How does a dishwasher know how much water is in it?

[Tim Lamb]

I'm sure they would fine on a *glass only* setting. Leaded glasses are worse. I am banned from putting even cheap tumblers in ours!

Have you lived at St. Albans?

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[JohnP]

We use 3 in 1 tablets - the Salt and Rinse Aid settings / warnings are turned off in the settings. Siemens. Had it for about 8 years. No faf - wash the filter about once a week.

[Fred]

Mine have been very reliable.

No faffing about when you put the dirty stuff in the dishwasher after each meal and run it when its full.

I use the rectangular blocks of detergent. You don't even have to take the plastic off the best of them, its soluble.

Never bother with that.

Never need that.

Not for those not in hard water areas.

Only the f***ed detergents do that.

[Fred]

That's bullshit, the best detergent doesn't do that.

[Fred]

Wish the bugger would tear down them all so we could decide which one to buy.

[Fred]

Interesting the big differences between north american and european dishwashers. I have never seen a dishwasher with a prewash detergent dispenser and I have been using dishwashers since the very early 70s and we don?t connect our dishwashers to the hot water supply.

The reason we don?t do that is because the initial prewash works better with cold water because it doesn?t bake some stuff on to the plates in the first pre wash. And dishwashers use so little hot water and need to heat the water to much more than the normal hot water supply anyway.

I have only watched his rant about detergent packs so far and he is just plain wrong about them. I have never had any problem with a perfect result every time and have only ever used detergent with the big rectangular things of detergent.

[NY]

For the UK market, are *any* dishwashers and (clothes) washing machines still sold which connect to a both cold and hot water supply, as opposed to just connecting to cold water and heating it as required? At a guess, I'd say washing machines have been cold-water-only for the last 30 years. Not sure about dishwashers.

[Fred]

Nothing special required, just use the best detergents which don't even cost anymore.

[Fred]

They are in fact fine with the best detergent.

Then you need to use a better detergent.

[alan_m]

It would be of no use unless the tear-down was of a brand new machine still on sale. It's much like people recommending a brand that they purchased 20 years ago and because it has lasted that long (possibly only for them) then this is the one to go for. They tend to forget that during this period the brand has been sold on few times and the design changed 10 times.

When looking for a new machine it may be more sensible to see who actually owns the brands and to see if the many different brands are manufactured in the same factories. Also take a good look at the facilities you use on your current machine. Is it worth paying a couple of hundred quid more for a machine with tens of extra wizzy-wizz gimmicky features that you would never use?

[Fred]

I don?t do it anything like that often and I don?t do anything to the stuff that goes in the dishwasher except know chop bones off into the bin first.

[Andy Burns]

I don't have a dishwasher, and have only ever loaded my parents one a couple of times, I thought UK ones did have a pre-wash compartment (little spring-loaded cover)

I seemed to make sense that it'd do a first wash with one load of water+detergent, get the main filth off, then drain it and do the same with fresh water and detergent, rather than just spray dilutde pasta sauce all over the other contents ... the internals put me off using one TBH.

[charles]

We've been married for nearly 58 years. One of the first things my new bride wanted was a dishwashwer. We've had a number over the years. I've never seen a prewash detergent compartment. Our current one has a compartment for theb detergent which it releases partway into the cycle, so the prewash is with plain water.

[Fred]

That?s what I meant he should do.

But plenty have cheap and nasty brands and better ones coming out of the same factory.

With modern designs, a clive points out, the extra stuff doesn?t always cost any more.

And someone may suggest a better way of cooking rice, in a microwave instead of in a pan on the stove and if you don?t have a decent digital microwave you wont be able to use it to do rice better.

[Fred]

The Bosches don?t anymore and havent for quite a while now.

Yes, that?s why they did at one time have a separate pre wash detergent dispenser. Turns out it works fine without one doing the first prewash with no detergent.

The ones without a separate pre wash detergent dispenser don?t do that, they still have a pre wash, but with no detergent.

More fool you. They get what you put in them much cleaner than you will ever do by hand. Absolutely gleaming, something you will never manage by hand.

Much less effort and less water and electricity too.

[Andy Burns]

I wouldn't know the difference between pre-wash compartments, main "pod" compartment, rinse-aid compartment

I do notice that my glassware is always way cleaner than everybody who uses a dishwasher. Truth is I've never had room for one, but I'm sure I'll buy one once I move ...

[Harry Bloomfield, Esq.]

It's usually a very sensitive diaphragm switch. A flexible pipe leads up to the switch, from the lowest part where the water goes, which works on air pressure. The tiny amount of pressure operates a rubber diaphragm, which then operates a pair of contacts. If you blow gently in the bottom end of the pipe, you should hear the switch click.

What happens is the pipe gets choked with food debris, so no longer senses the rising water level.

[Fred]

You clearly don?t know anyone with a proper dishwasher who uses the best detergent.

[Dave Liquorice]

SWMBO had a town house there. Easy life, short walk to a large supermarket and into the town center. Switched 20+ years ago to slighly more challenging life at 1400' on the North Pennines and an hours walk to the nearest small rural town/supermarket.

Lying snow for the last three days, only 5 hours above freezing today. Not quite had a ice day this winter, the 28th was close though.

[Graham.]

+1 I've been using half a cheap Lidl tablet for a while (very soft water here) Now I sometimes chuck the other half into the tub to improve the pre-wash.