Amana ADB1500 Stainless Steel Dishwasher ~ Does a Good Job

My new home came equipped with the Amana ADB1500 Stainless Steel Dishwasher. It is a nice looking model, with all the features I need for my relatively small dishwashing needs. Here's more information about this Amana dishwasher:

~ Product Description

This Amana model is attractive, with its stainless steel exterior finish and matte black control panel details. The control panel is on the exterior, which is fine with me. The interior of this dishwasher, however, is not stainless steel, but the familiar white heavy-duty plastic type interior.

This model features an upper AND a lower wash arm. There is no central pillar, like my old dishwasher, which makes loading easier and gives you more room for larger items. There is an upper and lower rack for placing dishes. The upper rack is removable, to make room for oversized items. There are two utensil baskets which attach to the door, and are removable. These baskets have a slotted cap which allows you to place individual utensils into the slots to avoid nesting. Or, if you have lots of utensils, this cap is removable as well.

Naturally, there is a rinse aid dispenser. This dispenser allows you to adjust the amount of rinse aid dispensed depending on the hardness of your water. There are windows indicating the level of rinse aid from Full to Refill, but honestly, I can hardly tell the difference by looking at the windows whether the rinse aid needs to be added.

~ Cycle Options

The Amana ADB1500 features the following cycle options:

Heavy Wash - approx. 132 minutes, 2 washes/3 rinses
Normal Wash - approx. 97-117 minutes, 1-2 washes/1-2 rinses
Light/Quick Wash - approx. 82 minutes, 1 wash/2 rinses
Hi Temp Wash - provides additional heat during wash portion
Heated Dry - for enhanced drying results
Delay - set delay wash for 2, 4, or 6 hour delay

Note that the time and wash variations listed depend on water temperature, and the number of rinses vary depending on the soil level of each load.

~ My Experience and Performance

I've found that this Amana dishwasher is easy and convenient to load. The lower rack allows for quite tall items to fit without removing the top rack. My large frying pans fit just fine in the lower rack. Plates, platters, bowls, glassware - all fit securely and I'm very pleased with this interior configuration of this dishwasher. Mind you, however, I do not have a large family with tons of dishes to wash.

I do not rinse my dishes, other than getting off the bigger chunks of food. I generally use the quick wash cycle, and even on this quick cycle my dishes come out clean and sparkling. If I happen to have a load of dirty pots and pans, I'll use the Normal cycle, and everything comes out clean. My glassware is sparkling and squeaky clean as well, with no spots or streaks. I generally use the heated dry and high temperature wash. With the heated dry, my dishes come out totally dry and do not need any towel drying.

One thing, there is a green light that comes on when the dishwasher is in use. The control panels does not tell you where in the cycle the washer is at any time. Not a big deal, but my old one did. There is no specific light that comes on when the cycle is finished - the green "on" light just goes out. Again, not a big deal.

The one and only bad thing I can say about this dishwasher is that it's not particularly quiet. I wouldn't say it's horribly loud, but it's not one of the quieter models on the market. My kitchen is right next to my living room, and watching TV or trying to have a conversation is not the most pleasant experience while the dishwasher is on. I always try to run it while I'm gone. The delay start feature helps with this.

~ Final Thoughts

This Amana dishwasher does a fine job at getting my dishes sparkling clean and spot free. I like the interior configuration. You don't need to pre-rinse dishes, as it has a soft food disposer. My dishes come out dry if I use the Heated Dry option. I have found myself on several occasions, however, wishing it were quieter. If quiet is important to you, I would look for another model. Otherwise, this has been a great dishwasher.