I did but I moved. I'll be putting them in again. The ease of loading (once you figure it out) makes up for any other problems. Mine were about the 5-years-ago model. No problems. They didn't dry dishes, but I would have turned off that feature if it existed (and maybe it did, but I didn't look for it since I like to pretend to be environmentally friendly). You can always fill up the other drawer while the first drawer air dries.

Now, I don't know much about kosher requirements, but the double drawers do share a lot of plumbing and it may be too much. If it is, and I have no clue, the single drawers ought to be fine (or 2 doubles, of course).

The drawers are just so darn nice to use.

LOVELOVELOVE them!

I think they may have worked out the design kinks. The only time I have a problem is when something blocks the spray arm. I just run the load again and it comes out fine.

No regrets at all. There have been a lot of threads on the dishdrawers. I think most current users are happy with them.

We have two doubles; one set on either side of our sink. So I guess I would say that I'm the satisfied owner of 4 dishdrawers? Anyway, we've only had ours for a couple months but have been very pleased with them. There isn't anything we haven't been able to fit in, including our 11" tall stockpot and our 15 x 20" cutting board (although not both in the same drawer at the same time). They clean and dry well.

The current 603 models that available now are upgraded from the original 601 models and don't have the same issues that they had.

The only negative thing I can think of is that they're not as quiet as the super-quiet Bosches and Mieles. Don't get me wrong; they're not loud by anyones standards, they're very quiet...just not near silent.

I have the KA version, made by F&P. I'm with fori - the ease of loading and unloading makes up for any problems. There really are no problems, though - it's a little louder than a Miele or Bosch seems to be (from what I read here), and a little tricky to learn to load. but at least noone minds loading and unloading because once you learn how, it's a breeze!

My DD603 was purchased on 8/21/2003. No trouble with it, no leaking, no repairs, it does wash and dry. I scrape the dishes, but do not pre-rinse. Surely one shouldn't dump a chocolate cake or half-pound of chicken or ground beef into any dishwasher. Even those with food grinders are not intended to be used as a food *disposer*. Couple weeks ago I ran a 13"x9" Pyrex from baked chicken bruschetta on Heavy Eco, it came out clean. I use Wal-Mart Great Value powder detergent and JetDry or Cascade liquid rinse agent. I think at least some of the complaints about poor washing and drying come from using too "light" of a cycle and from trying to rush the load to completion. The dishes won't be perfectly dry immediately after the cycle ends (except perhaps on Heavy cycle due to the higher temperature it reaches), leave the drawer ajar and give them some time to cool completely so residual moisture can evaporate.

All that being said, the drawer design doesn't fit everyone's dishwashing needs.

Pull up all the F&P DD threads -- you'll read many, many glowing comments about these fabulous dishwashers. In the main, there are more positive comments about F&P DDs than negatives. And, generally the problems resulted because the DDs were improperly installed (they do require a knowledgeable installer, who has successfully installed them before), because the owners didn't familiarize themselves with the operating instructions (especially about type of dishwashing soap to use and the very small amount required), or because the DDs were not properly loaded. None of these are the DDs fault.... :)

Love 'em. They're easy to use, do a great job of cleaning, and are pretty quiet (top is much quieter than the bottom). The only thing we'd do different is get two singles and mount them just below the countertop on either side of the sink rather than the over/under config that we have now. Very highly recommended.

How often do you just run one drawer? We are a family of 3, and we wanted them, but the salesperson talked us out of it, saying,"you will probably be running both drawers at the same time anyways". We thought we would just be running one drawer at a time.
So now, we are considering a conventional washer.

How often do you just run one drawer? We are a family of 3

We are a family of two, and probably run a load a day. A DD (without pots and pans) will hold roughly 7 place settings, so if you do breakfast and dinner at home, that's probably a single drawer run, especially with some few extra glasses thrown in.

And in general, I love mine. We had two leaks early-on. One was my fault (poor loading) and one was a bad lid motor (F&P received a bad batch, but that was resolved more than a year ago).

Loading takes a little learning, but it takes a little learnign on all new machines.

I would buy them again, no question.

We are a family of 3 most of the time and most times we run one drawer at a time, but honestly, why would that make any difference?

Each drawer holds the equivalent of about 3/4ths of a conventional load- you get more load space with the drawer setup.

Ours are singles, one on either side of the sink. I would never go back to a traditional dishwasher after using the drawers. Unloading the dishwasher was my MOST dreaded kitchen task- I just hated it- but I cannot think of enough good things to say about these little machines. Yes, they do a good job and are easy on the back, and since they pull out and not down, they are great for less than optimal clearances- or any sized kitchen for that matter.

WE LOVE our dishdrawers!

