Danby Dishwasher Review: Danby DDW1899WP 8 Place Setting Portable Dishwasher

Danby DDW1899WP Dishwasher

I have never used a dishwasher before, but one day when I hung out on the Internet, I saw it. I'm surprised, the world should have such thing as a dishwasher. So, I researched it and found it’s really a good thing, since I would never hand wash dishes any more. In the end, I found that the Danby DDW1899WP 8 Place Setting Portable Dishwasher is suitable for me as I’m living in a remote cottage, and it have a built-in soft water system which can solve the problem of hard water. Besides, it certainly has other features, I’ll tell you.

Pros:

1.Quiet

This Danby dishwasher is very quiet compared to what I have heard in friends homes. I live in a small home and my bedroom is right next to the kitchen. I am able to start the washer before I go to bed and not hear a peep. It is like having my own magic elves doing the dishes while I sleep.

2. Durable stainless steel spray arm & interior

As for cleaning, it works, it has a stainless steel interior which will keep it from stinking after a few years of hard labor.

3.Use little water

It's true that this Danby dishwasher takes forever to complete a cycle. But here's the thing: it uses very little water (about a third as much as the Kenmore) and incidentally, about a third as much detergent; obviously, they have traded water volume for cycle time. Does it really matter that a dishwasher takes longer? I guess if you really needed a full-size dishwasher but couldn't make room for it so you need to turn around several cycles back-to-back in order to wash all of your dishes, that could be a consideration. But if all you really needed in the first place was an 18", who cares if it takes two hours instead of one hour, especially if it is using less water, less detergent, and (according to the Energy Star rating) less electricity?

4.Superior solenoid design

My old dishwasher, and its predecessor, and every washing machine I have ever owned, had plunger-type solenoid valves: one moment it's on, the next moment it's off. You know what I'm talking about: the dishwasher or washing machine makes a huge CLUNK sound as the water comes on or off. That creates a momentary spike in the pressure inside the hose and can cause anything short of a perfect seal to leak and eventually fail. The Danby valve opens and closes more slowly, preventing that sudden thump. Hence, no leaks at my jury-rigged hose connection.

5.Store anywhere

The hoses are designed to attach to your faucet and it has castors for easy portability. The nice 18" width means I can roll it away between my stove and my fridge, so I can store this Danby dishwasher anywhere and just roll it to the sink when I want to use it.

6.Use the top of it as a counter

It's tall enough to be level with the stove, so I can use the top of the dishwasher as counter space. I figured this would in fact be more space saving than those countertop models which take a lot of counter space.

7.Energy Star Certification

This Danby dishwasher uses only $30 bucks a year to operate if you use it 3-4 times a week!

8. Perfect for small kitchens or rentals where you can't install a built-in dishwasher.

9.This Danby dishwasher can also handle food particles since it has 3 type of filters for such.

Cons:

1.Hoses are short

If you want to keep it in the same spot at all times, you’d better make that spot right next to your sink because the hoses are short. Maybe only 3 feet long. If like me you can't keep it next to your sink you have to roll it to your sink each time which hasn't been a problem for me.

2.The manual is hard to understand

The worst thing about this Danby dishwasher is the accompanying manual which is the worst manual on a major appliance I've ever seen. It would not answer some of my most basic questions. I spent an hour trying to figure out where a piece that came with the machine was supposed to go and finally resorted to posting photos of it online to see if anyone could tell me. (it was too late in the day to call Danby customer service).

3.The strongest cycle takes 3 hours.

I let it run right before I go to sleep and I wake in the morning to clean dishes. It takes 3 hours to clean however you can pause the wash and throw something in and let it go again. To pause, just press the start button on the right, the wash will stop and you can open the door. To start again just press the start button, there will be a 5-7 sec lag, don't be worried. The Normal Wash setting runs about 2.5 hours from start to finish. But it is very quiet compared to what I have heard in friends homes.

4.Not for large families

If you're single or it's just you and your partner, this Danby dishwasher is the right machine for you. It can handle a small party for dishes or a good large meal of pots. But if you have 5 kids and a lazy husband who can't rinse out a cup, you're going to need a built in dishwasher.

5. Not completely dry dishes

Also true that it does not completely dry dishes, but it seems that it depends on the dishes. Ceramic type dishes dry very well while plastic seem to be what holds the droplets of water. Once the unit beeps (more on that in a moment) to tell you it's done, crack the door open so the steam can escape.

Other features

Easy to set up and use

Cleaning the filters and arms easily and convenient, everything easy to remove and replace.

8 place setting capacity with silverware basket

Simple electronic controls

6 wash cycles

2 Wash Arms

4 speed selector switch

Delayed shutdown for 5 or 15 minute timed programs

Automatic shut-off of intensive level, programmable for 10 minutes

Integrated halogen lighting with dimmer function

Programmable filter saturation timers

Front mounted controls

Double-sided, single motor system moves up to 625 CFM

A built-in soft water system for remote cottage locations

Other helpful knowledge

1.The Red button

The Red button on the faucet attachment is to release water pressure so that when you add and remove the attachment you don't get sprayed with water.

