Customer Reviews

Haier HDT18PA Space Saver Compact Countertop Dishwasher

5 star:		(48)
4 star:		(59)
3 star:		(25)
2 star:		(12)
1 star:		(55)

 

 

I am a grad student living in a tiny apartment without a dishwasher. I hate washing dishes -- I've always had a dishwasher before. The Haier HDT18PA really seemed like my only option -- but the reviews on Amazon were so mixed. Finally, I bought it anyway in desperate hope that it would work.

When I finally got the machine, it was a disaster. I couldn't figure out how to hook it up. The pieces didn't seem to fit my sink and the manual was useless -- it was a real mess. I went to Home Depot to try to find a piece that would fit, but they assured me that the pieces that came with the machine (i brought them with me) had to actually fit my sink -- I was not putting it together right (remember, with no instructions, how could I know?) I went home, and tried for a week to get the pieces to fit -- Finally I got it right! Then I tried to get it running -- no luck! ... Eventually I discovered a small piece of tape inside that was holding the water spinner from moving.

And then ... FINALLY ... it worked. This thing washed my dishes. It washes small pots and pans covered with grease and all the nasty stuff I don't want to touch. It's GREAT and so easy to use now that I got it hooked up. Seriously -- it's small, but I usually cook for only two people -- and this covers the plates, glasses, and the sauce pot or whatever. I'm truly in love with this machine.

Now -- I'll try to save you the hassles I've gone through. First, check your sink and see if you can unscrew something to reveal the threads on the faucet. You may think your sink is so smooth that it looks like nothing can unscrew, but try it with some pliers or a wrench -- you may be surprised. Anyway, there's a piece in the kit that then screws on to replace the piece you just unscrewed. Then, there's another piece (the "quick release") piece that fits on the washer hose and then snaps onto that piece on your sink if you press down the white circle on it first. Once you attach the quick release piece to the piece on your faucet, you should be able to turn on the water without anything splashing or spraying. At that point, you then turn on the dishwasher, and it works.

And also, make sure to remove all the tape and foam from the inside of the machine -- it's all over the place -- you need to search hard.

I think that a lot of the bad reviews stem from people who just had to deal with the nightmare of setting this thing up without instructions. So I hope my supplements to the manual prove useful to you.

I would highly recommend that you get this machine if you don't have space for a full size. It changes my willingess to cook, knowing I don't have to wash the pots and plates!

Length:: 6:02 Mins

A stunning video demonstration and in-depth review of the Haier HDT18PA Space Saver Compact Countertop Dishwasher.

I have had this unit for 2 years and it's still going strong. Why am I writing after all this time? Because I am so impressed with this unit that I am considering other products by the same company. I noticed it was still for sale and thought I would see what others' experiences were. I have to say from reading the other reviews, that there are many misconceptions about this unit.

For one person, maybe two, it rocks. It's not a family machine. It's a nice, compact system that takes up couple square feet of counter space. You can put about 4 plates, 4 glasses, and couple bowls, and silverware in a single load; and that's it! If you over load it, there just isn't enough water flow and the dishes don't get clean. And use liquid detergent with some kind of spot free rinse. And run the water to get it hot before hooking up the washer and starting the cycle. It makes a difference.

Installation was a breeze with a little common sence. You have to hook it up to your sink and that means you have to take the ring off the end of your faucet and replace it with the coupler provided. Almost all faucets have a screw on end unless they are very designer. Check your faucet before buying, but chances are very good you'll have this.

Maybe I got lucky, but my machine did come with an instuction manual that was good as far as manuals go.

After two years, have I had any problems with the unit? Yes, actually, neither were due to a defect in the machine. For a while nothing was coming out clean. I tracked it down to a piece of carrot stuck in the spout on the end of the bottom wash arm. This prevented the water from coming out of the spout at pressure thus turning the arm. I popped it out with a toothpick and the problem was solved.

Another problem once was that the water was not emptying from the unit. I tracked that down to a faulty release valve. Tipping the unit 45 degrees forward to reset the valve did the trick.

Finally, once every so often it seems to forget what part of the cycle it is in. Right in the middle, it will stop, beep at you as if done and then turn off. In those cases I open the unit, find the dishes either not clean or water still in the tub and just restart it. It goes theough another full cycle and is fine after that. Quirky, but not a big deal.

Bottom line, as with all machines, don't get mad at it, just think about the problem and see why the malfunction is happening. Once you know why something is wrong, you can fix it.

This machine has been a steal for me at the $150 I spent on it when I consider the number of dishes I didn't have to wash by hand.

So, get it, use it right, and enjoy being a single guy or gal not having to do dishes on a Friday night.

