The dishwasher arrived without any dents or damage at all.
It was very quick and easy to install - ingeniously, both the inlet and outlet hoses attach to the kitchen tap (with a quick-fit adapter) to avoid any problem with the outlet hose snaking when the machine drains - the tap holds the outlet steady. The hose assembly unfastens from the tap instantly with the press of a button and the slip of a ring. As is usual with appliances nowadays, the hoses and electric flex are all short - you'll have to place the dishwasher next to the sink (or find some way of attaching hose extensions).
The dishwasher appears to be and feels well constructed. The interior gleams with stainless steel. The machine is not silent by any means, but is considerably quieter than many full-size floor-units and quite tolerable. I would not use it while anyone is sleeping, but otherwise it has not been a problem in this small apartment.
It comes with five programs - P1 an intense wash, P2 a normal wash, P3 a short wash, P4 a frugal wash (no heater), and P5 a rinse cycle. I've used all of them, but mostly the short wash (about 70 minutes). The unit beeps to inform you that it has finished and the display stops flashing - while the program is still running the display flashes (even when there are no sounds) so that you know that the program is unfinished.
There is a heater incorporated but no drying cycle - the plates come out warm so I usually stack them in my dish-drying rack like I used to for my hand-washed items. But cleverly, the door is designed to open to a wide crack (there is gentle stop at this point in the door travel) to allow the dishes to dry in the machine if necessary. There is a rinse-agent dispenser which I haven't used yet.
Why only four stars? As has already been commented, the basket is its weak-point. The basket needs to be a little sturdier. Sometimes it twists slightly as it is inserted and the wheels pop off. Fortunately, they simply clip back on, but it is a nuisance.
At a push it will hold plates up to 10.75 inches in diameter (I lean them) - if your plates are bigger than this they will probably not fit.
Don't forget to leave room for the door to open if you are pushed for space in your kitchen area.
Review after two months of everyday use. I'll update if anything changes.
Positives:
- This unit is really stingy with water
- The dishes come out very clean.
Negatives:
- Made in China. You just can't escape it, anymore.
- The pipe fittings on this are hard plastic.
- Unit is large, noisy, and very slow. A typical wash takes roughly two hours.
- The shipping was abysmal. Item arrived dented, with a hole in the side of the box.
- Even with the gaskets installed according to the manual, there is a slight leak where the pipes interface with the sink.
Overall:
The negatives not surprising, and the quality of the overall wash has been excellent. It will take up a lot of countertop space, but that can't be helped. If you're single, it's a worthy investment. I am deducting a star because of the shipping. I don't know how much flexibility Air & Water Inc. has in their shippers, but it would be good to offer a warning about their present shipper, and use better padding on their packages.
Slight oversight when signing the lease on our apartment... no dishwasher... ooops.
We've had this dishwasher a little over a week. It has been life changing. The dishes get done every night and the counters near the sink are finally uncluttered. I actually think I like it better and use it more efficiently than standard-sizes dishwashers you find plumbed in most kitchens.
Pros: It's pretty straight-forward to install. My husband didn't read the directions and knew what to do. Each night after dinner I fill it with all the dishes and baby bottles from the day and it's done before I need to start getting ready for bed (even on P1 - the longest wash selection). Everything comes out clean. It beeps at the end to let me know it's done, so I can turn off the water (we don't have it plumbed permanently). I can fit a lot inside (8-10 bottles/glasses, a couple bowls, all the silverware, a plate or two).
Cons: I don't know if this is a con or not, but holy moly the water really shoots around in there. If you have something light/plastic in there, make sure it's wedged well or covered on top by something heavy to avoid it becoming a ping pong during the cycle.
Recommendations: A plastic chip clip may help the utensils stay on the top, narrow, fold-down shelf and not fall through. The washer uses a quick connect system. If you don't plan on plumbing it permanently, I'd get a quick connect sink spout and switch the two out whenever you need one or the other.
We had a Danby portable (rolling) dishwasher for 5 years. We liked the job it did, but it was a pain to roll around the kitchen, and when it needed repair after 5 years, we couldn't find anyone in the area who serviced Danby products. After 2 years of hand washing, we recently bought a used Danby countertop dishwasher - which was a life saver until it died two weeks later. So when we finally decided to buy a new Danby countertop model, we went in knowing that 1) these things don't last forever and 2) there is no one in our area who will service them when they fail. We purchased a 4-year service warranty (through a third party) so that when it does fail, there will be some support.
All that said, we have so far been happy with this new one. The wash cycles are long, but we have been using the rapid cycle (70 minutes) for everything, and the dishes have come out clean.
The manual gives a hilariously long list of things that you can supposedly fit in the dishwasher in a single load. Realistically, for my family of 3, we can fit one meal's worth of dishes plus a few extras in each load (excluding pans, which we hand wash separately). You will need to measure your space before buying, but for us, it takes up about the same amount of counter space as the dish rack, which we now put on top of the dishwasher, so we don't really have any less counter space than we had before.
