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dish drawer DCS

15 years ago

I had recently posted a question about installing the drawer fronts of our new DCS (Fisher/Paykel) 2 drawer dishwasher. Tech support was great, and we did finally get the unit intalled, but I feel a follow-up is necessary for those of you looking into a drawer style dishwasher. First the caviot; this unit was aquired two years ago through the DCS rebate--buy a range and hood and get the dishwasher for free, a GREAT deal. The newer units probably have some upgrades (I hope). Now the follow-up: The unit was shipped with the dishwasher and drawer fronts in a "knock-down" situation, so the consumer (or sub) is responsible for intalling the drawer fronts. The directions were seriously flawed. The tech rep was even surprised by the way the unit was shipped and had to get additional assistance to get me the information we needed to get the job done. The installation of the drawer fronts was very tricky and if it hadn't been for the tech rep we would have never been able to do this. The written directions were that "off". The unit had some crazy intallation requirements as well. We had to make sure the entire cabinet and wall cavity was painted with an oil based paint or poly-urethane to protect from the steam. There was some crazy weather stripping we had to apply to the cabinet as well, again to protect the wood.

The securing mechnisms were flawed because they needed to be secured after the drawer fronts were on while the drawer is out, but the hoses got in the way. We have run the unit, but half expected it to shoot water everywhere that first time. It didn't, it's going well. If anyone out there is having problems with mold or other water damage because of this unit, I think the installer didn't conform with the precautionary measures needed at installation time. The unit is not as quite as I had expected it to be, but it is leaps and bounds better then the basic Whirlpools/GEs we've had in the past. On a positive note it looks lovely (can a dishwasher get that kind of praise?) and we are all excited about the two unit possibilities. After sometime I'll post another follow up to give my long term opinion about the unit.

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Comments (2)

dadoes
15 years ago
Nothing unusual about any of that. My Fisher & Paykel unit had the same instructions and install procedure almost 5 years ago ... except it had prefinished/already-attached font panels.
cpovey
15 years ago
Yep, this is standard for F&P/DCS units.

In fact "The unit had some crazy intallation requirements as well. We had to make sure the entire cabinet and wall cavity was painted with an oil based paint or poly-urethane to protect from the steam. There was some crazy weather stripping we had to apply to the cabinet as well, again to protect the wood. is completely normal for all all F&P drawers. Why? Simple, when the lid opens, steam will escape in all directions, including under the cabinets. With regular DW's, steam can only escape via the front.

You have to learn to think a little differently with the drawers, from installing them to loading to the amount of detergent (try filling the cups only 1/2 full) to operation. But they are worth it.
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