Replace regular dishwasher with F&P dish drawer, cavity retrofit?

HU-287720435

last year

I'm replacing a regular dishwasher with a Fisher & Paykel tall dish drawer. How do i retrofit the cavity to support the dish drawer? Ideally, I'd like to have a drawer underneath (for pots and pans) and there is plenty of room but haven't found a cabinet with just the bottom 24" wide drawer. What to do?

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Comments (5)

dadoes
last year
Reference the installation instructions regards to the required support of the single-drawer model ... and get a cabinetry guy, carpenter, or competent handyman involved accordingly.
HU-287720435
Original Author
last year
Thank you! I was able to talk to someone at F &P and they said i don't have to do anything to prepare for install. After the dish drawer is installed then my guy will come and make/install a drawer below. thanks!
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Of course the drawers are removable, they have to be for servicing. Open the drawer, look just behind the front panel. There's a tab at each side that latches the rails to the drawer. Depress the tab carefully and slide the rail back a little to fully disengage it. Do the same on the other side. The drawer then lifts out of the cabinet and off the rails. To fully remove the drawer, there's a drain hose that must be detached from the pump, and a water line to disconnect from the water valve in the bottom of the cabinet, and a bundle of wires leading to the control board inside the front panel. The front panel is removed by pulling the lock pins and slipping the panel down. The pins are at each side just above the rail tabs. They look like something that would turn, but DO NOT TURN THEM. Pull them straight out. However, as I said, it's highly unlikely a refrigerator drawer or other such mechanism can be retrofitted into the space. Perhaps you could find a cabinetmaker to construct a storage drawer to fit on the rails. I also have to wonder what exactly is causing your repeated broken pump rotor. I have a DD 5 years old, never any repairs to it of any kind. I try to rotate between using the upper and lower on a regular basis, but have gone several months at a time without using the lower drawer. The upper and lower drawers have identical parts, so unless you're doing something abusive to the lower drawer there's no reason for it to break repeatedly if your upper drawer does not.
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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
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Stainless steel dishwasher tubs are *supposed* to be for retaining heat for convection drying (i.e., no heating element) of the dishes. I can't attest to their efficacy, but I'd think that would work better than the alternative. Barb, Why would you be able to put pans in a drawer dishwasher and not a regular one? You should be able to find the same settings, etc., in both models. You can fill up your DW with pans, and then have clean forks. :) Because of drought, I've been working at using more pans and large bowls that can go in the DW, to cut water used in hand washing. Modern DWs use less water if full. Some also have settings that only clean one rack. The current detergents are designed to work with less water and more residue on the dishes, but aren't particularly happy, IME, with days dried on gunk, so you're right on target trying to increase the frequency you run the machine. Re capacity, what drawers can't do is the trick where you take out the top rack and put in a big stockpot. or full sized baking sheets and cutting boards. Not all regular DWs can do this, and it sounds like you might not need this, but it's the biggest difference, due to structure. Some people have trouble fitting smaller baking sheets in drawers, but others manage it. I'm not knocking the drawers. They might be a good fit for you. It's worth investigating what's out there, however, to see if your issues can be answered by other models as well.
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dadoes
last year
There must be an existing support on which the single-drawer unit sits in order to be installed. The preparation for that must be done before installation, not after.

There are several different series (model revisions) of single-drawer units ... Series 7, Series 9, and a new Series 11. F&P's website apparently doesn't provide an online installation instructions link for any of the single-drawer models. However, installation instructions are linked for double-drawer models, and the document includes sections for both double- and single-drawer (starts on Page 22). I advise you download the document and review it accordingly.

DishDrawer Installation

If you're planning a double-drawer unit, then it's the same overall height as a regular dishwasher, no way to have a storage drawer below it.
wdccruise
last year
"I was able to talk to someone at F &P and they said i don't have to do anything to prepare for install."

Nonsense. The cabinet has to be designed to fit the appliance. The F&P installation guide on its website is useless but there's a DCS DD24SVT7 Installation Guide. The Fisher Paykel DD24SCTX9N and DCS DD24SVT7 are similar.

Are you sure you want to buy this thing and is it worth the effort to install it? CR tested the two-drawer DD24DDFTX9N and concluded:

"This relatively pricey two-drawer model from...Fisher & Paykel earns one of the weakest overall ratings among dishwashers. On the essential tasks and attributes, it toggles between very good (washing and energy use) and so-so (drying and noise). Disappointing marks for reliability from...owners in Consumer Reports’ surveys further diminish its Overall Score."
PRO
Patricia Colwell Consulting
last year
I love my Bosch with quick wash cycle . Ther eis no law says you can only run a reg, DW with a full load and pretty sure it would save all this hassle not to mention you will now have a drawer underneath the DW probably not in a very functional space for pots. and not matching the cabinets either

Replace regular dishwasher with F&P dish drawer, cavity retrofit?

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dadoes

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Replace regular dishwasher with F&P dish drawer, cavity retrofit?

Comments (5)

dadoes

HU-287720435Original Author

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dadoes

wdccruise

Patricia Colwell Consulting

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BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

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HU-287720435
Original Author