We are a midddle aged family of two and we just love our dishdrawers! I am so glad I went with that choice
because of the pull out and not down
feature..they are quiet...would but them again in a second.
If we had the room I would have placed a single drawer on
either side of the sink also. I didn't want to give up
my corner "super susan" so I went with one above the
other....never have dirty dishes !!!

ps they are 2 1/2 yrs old and are F & P DD 603 model

I should have said in my post that like the others (pecanpie you are so lucky!) the only change I would make is to have one on each side of the sink, or maybe one at the main sink and one at the prep sink, instead of the over/under. Because of the ease of loading/unloading the top drawer, we tend to use the bottom drawer only when we do run two at the same time, otherwise we use the top over and over.

We are a family of 3 and most often run just one drawer. For example, last night, we ran the top drawer which was full of dishes, cups and silverware, but we did load the bottom drawer with the corningware pan in which I baked cornbread, the pot in which I heated baked beans, the large bowl in which I mixed the cornbread, etc. Everything was clean (and dry) this morning.

I will NEVER go back to a regular dishwasher after 2+ wonderful years with my FP dishdrawers! Love them! I mean, it is amazing how the dishes seem to just jump into the dishdrawer, instead of setting at the side of or in the sink, like they used to!

And my experience is like others, in that unloading is no big chore (unlike the "old" days when it would be put off as long as possible). We too mainly use the top drawer, only needing the lower one when we entertain.

Only had one minor problem early on due to hoses not being elevated (installer error). I've never had a problem with dishes not being clean except for when something has fallen down and blocked the arm. Loading was a challenge in the beginning - but you do figure it out, and it holds a ton of dirty dishes.

I like the double unit because I so seldom NEED the other drawer and I would not want to give up that prime higher cab real estate for something I so seldom needed/used.

If/when mine die I will be replacing them with another set. Oh - we are a family of three, if that matters.

MaryT

I've had my DD for 4 1/2 years now and LOVE them! Actually we are on our second set. My first set was a lemon, and the repair guy finally had the F&P rep come out, who also couldn't fix it, so they sent me a brand new set -- installed! That was 3 1/2 years ago and not a need for repair since. What I love about them is the user friendliness. I have a family of six, so several times when the "boys" loaded them strange things got loaded too like rubberbands or twisties. If you get a strange sound or an error code, they are so easy to take apart. I just get down to the rotor and there is the culprit -- now this has only happened maybe 3 times. But I love that I can fix them because they easily dissemble and I can find the problem.

I had never had a DW before my DD -- 21 years of washing dishes by hand, so the loading issue was no problem for me. I watched the video, did what it said, and since I didn't have any habits to break, it was a piece of cake. Now when I'm at someone else's home and try and load their DW, I think, what a pain -- this thing isn't designed to hold near as much as my DD do!

I never prerinse, and usually everything comes out clean. I'd have to say the only thing that doesn't is dried eggs on a plastic spatula -- which should have been scraped off before loading. Even with my teens doing the loading and unloading, the dishes are always clean -- except when something falls down and stops the sprayer arm as has been mentioned before. Then just remove the obstruction and wash again.

I'd never have anything other than F&P DD again -- they are wonderful!
Kathy

Sounds good. At first, we liked them, and wanted them. Then one salesperson kinda talked us out of them, and into an Asko. But after reading all these good reports, hmmmm.

Already decided I want these...but now "to panel or not to panel"?

Now my wife says she does not want them. She said we wont be able to fit anything big in them. She has this great idea that she wants to wash the garbage can once in a while of all things. I said I would wash it by hand, in the laundry room sink??? Which we have never done yet. But she says she wants to wash it in a dishwasher. More sanitary. Sometimes I feel she is not so darling while picking out these appliances.

Chrispmoto, would a kitchen trash can even fit in a regular DW? Perhaps if you don't have a full height one and you put it in one of those tall tub ones that lets you move the top shelf up. I clean my trash cans about once a week with a spray cleaner and a paper towel. Takes about 30 seconds to do.

We paneled our DDs. I love the way they just blend in.

Ew. That's just gross. The garbage can in a DISHWASHER?

Ours gets so nasty we take it outside and hose it off with Lysol....

This time around I'm going to panel my DDs. I'm not big on paneling BUT you can put a towel bar on em! Can't do that with a regular dishwasher or your towels hit the floor. Funny how the dopey things like a place for TOWELS in a small kitchen can be so important.

I'm about to swap out my dishwasher for drawers this weekend, even though our remodel won't be for months and months (if we're lucky!), I so hate a normal DW. And yes, it'll be naked because I want paneled but have no cabinets picked out. I can't takes it no mo'!