Within three months of buying it my dishwasher had broken down. It was still under warranty, so I called customer service, with the following responses: no answer; told they would get back to me; told that the supervisor would get back to me; told that the repairman would get back to me; told that the supervisor would contact the repairman and the repairman would get back to me; told "Oh. That's not your phone number? That must be why no one has gotten back to you."; told that now the repairman would definitely get back to me and they would call back and make sure he had done so in two days. Etc. Finally gave up after two months of this. Am buying a different dishwasher from another company.

I had this machine for about a year. I was very happy with the way that it worked until it just stopped. Partway thru a cycle it simply stopped and no matter what buttons I pushed it would not start again.
It was just over warranty and I saw the problems that other had had and did not bother contacting the company. Instead I contacted some local repair companies. Only one would look at it and it turned out to be a design flaw. I could replace the same part over and over as it failed or give up.
I can't afford either option so I am back to hand washing for now.
The best advice I can give is that it seems to be the water heater is too close to a control card. Try making sure you always put really hot water in the machine so that the water heater does not have to run as much. That might be how we got more than a year out of our machine.

Actually, I purchased my Haier Dishwasher in late Oct 2002, and since then it washed my dishes as good and in some cases even better than some of its larger counterparts. However, in the middle of February, the machine broke completely down on me, and I was forced to call Haier to repair my machine. Within a couple of days they sent a contracted repairman, and the repairman discovered that the control board of the dishwasher broke down. After some miscommunication on my part, the technician, and Haier, they finally shipped me a factory new dishwasher. I was without a dishwasher for one month, but since I'm rather patient - considering that it takes time to contract the repairman, send them the cord as proof that I'm not using the machine, and them shipping the machine - they still responded fast. So, unlike some of the other customers who did not receive such good customer service, I would rate Haier with 'very good' on their customer service. Now, if this machine works for a longer period, it will get five stars (since it washes the dishes as good as some bigger machines do), however if it does break down again, it would hit the one star rating for me (i.e. not worth buying). I will post an update, should the machine break down again (so if you do not find my update, it did not break down!)

This is a pretty good dishwasher for the price. It does a very good job cleaning very dirty items even on the normal cleaning cycle. There is even an option to turn off the drying mode. There is very little unused space, and the space is pretty well organized.

If you have plates that are somewhat on the large size they might not fit very well into the dishwasher. The instructions are less than adequate and extremely poorly written. For example sink hook-ups (while pretty easy to figure out) are not even described. Someone we know had their dishwasher fail (under warrenty) because of defective electronics.

If you want a pretty inexpensive solution to washing your dishes in a small apartment this is a good one. If you're looking for a long term solution, a more expensive and larger standalone dishwasher may be a better option.

Just a quick update: It's December 2008 and my dishwasher has been working great for a little over 2 and a half years. I run it on average four or five times a week. No problems or service issues what so ever.
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June 4th 2006. I've had my dish washer about two months. The reviews on this little machine are certainly mixed and I really hesitated before buying it. The reviews on the similar Danby unit are better. But for the space I needed to fit it in the Haier was a better fit than the Danby; ( the Dandby is not as tall but wider). I saw that Wal-Mart had the best price and figured why not I've got 90 days to return it to any of their stores if it doesn't work out. So I ordered it and used their free "ship-to-store" service. It arrived at the store exactly when they said it would. About a week after I ordered it I got an email to pick it up; delivery and pick up were hassle free.

Some people have complained about the packaging and shipping damage; I think perhaps packaging has been improved since some earlier reviews. My dishwasher had a plain cardboard box then a tight layer of bubble pack then the inside retail box. It was very securely packaged. As stated in other reviews setup instructions are lacking, but honestly setup is very simple and took me all of 10 minutes. Once you have have everything out of the package. Unscrew the end piece from the tip of your faucet; screw on half the quick release adapter then screw the other half of the quick release adapter onto the garden hose like fitting on the dishwasher's hose. I need to two pairs of pliers to get this part tight enough as it leaked the first time I turned it on. To connect it to the sink pull the plastic ring back and push it on the sink's faucet. The drain hose just lays in the sink. I have mine sitting right next to the kitchen sink and hoses store nicely behind the dishwasher. Hooking it up to wash a load takes all of 30 seconds.

It uses very little detergent; about a table spoon which goes into an open pocket in the door. Noise is on par with any lower/middle line built in dishwasher I've used. Which is to say you know it running, but it's quite enough. The beeps when it finishes are a bit loud, but are there to remind you to turn off the faucet. The little machine cleans VERY well. At least as well as any other dishwasher I've used.

