Dishwasher buying advice

archive

archive

Administrator
Site Admin
User: Becky

I've got ££ to spend on a dishwasher and could do with some buying advice. I've only been in post of 3 weeks, so don't really have much of an idea how much washing up I need to be doing. I do know that...
* my prep room sink is very low and I get backache if I stand there too long* I've got £500 to spend on the machine (not including installation)* I've got a gap where it can fit near my sink* school has 4 x classes of 30 per year, covering years 5-8, each class has 3 lessons per week
Do I need a specialist industrial dishwasher? or will a domestic one do? Do I need special baskets to go inside? I think I will for test tubes and little things
Any suggestions? thanks :)
 
User: Hivemind1

My school bought in a tabletop domestic dishwasher a few years back it has always been terrible, im not sure if its the one we got or because it has to handle things like test tubes and the like but everything was rinsed out before it went in to keep chemicals that went in to a minimum.

It was terrible at cleaning things like conicals and test tubes and in later times it couldnt even handle a beaker. we have been told that we can purchase a new one but we are in the process of getting a new senior technician so things are up in the air, though a new technician we recently got used to work in a microbiology lab and said the industrial one they had easily handled test tubes and the like so i will ask her later what make it was she said she had though i dont think they where cheap.
 
User: tlong

I agree with the above. get a commercial unit because a bog standard consumer dishwasher will be destroyed within a year. Look for brands like Miele who make them for labs and caterers etc, they are much more robust but yes a lot more expensive. Our Miele is an ex-university (kitchens?) dishwasher and it's pretty bombproof. All the filters can be taken out to clean easily and it's got a big capacity. Would have cost about £3,000 though so you get what you pay for! If you do go cheaper, check the warranties as they probably won't cover commercial use. Your caretakers may know somewhere which sells them that are more suited to school use.
 
User: freda

We bought the cheapest own brand from Curry's. CDW 60W10 for about £190.00 It works fine and we use autoclavable baskets and racks and the cutlery basket for test tubes and stuff.

We work on the buy cheap and throw away when it packs up - there is no justification for buying industrial models at silly prices, Our last one we had for about five years and it was second hand.
 
User: Hivemind1

I spoke to my colleague finally, hell of a weekend haha she swears by Miele for their reliability as tlong said.
 
User: Becky

thanks for the suggestions :)
I've had a look at industrial ones and our budget isn't going to stretch that far. It'll have to be a domestic one, but I think I'll get some extra baskets for test tubes etc
 
User: aquila

If your back is aching whilst at the sink, put an up-turned washing-up bowl in there first, and put the washing-up bowl that you are using on top of that. Works a treat! Cleapps have advice on buying dishwashers, and I don't think the extra expense for an industrial one was found to be justified.
 
User: Becky

thanks, but I've already got upturned washing up bowls underneath! the sink is stupidly low and I'm tall - not a good combination :(

on more exciting news, my dishwasher arrived this week and after a few technical hitches getting the plumbing bits installed, is now fully fitted and operational :) I just need a messy practical now to test it out fully!
 
User: Hivemind1

If your departments like mine, which i suspect it probably is you shouldnt have long to wait haha
 
User: Sheenagh

We used to have a Hotpoint domestic dishwasher and it was useless. When it broke it was replaced with a Bosch domestic dishwasher and it is brilliant. I have never seen glassware so clean. We bought some wire baskets to stand test/boiling tubes up in and we have never looked back.
The only problem with buying a domestic dishwasher is that as soon as you put lab equipment/chemicals into it your guarentee becomes null and void. However we have had our new one for over two years now and there have been no problems at all.
 
User: Mike

We were given the cheapest Beko model, as part of our new PFI school, we could only specify a dishwasher and not a make or spec. Biggest waste of space ever, does not clean anything and then leaves everything wet.
As you need to rinse most gunge out of whatever you put into the thing it is just as quick to wash stuff properly. They can be quite noisey and they do take time to do a wash, work on an hour and they are limited in the amount of stuff you can get in. Our issue is getting stuff dry, we can quickly fill up three racks and the draining boards with glassware after a few practicals.
I had wanted a drying cabinet.
 
User: Becky

I went for Bosch with an extra dry facility as I know my dishwasher at home isn't brilliant at drying. So far the Bosch has been working really well :)

In my last technician job we had a drying oven thing and a hot air blowing rack thingy. The oven was lovely in winter! but fairly slow. The blower thingy was noisy but worked fairly well.
 
User: ACook

Buy a basic currys dishwasher
Do not buy a small desk top one
There are all sorts of baskets to hold t tubes
Do not put powdered metals through wash
Clean filters at regular intervals
Our dishwasher is 10 years old and going strong
Job done
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top