I vote for paneled. Mine are and they blend so nicely! Most people don't even think we have a DW when they first see the kitchen. When they see them open, they are amazed. For me it was love at first site when I saw them, and that was before they were popular. It took some convincing to DH because of the price, and if you are paneling, I think it cost us, I cant' remember, but it was either $350 or $650 for the custom panels, so that is another option to keep in mind. But I wouldn't trade them for the world, and I if we ever move, I'd have to have them again! They beat any other DW for loading in my opinion. I hate the drop down doors. I'm sure one of my kids would try to jump over it while it was open, land on it and crack it off -- teenage boys -- need I say more?!? Also, the loading options are always there. You can leave the plate racks in, or if you have something bigger, take them out for that load. That is why I love the versatility of the DD. If your garbage can is no bigger than a stock pot, you would be fine, but any bigger would it fit in a reg DW? The best way to decide is to take some of your dishes and pots to the show room (clean of course, LOL), and try loading them and see how it works for you. With the plate racks in, the largest a plate can be for the lid to close properly is 11 1/2". My F&P rep said there is a different rack that you can purchase seperately to allow you to load larger plates, but not as many at a time. I have large plates, so I put mine at at angle instead of straight in, and this works fine for me. One other thing to remember is that if you are going with cabinet fronts, the little mechanical part that runs the DD is available in different colors to match your hardware. They come in silver, but you can request or order a different color.
Kathy

So the largest plate can be 11 1/2"? What about platters? Or large stockpots?

Already decided I want these...but now "to panel or not to panel"?

(1) Looks. How big is your kitchen? (How much visual variety is their aside from the appliances and cabinets?) I have, in effect, an 8X10. The fridge, oven, and hood will be F&P SS. The small MW will be GE SS. A SS DD would be too much metal in that small space. (Oh, forgot to mention Blanco sigranite in anthracite and HansGroghe Interactiv faucet. Sink is basically a non-factor but the steel optik faucet will add onto the SS look.)

(2) Cost. It's definitely cheaper without panels. (Arggh. F&P offers rebates on a variety of DDs but not the I/IH. There was in the past, if I remember correctly, a free DD if you bought a fridge, oven and cooktop from them. Naturally, I'll be going with induction, which F&P doesn't make.)

We just got the KA double drawer DW and are having panels placed on it. I was just curious as to what size handles others have put on their drawers? Are they the same size as the handles used on your other drawers in the kitchen? I"m also not sure what size handles to put on our tall but narrow Liebherr? The handles I'm getting come in many different sizes (i.e. 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12 inches).

We have the FP Easy-clean finish stainless dds and the handle is wide enough for a towel (although I don't keep mine there). There are a couple of different models, and this one is more expensive but cheaper than panels!

I was advised not to panel the dd because the panels tend to get dripped on and they start to look bad. I am not sure whether that is true, but I like the finish I got (it really does not show fingerprints like most stainless).

I like the dds a lot. Yesterday we had to clean the filter, which we never had to do with our old plain dishwasher, but the flexibility of the two drawers is fabulous. They clean better than our old dishwasher.

Although I can't fit a trash can (which I could not have done in my old dishwasher either), I can fit my biggest stockpots and anything I fit into my old dishwasher.

1 FP dish drawer w cabinet panel

family of 3

runs once a day, no leaking, no problems, 2 years now

love it to death

wood panel more vulnerable than stainless in terms of longterm wear but I would not do things differently

lnhardin, a platter can be laid flat on top of a load, and you can remove one of the pronged racks to fit a tall stockpot.

We just used the same 3" pulls on our DD panels that we used on the rest of our drawers.

This is not a very ideal picture of a load of dishes, it holds much more than this picture shows. But I've included it so that you can see that even small drawer pulls works, so it is basically what ever look you are going for.

As was mentioned before platters,cookie sheets, etc. can be laid on top of the load of dishes. Or some fit sideways in the rack just fine. You just have to play around with loading and see what works out best for you. But like I've said before, I wouldn't trade them for anything else -- and they always get rave reviews by company who have never seen them before.

One thing no one has mentioned is that they can be used as a cooler for parties too. I have never done this myself, but have heard of people filling them with ice and cold drinks. I'm not sure F&P recommends this, but I've heard people on the forum say they have done it before.

Kathy

Here is a link that might be useful: My Dish Drawers

DO NOT use a DishDrawer as an ice chest. I tried it once, and the outside of the drawer was dripping with condensation.

I did it once with my integrated dd with no condensation (or any other) problem. It was useful for the situation (small house, big party, continuous torrential rain) but not worth the effort to do it routinely.

While we love the use of the DD, it's a roll of the dice in terms of reliability. Our first one tortured us for 3 or 4 years, with constant repairs. Finally FP replaced it out of warranty, but we've had issues with this one too. The top drawer will intermittently fail to clear the moisture, leaving damp dishes. I think the fan timer may be defective, but it works now. The repair guys could never find the problem. And, no, it's not a rinse aid issue.

If the machine works, there's nothing more convenient. However, if this one continues to falter, I'll probably go for one of the commercial Mieles - can do a load in 10 minutes.