I finally have a new dishwasher!!!!
Yeah! We finally bought a new dishwasher! As many of you know, we have been without a functioning dishwasher for 2-3 months and before that its ability to get things clean was spotty (pun intended). So we have been watching the Sears sales since we wanted a particular Kenmore and decided that they weren't going to go on sale for any more that what they currently are. So we bought one!!
Then I decided that I didn't want to pay someone to install it--how hard can it really be? Not that hard, as I found out. However, it wasn't exactly a completely smooth process. I had removed the old dishwasher last week and removed the 90 degree angle fitting and the power cord since I would need it for the new dishwasher. And the kids enjoyed playing in the space (after I cleaned it out) where the dishwasher was. So the new dishwasher arrived yesterday and I immediately got to work installing it.
After I got the top of the box off, I tipped the dishwasher over so I could put the 90 degree fitting on and wire the power cord. As soon as I tipped it over, I noticed there was water all over the floor!! I don't know if they run the d/w through a test cycle before they package it up or what, but I hadn't been expecting a brand new d/w to have water in it!!
The other thing that made things a bit tricky was the length of the hot water supply hose. With the old dishwasher, I didn't have any trouble pulling the d/w out of the cabinet, tipping it over, then disconnecting it. On the new d/w I think the connection is a little more towards the front of the d/w so it took some very careful maneuvering to get the d/w under the cabinet while connected. I didn't want to disconnect the water line from the main line since I knew I already had a good seal there and it is very difficult to use a wrench when you basically have no clearance so I wanted it connected before I tipped it upright.
Of course, the whole time I am attempting to get this beast installed, the kids are driving me crazy!! They are asking a million questions (though not necessarily about the d/w) and asking me to do several things at once. Now I can multitask, but generally not while installing an appliance!!
At one time, I had to tip the d/w back over to tighten the hot water supply since I hadn't gotten it quite tight enough. So once again, I had water on the floor. Ellie, with her keen sense of the obvious says, "Mom, there's water on the floor." Does she do anything about it? NOOOO! She just stands there!
So I told her to get a towel or some paper towels or something. Her response, "Well, how many?" I don't care. Just get some and mop it up!
Of course, this is after Darin has decided that he should hit Natalie (he was sent to bed) and Natalie thought it would be a great idea to ask me the same question over and over and over and over (she got put in bed for a little bit too!).
So I finally got it installed and I needed to run a test cycle to make sure I didn't have any leaks anywhere. So I pushed the button for the shortest cycle and waited. And waited. And waited. Nothing was happening.
Turns out you need to push the start button too. Now while you are falling off your chair laughing, you must realize that on our old d/w, there was no start button. You just pushed the button for the cycle you wanted and then it started.
I have now run 2 loads of dishes and I am happy to say that it doesn't leak and the dishes are sparkly clean!!!!
9 comments:
John had a bit of a time installing ours too, but his didn't involve four kids driving him crazy or water all over the floor. Instead, his installing involved 5 or 6 trips to Menards as well as some other hardware stores, I believe, and about any other problem you can encounter with installing a dishwasher. Enjoy using it--I remember how ecstatic I was when ours was finally installed!
Way to go, Anne! Were Kara and Darin disappointed that they will now have to go back to emptying the dishwasher?
It sounds like John suffers from Dad's disease--the I-can't-fix-anything-without-going-to-the-store-six-times disease. And apparently, Anne, that disease didn't get you. :)
Yep. Darin is a bit bummed he'll have to start unloading again. Kara doesn't do much unloading, maybe just once a week. But Ellie and Kara are glad they won't have to actually wash the dishes as often.
And no, I didn't catch the disease. I prefer to be prepared. It helped that I took the old one out.
All right! That's about enough of that! I've decided that I need to say something, or I fear y'all will just keep kicking me while I'm down (a Hoogeveen tradition). First off, there was no mistake about water being in the bottom of the dishwasher, that's standard. They keep water in the tank underneath it to keep it from having anything build up in there. A prepared installer would have known that (I spilled water on my floor too).
I'd also like to defend my trips to Menards. It just so happens that doing any repairs in a 100 year old house ends up being a little more complicated. Nothing is exactly as it should be. Nothing is close to level. Nothing is at today's standard heights and widths, so it requires an expert in modification to make it work. That's where I come in - because I'm sweet.
I'm not sure if John made himself clear--I believe what he is trying to say is that he's pretty awesome and not nearly as unprepared as you think he is. :) (Just in case you didn't catch all of his subtle hints).
Here's the De Wit take
cost of trip to the store (gas and time) equals the cost to have someone install it for you.
Come home, have a beer, push start.
You're happy, and the repairman makes a living.
That's so funny, we had almost the exact same experience -- waiting for Sears to put that Frigidaire on sale, the water and even the start button. (Hmm. Is it working? Wow, it IS quiet. Oh. Not on.)
I am quite impressed.
About Dad's disease- it isn't just with fixing things. ANYTHING that may POSSIBLY require getting in the van and going somewhere- like if it were suddenly discovered that we were low on paper clips- requires a trip into town. The more trips, the better, it seems.
I'm not sure if there is therapy for this. Dad would check it out if it meant multiple trips, I'm sure. But he's happy. :)
Anne clearly gets her planning-ahead genes from my particular gene pool.
from Dad
All right, I guess I am forced to respond.
You see, this whole habit started when we had no money and gas was very cheap. I never wanted to buy anything I did not absolutely need. (actually, I was trying to build up my stock so that I would have parts on hand the next time I had a similar issue.)
Now, I am just totally confused as you must be by that comment. But that is the point, to keep you totally confused. After all, if any of you understood the male species, all of us males would be in trouble.
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