With all of the Danby dishwasher models we have now been through, rinse aid is essential. With traditional set-in dishwashers, rinse aid may be optional, but with the portable ones, the dishes just don't come out clean without plenty of rise aid. It's not that expensive, and if you forget to fill up the pan, you'll see right away that it's not cleaning as well.
Finally, the dishwasher is packaged by Danby in a way that I'm sure is fine for sitting on the shelf of a store - but then I don't know of any stores that sell these off the shelf. The packaging is really not padded enough for this kind of retail shipping. The first one shipped was badly dented, and the replacement was also (less severely) dented. We kept the second one with a price adjustment from the seller, and it's not so bad. I hope that the packaging folks at Danby will consider this; otherwise, the vendors could add some extra padding and save themselves some damage returns.
All in all, we are happy with our purchase, and would recommend it - especially with the assurance of the extended warranty. Check to see if there is anyone who will service Danby products in your area before you buy.
I bought this for work to avoid accidental showers from cleaning laboratory glassware. It was actually hooked up to the deionized water line (after borrowing a connector from another sink to use the manufacturer's spout adapter). This unit also comes in handy when you need a few rinses on a sinkful of dishes. Be warned, however; capacity-wise, Erlenmeyer flasks should not have more than 1 L, beakers not more than 4.5 L.
Feature Product
- Can wash up to 4 standard place settings
- Energy star rated
- Quick connect to any kitchen tap
- 5 wash cycles: pre-wash, economy, rapid, normal, intensive
- Intensive wash cycle increases water temperature to 156.2(degree)F (69(degree)C)
Description
Danby DDW497W 23" Countertop Dishwasher - White
I have the previous version of Danby dishwasher, 496, but I want to comment on how great a machine it has been for me. I bought the DDW496W almost 4 years ago, while living in small apartment, expecting my 4th child. I knew I would never be able to keep up with the hand-washing any more. I have never regretted the decision. After getting used to the size of the machine and getting into the groove of what I could fit into it, I was very satisfied.
The only trouble I have ever had with the machine is that the hoses have loosened a bit over time, and water has leaked under the machine. Once I realized the problem, and tightened the hoses back up, the leaking stopped. There was also a time when I noticed a black scum building up around the heating element, but it turned out to be a by-product of my natural dishwasher detergent and had nothing to do with the machine itself. Another time, the machine sudsed all over the place, but that was because I had tried out a new detergent and added rinse guard all at once. Too much detergent. Now I use the basic store brand gels, about 1T per load, and never have any trouble with over-sudsing.
We have a lot of dirty dishes, and I run my machine at least 3 times a day. When a load is done, I either leave it in the Danby with the door all the way open to air dry, or unload it into a dish-drying rack and put in the next load (depending on how quickly I need to wash the next dishes). It's worth it to me to run it 3 times a day, and only wash pots, pans, and other big items at the end of the day ... as opposed to washing every thing by hand every day.
I also love the water-heating element. It gets the water super-hot and cleans/sanitizes my dishes very well.
With very little TLC, and running the machine so often, I am surprised at long it has lasted. I still use it every day, now with six kids in a 3-bedroom apartment.
I love this machine and I recommend it to anyone who is looking for an alternative to hand-washing all those dishes.
After my wife and I separated, I moved into a small apartment which did not have a built-in dishwasher. It was fun washing dishes by hand for a few weeks. Being the ultimate procrastinator, that quality time in the kitchen after every meal became a chore real fast.
I did my research, and despite mixed reviews I decided to order the Danby counter-top model dishwasher. It was light, for me anyway, and it fit my counter perfectly. All the components were accounted for and installation was quick and painless.
The first loads were done on the P1 setting, but I have since set it down to the P2 setting. I like that the controls return me to the P2 setting when I power it up. If you have to open it during a cycle, say to put in the detergent you forgot (cut me some slack, I'm a man), the water stays inside.
I don't rinse my dishes off beforehand, but I don't stick chicken skeletons in there either. Just use some common sense. The stainless steel particulate trap does a great job of catching the wayward corn kernel and similar sized food items. Pop it out and rinse it every-once-in-awhile; It's not rocket science.
It has been running, at least twice a week, perfectly now for over four months. Anything small enough to fall through the basket can be arranged to stay put. A cookie sheet, aluminum pizza pan and a large stock pot are the only dishes I own that are too big. I can deal with it, I just don't make pizza, cookies and huge batches of chili anymore. Just kidding.
I am very happy with my purchase. No Joke.
