Dishwasher Cycle Times

[Diznygrl]

Wow. This thread reminds me of why I hate replacing appliances and won't do it unless absolutely necessary.

Our dishwasher is probably about 15-20 years old. The "normal" wash cycle is 90 minutes.

 

[brooke789]

We didn't notice a big difference when we bought a new dishwasher a few years ago (reg cycle 2hrs 9 min) but when we bought our first HE machine we shopped based on the washing cycles. At the time we typically did 3 loads a day. We absolutely could not do the 2-3 hour cycles! It is all the energy efficient models making such a huge difference in time!

 

[usnuzuloose]

We don't own the home, I am guessing this dishwasher is as old as the home. It takes less than hour. But I am guessing one this will give out and he will have to get a new one. 3 hours that is so long.YIKES!

 

[here757]

Phew! Thought mine was slow! 3 hrs some change with heat dry.. which never works

 

[chartle]

Is it doing anything differently than your old machine like heat the water?

 

[mom2rb]

Is it doing anything differently than your old machine like heat the water?

Maybe, I just got it yesterday. I need to check on that.

 

[low-key]

two words. "paper plates"

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

I bought a new dishwasher yesterday, a GE Adoura. I like that it has a third rack, adjustable top rack and upper or lower wash only. It is also very quite. I got a great deal because of a small dent on the side. It has a timer that tells how long the cycle is. It is almost 4 hours. I don’t know if this is normal and I just never noticed or if it is way longer than my old one.

Ours takes anywhere from about 2 hours to 5 hours depending. It does have an old style wash cycle which takes about 45 minutes. But it uses a ton of water.

 

[PollyannaMom]

I was puzzled by the "how can it run longer but be more efficient?" question as well, but I recently found out the answer (thanks, oddly, to my oven repair guy, who was very chatty about appliances in general). - My old washer blasted water from every direction at once for the whole cycle. My new washer targets the water in one area, from one direction at once. It takes a lot longer to "take turns" but it uses less water in the end.

 

[msjprincess]

I just noticed that the model you have is the one I was planning on buying to match my new oven and microwave. Four hours is way too long. With 3 kids it already seems like my dishwasher is always going.

 

[mombrontrent]

I have a Bosch, it’s less then a year old and a cycle is about 2:25 on auto (it senses how long to run somehow).

 

[mom2rb]

I just noticed that the model you have is the one I was planning on buying to match my new oven and microwave. Four hours is way too long. With 3 kids it already seems like my dishwasher is always going.

So last night I put very dirty dishes in it. I had made a cheesecake and I put in the springform pan, bowls, mixer blades, spatulas, etc.. I didn’t rinse anything and it all came out sparkling clean. I also realized that I had the steam feature and sanitizer on. I think that it was needed for that load, but I don’t plan on using normally. The time goes down significantly when those are turned off. I will try it tonight.

 

[chartle]

I have no idea how long my slightly older machine takes, one because I've never timed it and 2 it seems to vary from 1 hour to 2 hours (I think it "looks" at the water for dirt and adjusts accordingly).

But i do know if I put soak and scour, water heat and sanitize on it takes literally forever. I really don't know how long since when I've used this combo I don't think I ever let the cycle finish. Its like I come back 8 hours later and its not done. Soak and scour starts a cycle and lets the little water it uses "soak" the dishes forever.

 

[Micca]

Ours is 2.5 hours, then you have to open the door and let the dishes cool off for a few minutes cause they're HOT! I thought our dishwasher took a long time but I see it's about average, maybe even less than some. Our unit came with the house, so it's about 12 years old. This sucker is noisy too, we only run it when no one will be in the kitchen, or last thing before bed at night.

 

[scrapquitler]

My dishwasher is an (ancient) Magic Chef brand one. The longest cycle takes 35 minutes (more if you heat dry, which I usually don't). Every now and then I think that I want to replace it, but then I read things like this post and figure that I'm happy with being able to get the dishes done quickly. When I worked in the group home, we got a new dishwasher with something like a 2:45 regular cycle, and waiting for that to finish just seemed ridiculous to me every night.

 

[Mickeynutty]

Our Maytag, purchased 2 years ago, takes 4:16. Man, I miss my old machine!

 

[Bianca and Bernard]

We just got a new dishwasher a few weeks ago. It runs about 1:40 hours on normal, 2:00 on heavy duty or an hour on the quick wash cycle. The quck wash uses more water, though. That's without drying times. I haven't run it with the dry cycle yet.