bittersweet said:

I am wondering if anyone can help to educate me and help me decide on a replacement for my current ( yucky) dishwasher! No offense if you have one and love it!! In purchasing a new home it came with a dishwasher and i was so excited but to my dismay it cleans poorly and runs for almost 2 hours and yet the dishes have redeposited gunk on them and have t o be washed again i have tried to keep up hand washing but with a family of seven it is quite tough! Currently i have a GE nautilus model gsd2600g02bb 120 volt 1.8 motor i think only one arm and it comes up through the middle. I assume this is a very cheap model since it was put in with t he house and no other appliances were "included". So i am looking for the largest capacity, quiet( did i mention how loud it is!) energy efficient model but i also need to look at cost and can only afford the 4-500$ range. Any expertise would be helpful thanks!

The dishwasher you have is a rental property piece or for better words, a piece of junk. Black in color BTW. Bosch does make some very quiet models starting at $580. They are different then American d/w as they dry by condensation rather then a large heating element and have a stainless steel interior. Basically the way it works is during the last rinse the water temperature is taken up to 181 degress by a heating element. This sanitizes the dishes and any food particles that are in the filter are emulisified and taken out during the drain cycle. now there is a lot of steam in the d/w because of this and as the stainless steel interior cool the steams seeks the cooler area and turns into water and drains back into the pump. It takes a bit longer to dry but if you use jet-dry it is well worth the money.

Bosch dishwashers are thought of as generally being expensive, but their 'Evolution 300 Series Energy Star Dishwasher' model is online for $550 (Maybe you can find it for less.)  And it is backed by the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval.  I have a different Bosch that is great and my informal surveys of Bosch owners yield mostly positive comments.

 In the meantime, I suggest you check the owner's manual and see if your current washer has a filter that catches bits of food. This filter needs to be cleaned regularly. The manual should explain how to remove it and then you just rinse it off and possibly give it a brief scrubbing.  It's also possible that some of the jets (the holes) in the sprayer arm are blocked and need to be cleared. I'm sorry I don't have any ideas now about the long running time, but most dishwashers do take a while to get the job done.

I hope these suggestions are helpful.  Please check back here for more suggestions - and let us know how it all turns out.