&P drawers are brilliant. We've just got the one - some people install two of them.

Over the years I've had full size dishwashers that might take a day or two to fill and then nobody wants to empty them. (Yes, I know you can run them half full but people feel compelled to fill them.)

The dishdrawer is quick to empty and easy because it's waist high.

We put ours on after breakfast and after dinner.

So it has run twice a day without a problem for I guess about 4 years now.

(Of course, having written that it will probably break tomorrow.)
 
Thanks marg & depreciator.

(Am touching wood for you now, depreciator!)

A friend who has one at work said they were no good, but I guess that may have been on high rotation in a work kitchen.

(It's for a 1BR fully furnished).

Thanks again for the feedback, I will look into F&P when the time comes :)

Regards,
M&M
 
We have the twin draw fisher & paykel.

Our last PPOR had one installed already and a few years back when we moved into our new place we installed the same one.

So about 6-7 years of usage across 2 machines never missed a beat.
 
Oh, I'm anal about rinsing before putting them in!

Yuk, all that gunk washing around in there & then sitting, festering til next wash where it's all regurgitated by the system again...I know, I have control issues ;)
 
Hi Mary and Matt

My personal opinion with the F&P drawer dishwasher is that they are Ok for a PPOR but I would never put one in an IP. Yes they are great being waist high etc but they do not roll with the punches as does a floor standing model. For instance, you can open up a floor model during a cycle then shut the door and it continues no worries. The FP drawer has a seal somewhat like an inner tube of a push bike that inflates when the thing is turned on. You cannot just pull it open to put in a forgotten item (like most of us do). You have to press a button to deflate, wait several seconds, open drawer and do your thing, then close drawer and press start again. Some people try to force the drawer with the result that it stuffs up.:)
 
Another option could be the benchtop dishwashers.
Look slightly smaller I think than the draw types.
Not sure how good they are but they were on sale at HNorman the other week.

Not a fan of dishwashers in IP's due to the damage they can cause, leaks, even steam
damage to the kitchen cupboards, and then the accidental spillage onto the timber floor
from unloading the dishwasher.

Some might be covered under insurance but its still a hassle to have to have it fixed.
 
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My mum (she lives in the UK) has a compact dishwasher. It is not as wide as the usual ones and is perfect for one or perhaps two people as you don't have to wait so long to fill it up before doing a run. She has had it for several years and seems pretty happy with it. She has a small kitchen, so it fits in perfectly.

If you need any more info, I could find out what brand and size it is.
 
I had a F and P dishdrawer which worked well at home for a couple of years then stopped draining properly. The machine was located about 2.5m from the S-bend under the sink and apparently there are little movable thingys inside each drainage tube which apparently finally stopped it draining properly because it was allegedly 'too far from the drainage outlet" despite the fact the machine had worked well for 2 years before this point.

F and P came around twice and then refused to fix it because they tested it and it drained ok into a bucket placed right next to the machine. So I moved it to my Melbourne IP where it is located right next to the sink and I now have a cheap machine at home now. F and Ps attitude is cr@p but, so long as they are located next to the outlet, their dishdrawers are ok.

Also, the technician told me never to use those "one a month" dishwasher cleaners on a dishdraw machine as it stuffs them...for some reason, they arent supposed to clog up !!!!
 
Thanks john, neK, marg, nww, Trax & Savanna :)

Very good feedback.

I will investigate further & consider in light of what everyones' had to say.

I wonder if it's considered a necessity these days by renters (of my 1BR)? I know for a family it may be a must-have, but is it so for 1bedders?

:)
 
I would like to jump in here and suggest that scraping is adequate if you have a good dishwasher.

Why buy a European brand, top quality dishwasher that saves water..... only to waste water by rinsing each plate you put in there?

Every little bit helps. I have had three Asko dishwashers, love them, rarely have an issue, and I only scrape my dishes. I am a bit anal about wasting water, especially when it is unnecessary.

We have a family of five, so d/w goes on every day, and I do fill it up. Someone said recently (seeing how much I pack into the dishwasher, including large bowls sitting on top of the cups in the top rack) that their dishwasher would not cope with this much packed into it, and would not clean everything.

The problem is that one day when we are just two people, we would probably move to a drawer set up. My parents used to take two days or more to fill their dishwasher, and it soon starts to stink.
 
We have a F & P draw at work which is fab. I have also seen some skinny tall models that seem to be okay, but $$$.

The only issue i have seen with the double F & P draws as there used to be a design problem around 6-7 years ago where when the drainage hose leaked it was positioned above the motor and shorted out the motor... we had about 4 in rental properties under our management that this happened too... cost around 500 for a new motor plus labour.. so wasn't a cheap repair.

not sure if they have fixed this issue now or not.
 
Thanks Roosterman!

It's just one of those 'sit on then bench' ones?

Much appreciated :)

Yes - it just sits on the benchtop, you have to buy an adaptor for around $80 that connects to the kitchen tap....For a one bedder this would be perfect and very attractive to a renter
 
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