I live in a small studio apartment and the Danby Countertop Dishwasher is one of the best purchases I've made. I hate doing dishes and was thrilled the day my dishwasher arrived. So far, I've found much to like. First, setup was quick and within a few minutes I was ready to run my first batch of dishes. I use Finish Powerball tabs and I recommend this detergent. I also recommend rinsing the dishes before use and they will come out spotless, even on the P3 Rapid Wash, which takes about an hour. Despite its small size, the dishwasher holds quite a bit, provided you get creative with loading. Even though there is no heating element for drying, just open the door at the end of the cycle and plates and glasses will dry shortly. Plastic and silverware will take a hand drying. There are a couple of flaws: the cycles are long: over 2 hours for a couple of them. The silverware basket is small and flimsy. And there are long pauses during the cycle. A readout with time remaining would be nice. But overall I am pleased with this appliance.
I acquired my Danby dishwasher about a month ago as a replacement for my previous portable dishwasher, an Equator 20" PLS602 model. While I am quite happy with my new machine, there are many things about the old one which I miss. This review will be a compare and contrast of the two models.
My old Equator was a 20 inch cube (20x20x20) which, though still small, provided enough space to put in large plates and frying pans. The interior of the Danby is just as wide and just as deep as the Equator, but it is at least 2 inches SHORTER than the Equator and I now find myself cramming in dishes which used to fit just fine and having to wash many of my frying pans in the sink (which, er, starts to defeat the purpose...).
The Danby has a stainless steel interior. This is a major bonus! My Equator had a plastic interior and though it held out for more than five years of regular use, eventually some of the plastic parts began to crack. I do not see this happening with the Danby.
The Equator has a plastic dial on the front which allows you to set the cycle and to view how far along the cleaning process the machine has gotten at any given moment. The Danby allows you to choose from five different cycles, but it's digital display does not tell you where in any given cycle it is (wash? Rinse? Etc.) Also, the very longest wash cycle on the Equator was approximately 45 minutes; the standard wash cycle on the Danby is nearly 2 hours! It should not take two hours to clean 4 plates, 4 cups, and 4 settings of silverware.
The Danny has a viewing window -- this is kind of fun. The Equator did not.
The silverware caddy in the Danby is much too small, and I have taken the one from my Equator and am using it in the Danby instead. Also, the interior rack of the Danby has such large gaps between its rungs that sometimes items actually fall through. This never happened with my Equator.
The Equator hooked up directly to a hot water source (in my case, from my outlet port on my hot water heater) and its exhaust tube had to be clamped onto a sink in order to drain properly. The Danby does not work this way: it's intake and outflow tubes connect directly to the hot water tap of your faucet through a snap-attachment. Mine did not come with the universal steel nipple attachment for the kitchen faucet, but this was only a minor inconvenience to get at the hardware store.
I acquired the Danby used. Perhaps this explains its final quirk: at the end of its last rinse cycle on any of its five cycles, it does not drain. In order to make a drain I must turn the machine off, turn it back on again, and tell it to begin a new cycle. This will make the machine conduct a preparatory drain of the interior, and all I need do then is make sure it does not actually begin a new cycle. Easy enough, I suppose, but this is one more complication my Equator did not have.
And so I must give the Danby only 4 of 5 potential stars. My biggest complaints are the small interior compared to my last model, and the incredibly long wash times. But it does get dishes clean, yes, that it does. If you are willing to wait long enough, and if you are willing to wash the big things by hand, the Danby will take care of the rest.
Oh, and it is noisy. No debate on that. I could never sleep in a room where this thing was going.
REVIEW UPDATE, 2/22/12:
I still have and use my Danby for almost all of my dishwashing needs, but some additional updates are in order. First, about a month ago I discovered that the viewing window, which is made of acrylic, had started detaching from the door. The window consists of two panels, an interior panel and an exterior one. In order to re-seal the dishwasher, I had to disassemble the door panel, figure out why it was leaking, drill holes through the PVC exterior, and re-mount the acrylic interior window with stainless steel nuts and bolts (one in each corner). This took me four or five hours, and a trip to the hardware store to get the screws. I said before that the viewing window was kind of neat-- apparently it also makes the dishwasher vulnerable to leaks that, while not impossible to fix, are no walk in the park.
Second, about a week ago I thought the machine had broken since it wouldn't drain properly. My repeated attempts to restart a new wash cycle only led to an "E2" error blinking on the display panel. After much futzing around I discovered that the exhaust hose, made of vinyl, had become kinked in the back. I used a steel pin, electrical tape, and a hose clamp to force it to un-kink, and it now appears to drain correctly. Would have been nice if the exhaust hose had been rather more unkinkable.
FURTHER UPDATE: 2/13/2014
A few more thoughts/ experiences:
The swinging arm of the Danby is occasionally snagged by dishes or silverware that happen to poke down through the sliding dishrack. Without the window, I would never be able to tell if this was happening or now. I wish other kinds of dishwashers had such a window, but none seem to! There is no "error" message to tell me that the swing arm is stuck, I just get a load of not-very-clean dishes at the end of the cycle if it snags on something. The window is more than just neat, it's quite practical.
