Whirlpool 840 Series

(Kentucky)

We're renting a house with a Whirlpool 840 Series dishwasher built in. It's a fairly modern dishwasher, probably installed around 2003. It has typical upper and lower racks and a removable tray for silverware. There are 3 wash cycles (Normal, Heavy, and Pots & Pans) with optional added heat during the wash and dry stages. We typically leave the heated wash and dry settings turned off to save on our electric bill.

The upper rack has plenty of room for our cups and other small items. The lower rack seems small for the kind of dishes it's designed to hold. We don't generally put pots and pans through the dishwasher because they consume so much space that's needed for plates.

The dishwasher makes a fair amount of noise in operation, but I can't say if it's any more or less than other models. We usually run it at night so it's not a problem.

Operation is easy and straightforward. Fill the cups with detergent, close the door, turn the knob to the cycle you want (just like a clothes washing machine), and it's off and running.

We're still learning the ins and outs of this washer, but the biggest problem we have is that the machine doesn't leave our dishes and silverware clean enough. Using the Normal cycle leaves food and residues on our dishes. Using the Heavy cycle does a better job, but still leaves some residues behind (especially milk and peanut butter). Spotting seems to be a problem on our plates and bowls, too.

We always rinse our dishes pretty well before they go into the washer, we use two out of three levels of detergent for the wash and prewash to combat hard water, and we keep the rinse aid reservoir filled. It seems like we're doing everything by the book, but we don't see good wash results. Next, we'll try adding extra heat to the wash and maybe even using the Pots & Pans cycle. I don't know what effect those settings will have on our electricity and water bills.

Overall, the wash quality is the 840 Series' greatest fault. If we can figure out some combination of settings and detergents to improve it, the washer will be a productive little member of our household.