Dishwasher Reliability and Issues

"Proceeding on the premise that dishwasher reliability is a relative concept, one may nevertheless theorize that dishwasher reliability would include uninterrupted, trouble free functioning, and effective cleaning.."

While a certain market segment may put a premium on convenience factors that dispense with maintenance issues through the use of sophisticated controls and circuitry, reliability of dishwashers is judged by how durable the appliance is, besides its energy efficiency and effectiveness in cleaning.

On an average, dishwashers are expected to save on time and water, factors which are estimated to cost more than double when hand cleaning dishes. While savings made on this count are a given, the reliability of dishwashers or its durability will be determined by the quality of its technical components and the superiority of design in effectively servicing the various functions of heating water, spraying water, and draining the used water.

Since the dishwasher is expected to switch from one task to another without human intervention, the efficiency of the appliance in completing the wash cycle is dependant on the control system which can either be mechanical or computerized, with the latter capable of processing more data and consequently handling more tasks, as opposed to the former. The best reliable dishwasher is one which efficiently fills itself with water, heats it, automatically dispenses the detergent at the right time, while spraying the water and draining it.

More intelligent dishwashers now use sensors, designed with appropriate parameters to measure the cleanliness of the water, triggering necessary responses when the water is not clean or falls below specified requirements. The higher the degree of sophistication, the greater the reliability of a dishwasher, which is manifested in capabilities to generate hot water jets, faster cleaning cycles, self cleaning, recycling and re- use of used water, dispensing chlorine and water softening agents in response to the information collected and measured by the respective sensors.