2.The funnel and salt

The number one thing I've read is what is the funnel for... well, if you open the machine and pull out the bottom drawer, you will see a great big dial looking thing next to the water arm... that is where you would put water softener salts (if you live in a hard-water area). Unscrew that cap and the funnel use is obvious.

If you're talking about the dishwasher salt, most people don't actually need to use it. It's only necessary if you have very hard water or live by a well. I think most people who buy this machine live in small apartments in US cities where the water isn't that hard. I think some states- like Arizona have really hard water and residents might have to use the salt.

If you don't use the salt and you have hard water, then your dishes will come out spotty and cloudy. But if your water is average (And I think that's most people) then the rinse aid by itself should be enough on it's own. I had a dishwasher similar to this one once and we always left the salt compartment empty.

Like I said I have a well and since I have well salt on hand, I use it. I find that the jet dry is what really makes the difference with water spots for my situation/water hardness. I'm having the same glitch that the machine doesn't tell me when it's out of jet dry.

Yes the machines tells you when your jet dry is low. There are two lights to the far right. One is for the jet dry rinse, the other is for the salt. Euro design doesn't have much text to tell you what the lights do. The process for cleaning dishes is not quick. Even on full 24" branded name set to max settings it takes 99 minutes to wet, wash, wet, wash and dry those pots and pans. Don't use anything else but dishwasher salt.

When I saw how expensive the jet dry was, I tried white vinegar and it seems to work really well. No spots or residue.

3.Adapter

If you don't think the adapter will fit your faucet, know that the quick-release adapter has threading on inside and out, if your faucet has threads on the outside, just take the big fat washer out of the adapter and you will see the inner threading (don't forget whenever you work with water, you MUST use thread tape).

4.Water pressure

Now the machine does heat your water but I have an older home and don't have the strongest water pressure. I alleviate this by turning on both the cold and hot taps full blast and it seems to be working.

5.Top rack

The top washer arm isn't meant for hard cleaning so don't put a nasty pot up there or it'll need another go, or you could bite the bullet and clean it yourself you pampered snooty pants.

6.Issue with a leak

I had first reported and issue with a leak. I fix this issue on my own. Seems that the unit had stuff into the salt softener and drain housing. I had use a Wet/Dry vac to remove anything in those locations. Now no more leaks. Odd found all sorts of stuff must be left over from the factory. I was going to return this to Walmart but would have been hassle to do. Anyway I have 90 days to return it or 14 months of service from Danby. In all the unit does clean very well. I've ordered two boxes of the dishwasher salt from Amazon along with the rinse agent. I was using Finish Turbo Jet Dry with mix results.

Dimensions

The dimensions of this Danby Dishwasher are 26 x 17.7 x 36 inches and weighs 129 pounds.

How much should you expect to pay?

The Danby DDW1899WP 8 Place Setting Portable Dishwasheris available on Amazon, it’s about 500-600 dollars.

Does it include a Warranty?

Yes, the Danby DDW1899WP 8 Place Setting Portable Dishwasherincludes a 1 year warranty.

What others are saying?

In terms of consumer rating, the Danby DDW1899WP 8 Place Setting Portable Dishwasher has received an average of 4.0 out of 5 stars from most reviewers on Amazon.

Here are some comments to date:

1.I bought this thru Amazon in Dec 2011. It stopped working today. I took the top off (two screws) and the plastic plug on the power cord connecting 3 wires had melted so no power. Called Danby customer service but it was out of warranty so they gave me a repair company name 2 hours away I could contact. Trying to repair will probably cost close to what a new one would be. This Danby dishwasher has worked very well for almost four year but disappointing it didn't last longer. We have hard well water but kept the filters clean and the salt and jet dry full always. We'll probably order another and just expect about 4 years of usability. Read quite a few complaints about the manual but very easy to operate in my opinion.

2.I purchased this Danby dishwasher earlier this year and it is a great little dishwasher. I purchased it from another retailer for more than $100 less. but the manufacturer booklet is a joke because this Danby dishwasher comes with items that I had no idea what they were for until someone else came over and they told me. Lol but I love it, it gets my dishes so clean, it's amazing. the only thing I had to do was run up to the local hardware store and pick up an adapter for it for my faucet because others said I would have to replace the faucet which was completely untrue. and this Danby dishwasher saves me a lot of money on my water bill.

3.I've been using my Danby dishwasher for more than three years now. It's been great! The lighter load settings work well for lightly soiled dishes, but if you let them sit for a little too long like I have a tendency to do, the heavy load almost always does the trick.

See more customer reviews on Amazon.

Any complaints?

There is a shallow dip in the soap dispenser cap for pre-cleaning. I have found that the globules of soap land on my dishes and don't wash off well. It leave a white residue after the wash is over. It's easy to remove since it's only soap but now I put pre-wash soap on the lower part of the door. I'm not sure if that decreases the effectiveness of the pre-wash but it solved the white stain problem.

Where can you buy the Danby DDW1899WP 8 Place Setting Portable Dishwasher?

You can buy this Danby dishwasher from Amazon. Click here to view on Amazon.