Puttin' a hole in a dishwasher

Oh no, I've been cursed by the clownshoes screwdriver.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on minisplit systems in detail!

I loved seeing the windowed dishwashers at the appliance stores when I was a kid. I always wanted one like that in my kitchen. Though I suppose they would be quite loud.

John Laur

In Australia split system reverse cycle air conditioners are very common, even ducted split systems (which is what we've got in our house). The heating is really good!

Scott Rowland

When I took apart my broken-down came-with-the-house dishwasher, my favorite thing was the soap / rinse aid dispenser in the door designed to perform both functions with a single solenoid, and reset into a known state at the beginning of each cycle. I appreciate the engineering dedication required to come up with such a clever way to save that $0.10 per unit! If your heat pump not fully defrosting bugs you, my (house-sized variable speed compressor) outdoor unit has jumpers you can use to add an extra 60 or 90 seconds to the cycle. Yours might as well? It's documented in the installer's manual for mine.

It was probably smart to use a window instead of a GoPro because it’ll keep water from getting directly on the lens and making the image hard to decipher.

William Leonard

Thanks for the video Alec :) looking forward to the finished result! To add to the earlier discussion about cheapness, I don’t think there are any European dishwashers that have a plastic tub either, I’m surprised that doesn’t eventually yellow/stain with the heat, detritus and detergent. Our previous dishwasher had a prewash outlet but the newer one we have now doesn’t. It does have a turbidity sensor though so it can modify its program depending on the soiling, such as doing an extra pre-rinse, longer main wash or finishing early too.

Gosh, I never knew what the "pre wash" was for, I figured it was some other (different) product I had to buy to use there. I guess you just pour in some extra common liquid (or powder) soap in that spot to 'pre wash' the dishes as you explained. THANK YOU! Don't ever assume that everyone knows even the simplest of facts.

Hank Lloyd Right

Well shoot, I've been doing the soap wrong for years. I'm going to start stabbing a hole in the soap pod and pouring some into the pre-wash soap holder.

Michael Dunn

This construction is still somewhat common for cheaper models, and this model is quite basic. The only notable feature it has is a sanitize option which is quite easy to implement. Exposed heating elements on the bottom are still quite normal. As far as I'm aware it's only Bosch models that don't have them. One of the reasons I suspect this is still so common is that it's typically the case in the US that the dishwasher is hooked up to the hot water supply of the kitchen sink, and (in ideal circumstances anyway) the heating element is mainly used for drying. And, of course, heating the water to 190 °F for sanitizing or boosting the temp for a "high-temp" option. And trust me, just because someone has already made a see-through dishwasher (Mythbusters were among the many out there) doesn't mean I'm not going to as well!

Technology Connections

Wow this thing looks really cheaply built. Are all dishwashers in the US as bare bones as this one? I am a service technician for those things but even the cheapest crappiest dishwashers here in Europe are built wayyy more solid. It has a submersed heater inside the washer, those have gone out of fashion more than 20 years ago here. Every single one has a “flow-through-heater” in the plumbing or its integrated into the circulation pump so it heats the water as is pumps it around. Somebody already put a window in a dishwasher. Its from a German children TV program but take a look anyway: https://youtu.be/e2X-gwfX4aA

Andy24x

Nice! Excited for this vid. Always wondered what goes on in one. Also I have the same dishwasher.

Marc Grondin

Nice job! Actually, I do this kind of stuff now and then in my job: cutting holes into our machines to see what's happening inside. We actually have a camera that is less than 1 mm (about 1/25th of an inch) in diameter, all cool stuff, but we also use cheap-ass cameras that you buy for about 5 bucks in China :-P. Another way we use a lot is that during development we use transparant plastics. I'm looking forward to see the dishwasher with window in action!

MrHammond

Great project for final dispose of your dishwasher, BUT, I have seen working dishwashers on display with clear front panels, I suppose mfg display units. I have a picture I found on the internet, just not able to post in this comment section. Great work, keep it up..

Ordered black plexiglass by mistake? Easy fix! Simply cut small pieces from it and replace your car taillights to get that modern, "smoky" look that everybody is raving about!

Mark Hesse