I was right about dishwasher pods and now I can prove it [video] • Hacker News Board

Re: I was right about dishwasher pods and now I can prove it [video]

#21

Post by nomel » Wed, Nov 05, 2025, 1:19 AM UTC

WheatMillington wrote: post #11

reaperducer wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

American dishwashers don't have their own heater? Some do, some don't. The ones that do vary in ability by overall dishwasher quality. The ones that don't are hooked up to the kitchen's hot water line. This is considered more energy efficient because a home's hot water heater (whether electric, gas, or another fuel) is better at heating the water in a bulk capacity than a tiny heater in the dishwasher. The downside i…

Hot water from the house supply isn't that hot though? My dishwasher gets MUCH hotter than the hot water supply... and I don't think the heater is "tiny" I think it's a rather substantial element. The dishwasher also doesn't need to heat up a "bulk" amount of water, just the amount of water used for washing the current load of dishes.

My cheap GE dishwasher uses a hot water line, but also has an internal heating element to "boost" it, and help dry. My electric bill definitely suffers if cold water is used.

Re: I was right about dishwasher pods and now I can prove it [video]

#22

Post by ajb » Wed, Nov 05, 2025, 1:21 AM UTC

devilbunny wrote: post #7

suprjami wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for the summary. American dishwashers don't have their own heater? All dishwashers I've seen in Australia only have cold water supply.

They do. I didn't realize this until my natural gas supply company decided to replace my meter on a Friday. Without alerting me ahead of time so that I could, you know, plan to be gone while my house had no hot water. Whenever natural gas supply is turned off in the US, for any reason, only the gas company can turn it back on. And they can't do so if there's a leak at all. You have to call a plumber to come out, dete…

My parents used to have an old cooker which rather than having a spark button, had individual pilot lights for all of the hob burners and the grill. My mother was forever worried about whether one of the damn things had gone out (which they occasionally did). I think if you switched the supply off, switched it on again, and someone has left their house for a week, it might build up a significant amount of gas. Although they are supposed to be small enough not to. Presumably there were hardly any of those left now, but they can't assume they're all gone.

Re: I was right about dishwasher pods and now I can prove it [video]

#23

Post by tguvot » Wed, Nov 05, 2025, 1:41 AM UTC

smileysteve wrote: post #14

ErroneousBosh wrote: post #12

I wonder if that's why my now something like nearly 40-year-old dishwasher is so bad for leaking, on certain cycles? Maybe the pods foam up too much, because it seems hell of a foamy inside. At some point, I'll maybe post up the pics of repairing the door hinges - previously it was leaking badly because the chunky metal hinges had cracked and bent, pushing the door up enough to not squash the bottom lip seal. Unobtai…

At 40 years, there is an expectation that the rubber and most plastic components have become embrittled. The hinges likely only wore out after the spring had reduced function (and lack of lubrication) After your weld, I hope you consider replacing all rubber with silicone, and add lubrication to at least an annual list.

i replaced few years ago dishwasher that was at this point of time 20 years old (GE). When it was removed from below countertop plastic connector on top of dishwasher (water hookup) fall apart into dozen of small pieces.

Re: I was right about dishwasher pods and now I can prove it [video]

#24

Post by tguvot » Wed, Nov 05, 2025, 1:44 AM UTC

383toast wrote: post #2

summary: The creator argues that most dishwashers are designed to use a pre-wash dose and a main wash dose of detergent, a fundamental often ignored by single-dose pods, and presents independent ASTM testing confirming the new powder matches or exceeds the performance of a leading premium pod. The video also features a detailed demonstration using temperature logging and peanut butter to stress the importance of purg…

i have miele dishwasher with detergent powder cartridge that allows dishwasher to dispense it at will. it never used during pre-wash cycle in any of the programs that dishwasher has.

Re: I was right about dishwasher pods and now I can prove it [video]

#25

Post by jojohohanon » Wed, Nov 05, 2025, 2:19 AM UTC

ajb wrote: post #22

devilbunny wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They do. I didn't realize this until my natural gas supply company decided to replace my meter on a Friday. Without alerting me ahead of time so that I could, you know, plan to be gone while my house had no hot water. Whenever natural gas supply is turned off in the US, for any reason, only the gas company can turn it back on. And they can't do so if there's a leak at all. You have to call a plumber to come out, dete…

My parents used to have an old cooker which rather than having a spark button, had individual pilot lights for all of the hob burners and the grill. My mother was forever worried about whether one of the damn things had gone out (which they occasionally did). I think if you switched the supply off, switched it on again, and someone has left their house for a week, it might build up a significant amount of gas. Althou…

Pilot lights are often designed so that the heat from the flame holds a bimetallic switch in the open position. Should the light go out, the bimetallic switch will shut as it cools.