The vented dry option is about useless. It takes an extra 15 minutes and is supposed to pull the steam out the drain hose. The machine does not really have a true drying mode. To switch on/off vented dry push the normal or heavy cycle wait a second then push it again before the washer starts; you have to select it before it starts washing. The vented dry light toggles on or off and this is not clear in the manual. A normal cycle takes about 25 minutes and a heavy cycle about 40 (add another 15 minutes or so for the useless vented dry. If you hang one of the little Jet Dry baskets in the machine and just open the door at the end of the cycle it drys very fast and spot free. It's been my experience if it won't clean the dishes on normal cycle it doesn't get it on heavy either; which seems to be just a longer normal cycle. Plus by not using the vented dry I think I'll extend the life of the machine as I'm cutting 15 minutes of use off the heating element each time I wash a load.

A few hints. Run your tap water until it's HOT before you hook up the hose. My hot water out of the tap is about 120F and the water temperature coming out of the machine's drain measures at about 150F. The machine does a better job at sanitizing than I ever could by hand washing. And for one or two people is about the perfect size. Do measure the space where it will go before you order. It's about 18" wide 20" deep and 22" tall, so it's very unlikely to fit under any hanging cabinets. It takes up about the same foot print as my old drying rack. After you run the machine remember to pull and rinse the filter screen at the bottom front; that will keep any funky smells out. If you don't have a vegetable spay on your sink to relieve the line pressure on the faucet & hose wrap a dish cloth around the quick disconnect before you remove it to avoid splatter.

I REALLY love this little machine; for what I needed it's just about perfect. The quality seems very good it cleans well. Uses about 4.5gal of water per wash. It's easy to use and I figure it saves me about an hour a week from washing dishes or about 50 hours a year... how much is 50 hours of your time worth? ... For me it was very easy to justify the $170.00 with taxes I paid. It's a GREAT machine. And if it breaks, well I figure if I get a year out of it, it's more then paid for it's self.

You push the button for the wash cycle twice to turn the vent dry on and off. If anyone was wondering where that rinse aid dispenser was, it is the same as the detergent dispenser.

I have to say I am 2000% pleased with the HDT18PA. I live in a small townhome with a decent size kitchen but no dishwasher. Let me tell you. It is a wonder. No more handwashing dishes,no more dreading doing the dishes, the only thing I dread is putting up the dishes but I've been that way since I was young and it was one of my assigned chores. It is great for those of you that live in apartments or have small kitchens, or want a dishwasher for your basement but not having to permanently install one.

Washes microwave containers well, large pots, and dinner plates.
I have found that since I have large dinner plates I do need to put them in every other slot and it helps to use the "heavy" wash selection. I also recommend using the "heavy" wash selection with pots and pans. It has washed some of my crustiest pots (as an experiment) in two "heavy" washes with no problem. I am able to fit 99% of all of my pots and pans in the dishwasher which is a huge plus. I have had mine since late Spring 2003 and it is Fall 2003, dishwasher is still going strong sitting on top of my washing machine for good drainage. (I need to conserve space). You can easily move it from place to place if necessary, I weigh b/w 100 - 115 lbs and can lift the dishwasher w/o dishes with no problem. If it has dishes in it then picking it up is a bit of struggle. I do recommend you do not select "vented dry" when you are washing thin plastic items...the heat will melt the items with no problem. I love the "rinse/hold" option because I run all my dishes through it and then go back and do a full cycle later on during the week if necessary. I do recommend that you run a full cycle empty once a week or after you've done all your dishes add a scoop of dishwashing detergent along with a huge scoop of baking soda. It helps keep it fresh and smelling clean. I found this out by one day not cleaing the filter screen and being in a rush. Running the empty cycle helps remove in food particles you may not be able to see and remove by hand.
Make sure you have your drain hose secure so that it doesn't swing out and start emptying out on the floor. Yes, that happened to me but now I have secured it to the water inlet hose with ease so it isn't a worry anymore. Also, keeping your dishwasher at least an inch if not three or more inches higher than your drain truly gets your dishwasher completely drained. If you aren't able to, then easily, have a bucket near by and place the drain hose in the bucket (while sitting the bucket on the floor) at the end of the wash cycle and the rest of the water will drain out. Sink hookup is easy, fast, and uncomplicated. Installation is too. Washes my china with tenderness and no problem on the "normal" cycle.

AND THIS IS COMING FROM SOMEONE WHO DESPISES HAND WASHING ANY TYPE OF DISH! I will keep this dishwasher regardless of where I move. I will put it in our basement when we move to a new house that way I don't have to buy a regular sized one for it.