That New Car Smell
Tuesday, 30 December 2014 02:33![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dr_phil_physicsChristmas Eve our dishwasher started making some alarming noises -- gears not meshing right or tearing themselves apart in the transmission? Who knows? But the RCA dishwasher was new in the summer of 1993, so after twenty-plus years of service, there was no incentive to put a dime into its maintenance.
Besides, it was terribly noisy.
It came with the house when we bought it -- who buys an RCA dishwasher? -- and I figured we'd probably replace it in ten years or so with a nicer unit. But other than being REALLY LOUD, it worked fine.
Funny thing, we never bought a dishwasher before. Oh the new duplex we rented when we came down in 1991 had a nice brand new Panasonic dishwasher. And the newly built house had the new RCA, so technically we bought it, but didn't shop for it. But we have a lovely appliance store in Grand Haven -- Bekins -- who've done repairs and sales on our washer and drier.
Christmas in Chicago, Christmas Dinner II on Friday. It was Saturday at noon when we drove out to Grand Haven. We were the only customers. There were at least a dozen models to choose from. We went over our rough estimate for cost, based on Lowes prices and models, but got the machine we wanted. And it was in stock. And, after saying they couldn't deliver until Tuesday or Wednesday, when they found out it was Allendale, they had a crew that could come Monday morning -- 9:30 or so.
They came at 9:05, which was a good thing, because it was noon before they left. You'd think kitchens would be standard, but Oh No...
The 1993 RCA still did two more loads for us on Saturday and Sunday. So it didn't die on us. (Click on photo for larger.)
©2014 Dr. Philip Edward Kaldon (All Rights Reserved)
Two decades of well water stained it a bit, but it did a good job and the racks weren't stupidly laid out. (Click on photo for larger.)
©2014 Dr. Philip Edward Kaldon (All Rights Reserved)
Unfortunately, when we bought the house, we had the basement finished. But they'd run the piping under the floor and now above the ceiling, and it seemed they clamped the two lines together. So you couldn't pull it out. They had to cut a hole in the floor just to disconnect the old dishwasher. But it's under the counter so who cares. (Click on photo for larger.)
©2014 Dr. Philip Edward Kaldon (All Rights Reserved)
The water line was copper, so they used that. Put in a new drain line and we had them snake it through the utility cupboard on the other side of the island. The old drain line was capped at both ends and left in place. (Click on photo for larger.)
©2014 Dr. Philip Edward Kaldon (All Rights Reserved)
And here's our shiny new KitchenAid dishwasher. Note 1: There must be steel behind the stainless, because our magnet that says Clean/Dirty still works. Note 2: After fighting with the recessed grip on the RCA for 20+ years, I wanted a handle -- the KitchenAid was available without or with a really nice curved handle. Note 3: Um, the drawers to the right? And that handle? Mrs. Dr. Phil swapped the two top drawers -- the Baggies/Ziplock drawer doesn't need to be pulled out far to work. Note 4: The rose came from Bekins. Aw-www. (Click on photo for larger.)
©2014 Dr. Philip Edward Kaldon (All Rights Reserved)
Stainless steel interior. Energy saving -- also means longer cycles and probably won't last twenty years. The controls are along the top edge of the door. Lots of adjustments on the two main drawers -- plus a third silverware drawer on top. (Click on photo for larger.)
©2014 Dr. Philip Edward Kaldon (All Rights Reserved)
And yes, that interior really did have that new car smell.
And it is SO quiet, you can hear the blower fan on the Rinnai inline water heater running in the basement.
Why did we wait twenty years to replace the old one? (grin)
Dr. Phil
Besides, it was terribly noisy.
It came with the house when we bought it -- who buys an RCA dishwasher? -- and I figured we'd probably replace it in ten years or so with a nicer unit. But other than being REALLY LOUD, it worked fine.
Funny thing, we never bought a dishwasher before. Oh the new duplex we rented when we came down in 1991 had a nice brand new Panasonic dishwasher. And the newly built house had the new RCA, so technically we bought it, but didn't shop for it. But we have a lovely appliance store in Grand Haven -- Bekins -- who've done repairs and sales on our washer and drier.
Christmas in Chicago, Christmas Dinner II on Friday. It was Saturday at noon when we drove out to Grand Haven. We were the only customers. There were at least a dozen models to choose from. We went over our rough estimate for cost, based on Lowes prices and models, but got the machine we wanted. And it was in stock. And, after saying they couldn't deliver until Tuesday or Wednesday, when they found out it was Allendale, they had a crew that could come Monday morning -- 9:30 or so.
They came at 9:05, which was a good thing, because it was noon before they left. You'd think kitchens would be standard, but Oh No...
The 1993 RCA still did two more loads for us on Saturday and Sunday. So it didn't die on us. (Click on photo for larger.)
©2014 Dr. Philip Edward Kaldon (All Rights Reserved)
Two decades of well water stained it a bit, but it did a good job and the racks weren't stupidly laid out. (Click on photo for larger.)
©2014 Dr. Philip Edward Kaldon (All Rights Reserved)
Unfortunately, when we bought the house, we had the basement finished. But they'd run the piping under the floor and now above the ceiling, and it seemed they clamped the two lines together. So you couldn't pull it out. They had to cut a hole in the floor just to disconnect the old dishwasher. But it's under the counter so who cares. (Click on photo for larger.)
©2014 Dr. Philip Edward Kaldon (All Rights Reserved)
The water line was copper, so they used that. Put in a new drain line and we had them snake it through the utility cupboard on the other side of the island. The old drain line was capped at both ends and left in place. (Click on photo for larger.)
©2014 Dr. Philip Edward Kaldon (All Rights Reserved)
And here's our shiny new KitchenAid dishwasher. Note 1: There must be steel behind the stainless, because our magnet that says Clean/Dirty still works. Note 2: After fighting with the recessed grip on the RCA for 20+ years, I wanted a handle -- the KitchenAid was available without or with a really nice curved handle. Note 3: Um, the drawers to the right? And that handle? Mrs. Dr. Phil swapped the two top drawers -- the Baggies/Ziplock drawer doesn't need to be pulled out far to work. Note 4: The rose came from Bekins. Aw-www. (Click on photo for larger.)
©2014 Dr. Philip Edward Kaldon (All Rights Reserved)
Stainless steel interior. Energy saving -- also means longer cycles and probably won't last twenty years. The controls are along the top edge of the door. Lots of adjustments on the two main drawers -- plus a third silverware drawer on top. (Click on photo for larger.)
©2014 Dr. Philip Edward Kaldon (All Rights Reserved)
And yes, that interior really did have that new car smell.
And it is SO quiet, you can hear the blower fan on the Rinnai inline water heater running in the basement.
Why did we wait twenty years to replace the old one? (grin)
Dr. Phil
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