Re: I was right about dishwasher pods and now I can prove it [video]

#26

Post by genter » Wed, Nov 05, 2025, 2:30 AM UTC

jojohohanon wrote: post #25

ajb wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My parents used to have an old cooker which rather than having a spark button, had individual pilot lights for all of the hob burners and the grill. My mother was forever worried about whether one of the damn things had gone out (which they occasionally did). I think if you switched the supply off, switched it on again, and someone has left their house for a week, it might build up a significant amount of gas. Althou…

Pilot lights are often designed so that the heat from the flame holds a bimetallic switch in the open position. Should the light go out, the bimetallic switch will shut as it cools.

For water heaters and wall furnaces with a gas control valve, yes. For old stoves, they don't.

Re: I was right about dishwasher pods and now I can prove it [video]

#27

Post by bcraven » Wed, Nov 05, 2025, 2:30 AM UTC

NamTaf wrote: post #15

RealityVoid wrote: post #5

I've found it harder and harder to find powder dishwasher detergent in my country. I think they intentionally pull them off the market, I used to buy a large Finish container and now I can barely find a place that sells _any_ sort of dishwashing powder.

I, too, went through like 18 months in the UK with the big stores not selling any until one reintroduced it recently. Alternatives on the internet were like 3+x the price, at least. It was incredibly frustrating. I now stock up and have 2-3 boxes of the stuff, in case it does vanish again. Doubly frustrating since mine is a small, single-drawer dishwasher, so pods are even worse since I can't break them down. It lead…

The big Sainsbury's near me never stopped doing this:

https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/gol-ui/product/sainsburys-conce...

And this has worked for me too:

https://www.waitrose.com/ecom/products/essential-dishwasher-...

Re: I was right about dishwasher pods and now I can prove it [video]

#28

Post by mrandish » Wed, Nov 05, 2025, 3:41 AM UTC

suprjami wrote: post #3

383toast wrote: post #2

summary: The creator argues that most dishwashers are designed to use a pre-wash dose and a main wash dose of detergent, a fundamental often ignored by single-dose pods, and presents independent ASTM testing confirming the new powder matches or exceeds the performance of a leading premium pod. The video also features a detailed demonstration using temperature logging and peanut butter to stress the importance of purg…

Thanks for the summary. American dishwashers don't have their own heater? All dishwashers I've seen in Australia only have cold water supply.

Some US washers don't but many do. However, US washers tend to not heat water as quickly or to as high of a temp. The video cites two reasons: 1. US power being 110V vs 220v. 2. US dishwasher heating elements being limited to 800 or 1000 watts because many are designed to potentially share one 20A residential circuit with an oven and/or fridge due to possibly being retrofitted into a kitchen built before built-in dishwashers were standard and manufacturers not wanting to create different models for retrofit vs new installs.

Re: I was right about dishwasher pods and now I can prove it [video]

#29

Post by SchemaLoad » Wed, Nov 05, 2025, 3:52 AM UTC

Titan2189 wrote: post #17

WheatMillington wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same in NZ, never seen a dishwasher with a hot water connection.

If you check the manual you might find that you can hook the single inlet pipe up to the hot water tap.

I feel like it's probably pointless. The dishwasher will be full of water before the hot water starts coming out the pipe. Depending on how far the dishwasher is from the water heater I guess.

Re: I was right about dishwasher pods and now I can prove it [video]

#30

Post by tguvot » Wed, Nov 05, 2025, 3:55 AM UTC

i used multiple dishwashers in multiple countries. blomberg, ge, bosch, miele, lg. used pods for as long as they exist (with exception of miele that has detergent cartridge that is good for two dozens of cycles). the only times when I had problem with dishwasher performance it's when either dishwasher had physical malfunction, dishwasher arms were blocked by some object or when i forgot to put pod.

is my experience of dishwashers extraordinary ?