Another thing: the swing arm. Despite the built-in stainless steel filter screen, some particles of food eventually do make their way into the swing arm where centrifugal force sends them out to the tips... Where they become stuck, because the tiny holes at the end are designed for spouting water, not food bits. In order to make the dishwasher function at its best, these holes have needed cleaning out every couple of months. I take a propane torch and blast them clean (the food particles turn to ash, the steel is only slightly discolored, never damaged, and I don't heat up anything other than the tips of the arms because the central ring is plastic and would obviously melt if subjected to a propane torch flame).
Right now I am considering upgrading to an 18" Danby. I have more dishes than this little item can handle. But I am intending to give it to a dear friend as a gift: she has no dishwasher at all, and I think she will be very pleased with this one! I know that *I* have been.
I find most non-paid reviews either come from those who, for their own reasons, choose to identify themselves as reviewers and, as such review many products - or the frustrated populace who feels screwed by the vendor/product that is in their crosshairs. On occasion, maybe you'll get somebody like me...I don't generally review because most purchased items fall within a median of the superb thing the manufacturer and PR agency says they are, and the devil's joke the poor souls who feel gypped and powerless believe them to be.
I'm only inclined to review this because it fell entirely out of that median. I have abodes on both the east and west coasts. West is my house, new built-in dishwasher always ready to perform. East is a loft in Brooklyn that I've had to furnish on the fly. It came with stove/oven, fridge, sink, counters, cabinets and that's about it. In time an automatic dishwasher seemed like a good idea...nothing permanent, nothing built in. Years ago I bought a vintage hose-to-sink dishwasher from the 1950s at a yard sale. It had a great look but it was worthless in terms of utility.
It was with this in mind when I began to seek out a new hose-to-sink dishwasher for the loft. All the PR trumpeting technological advances in these units got me even more interested, but seriously....I expected an appliance that was marginally better than the '50s model. When I encountered the Danby DDW497W, I liked the approach....green by way of using less electricity, water, and soap than the real built-ins. Its size seemed like a good fit for the loft too, so I bought it.
Nothing in the literature or review prepared me for what I got: the VERY BEST dishwasher of ANY variety I've ever encountered. It's better than any of the many built-ins I've used, including the Whirlpool unit in my West Coast house. I don't believe even Danby expected this....the manual was full of caveats to offset the obvious extrapolations of disappointment. What's so great about this unit? First, all the green stuff is true. It costs a pittance to run. The internal heating element used to up the the hot water temp from the faucet also struck me as a great idea.
When I first hooked it up I was quite nervous about leaks...there were none. The quick-fit faucet adapter worked perfectly as did the basic functionality of the appliance in general. Still, initially I selected the heavy duty wash mode to give the Danby every chance to do the best it could. In that mode, the thing ran for quite a while but when it was finally done, I opened the door, turned the power off, detached it from from the sink, and unplugged it. I'd done the normal dish pre-rinse I always did before running my plates, bowls, implements, etc. through the cycle. I was, nevertheless, surprised to encounter squeaky-clean dishes, silverware, and glassware minus even the hint of a streak. Leap forward to 6 months later: I've stopped cleaning off my dishes at all. I've downgraded the cycle to the lowest (P3) the machine offered - which was considerably faster. I've used the unit once or twice a week since I got it. And no matter what I did, everything I've ever put in this dishwasher came out pristine squeaky clean for a tenth of the cost used to run my dishwasher out west. That would be the end of it but for one thing: because the water pressure was lower than that of the big units, I found I could be very 'creative' with my loading. I was able to nestle things together which in a built-in would surely foretell eventual breakage. Items could touch, lie atop one another...basically break every rule of dishwasher loading and still come out - no hyperbole - SQUEAKY clean. I want the Danby folks to know just HOW satisfied I am because these days underperformance is the norm.
UPDATE: It is now 10/09/12. I've had this dishwasher since 4/12/11. Everything I wrote above still holds...ALL of it. The only thing that seems to have changed is that it appears Danby has discontinued the model. How rare it is in this world that the best example of something is the one that survives, but Danby, why? If the plastic on the door came loose, use another method of attachment. If items fall through, add another strut to the basket. If Ms. Consumer wants a bigger fork basket, just have one made...these are small problems, and me?...well I haven't encountered ANY of them. This Danby dishwasher is still the finest automated dish washing machine I've ever encountered, almost two years after its first use. Hint, if you make those tiny changes, you can change the model number to something new! new! new!
Oh, it just occurred to me...one thing HAS changed. My deluxe, expensive, big-name brand West Coast dishwasher has failed and was replaced while little Danby is still Dandy!
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