$100 well spent?

Most of my evening last night was consumed by the new dishwasher.  When I bought it in mid April I scoffed at the $100 Home Depot wanted to charge me to remove the old unit and install the new one.  Without hesitation I dismissed the charge and proclaimed I’ll just do it myself.  After all we were already dropping close to 2K on appliances, I didn’t need to spend another 100 for something I could do myself.  Around 8pm last night I have to admit I was reconsidering the decision.

I came home to a big box in the middle of the kitchen.  I ran into frustration right off the bat.  The instructions on the outside of the box indicated I should cut along a line near the bottom but to not use a cutting instrument any longer than 1/4″.  I assumed there was a risk of cutting into the dishwasher otherwise.

Ok so I grabbed my utility knife and set it to it’s first notch where the blade is just poking out of the housing.  I worked my way around the box carefully.  Well it became apparent that with the blade at that setting it simply was not long enough to cut all the way through the cardboard.  Opening the box became a hack, slash and rip affair as it progressed, by the end of it I had the blade almost fully extended as I cut away at the box angrily.

Finally I was able to slide the top of the box off, revealing the dishwasher in all of it’s glory.  The unit was bolted to a small wooden skid which I removed.  As I looked at the directions it became apparent that I was missing an important component, a 90 degree elbow that connects the dishwasher to the hot water line.  Why they don’t include that as part of the dishwasher is dumbfounding to me. So after dinner I was out the door with the instructions in hand to the local hardware store which is closer than Home Depot.  I figured I could save some time.

The instructions identified the part as a 90 degree 3/8″ elbow (NPT), not sure what the NPT means.  I told the woman I was looking for a 3/8″ 90 degree brass elbow.  She directed me to the spot and pulled of a bag labeled as a 3/8″ elbow.  I hurried home with the part, eager to get this project completed.

Once I got back and got a better look at what I was supposed to connect the elbow to I immediately saw what I had was too small.  I verified my fitting was way too small.  I was very annoyed.  I told Ali I had to head back out.  This time I made the longer trek to Home Depot, I wanted to make sure this was my last trip for parts.  I marched back to the appliance department and told the guy I had a new GE dishwasher and needed the elbow for the feed line.  He knew exactly what I needed, marched me over there and pulled it off the shelf, cool.  Even though this was also marked as a 3/8″ fitting the one end was significantly larger than what I bought earlier.  Perhaps the NPT designation is significant.

By the time I got home from parts run number two it was already after 8pm.  I knew regardless of how long it took, I WAS finishing this project tonight come hell or high water. 

Hooking up the new unit wasn’t that hard but had a few challenges.  I left the drain hose from the old unit in place.  I figured it would save me some time.  Well it turns out that the dishwasher side of the hose was too small for the new unit so I had to yank it out and throw in the new hose.

The most important things to pay attention to when installing a dishwasher are the water connections are all tight to prevent leaks and that the electric is connected in a manner that you don’t electrocute yourself.  I made sure to use plenty of teflon thread tape and crank the fittings/clamps snug.  

You also need to level the dishwasher to make sure water drains as it should instead of collecting in the sides of the machine.  A couple times I had to adjust the rear feet to level it out.  Ali assisted me in the process by tilting the dishwasher forward so I could reach the feet easier. Ali helped me throughout the install process as she could tell my frustration level was high that it was taking this long.

Finally a little after 9pm we had the unit level, leak-free and secured back under the counter.  We loaded it up with the sink full of dishes and washed our first load. It worked.  The new dishwasher is all push button controls instead of the rotary dial our old one utilized.  It makes for easy operation.  We also liked the CLEAN led that lights up to let you know the dishwasher was run as well as the delay start option that let’s you start the unit up to 6 hours later. 

 On the downside we sort of missed being able to tell how far into a wash cycle you are by looking at the dial.  There is no way of knowing if it just started or is almost done.

Ali was the designated house expert when it came to dishwasher loading with the old machine.  The layout of the racks is totally different now so she has to start from square one again in her craft.  I am sure she will get up to speed quickly on the optimal loading patterns.

Once I was done with the install of course I looked upon it with pride.  The question is was that feeling of accomplishment worth $100?  Oh well it’s history now.  The rebate form is in the mail and our participation in the Florida Appliance Rebate program is complete.