Danby Countertop Dishwasher - DDW396W

Hours before buying this I never knew such a thing existed! Worked better than imagined. Cleaning with vinegar every few months will keep glasses spotless. After three wonderful years, the water pump died (inexpensive to replace), I installed a new one but after a few months, it was never the same. Everything ended up with horrible water stains. Great will it lasted!

I bought this dish washer when I moved in with my boyfriend about 2 years ago, and it worked fantastically for quite a while and I was really impressed and suggested it to many of my friends, however lately we have been smelling a burning smell coming from it, we thought maybe it was due to a clog and tried the tips suggested online and it seemed to be coming from where the motor was. We took off the lid and can't see any reason for the smell, but it smells like burning wires or melting plastic. I think the smell is coming from the motor. I won't use it anymore because it's not worth the possible fire it is going to start. It's a good washer, however I wouldn't say its durable... seeing as it only lasted 2 years. I gave it 2 stars for 2 years :S

It took Target 20 days to send this to me, and the first time I set it up the unit failed to drain properly. Instead of draining through the hose & into my sink, it simply filled up & poured out of the door, all over my kitchen floor. The ad says it doesn't use much water, but considering that I was ankle deep in water when I entered my kitchen, I'd have to disagree. The instructions in the manual are not helpful, either. Perhaps they're sufficient if nothing goes wrong. I was on hold with Danby "service dept" for 20 minutes before I finally hung up & then called back & left a message with reception. If they dont call back with a quick fix within 24 hours, I'm taking it back to Target. I paid too much $ for this hassle.

I love this dishwasher. It is definitely worth the price. It really does only take a couple of minutes to do the dishes now. Thank you Danby!

I have had my Danby DDW396W for over a year now and it still works great. I use it at least once a week, and it makes washing dishes so nice. I have mine on a cart that I hook up to the kitchen sink and then roll away when I am done with it. The one thing I have to complain about it is that occassionally the dial gets stuck. When that happens, I just help it forward one click and it does fine after that. (It happens very rarely.)

It is reasonably quiet considering how well it cleans. The internal rack could be slightly better. I love the size of the thing, because it fits about the same amount of dishes as a kitchen sink (because that seems to be everyone's favorite place to put dirty dishes).

I am impressed with the "ruggedness" as I have bumped and moved it a lot (this may be the reason for why the dial occassionally gets stuck). I even accidently grazed the hose (tubing) with a super-sharp kitchen knife, which did nothing to it!

Pros: Size, of course - that's why you're looking at it. It seems to wash very well, with three loads through it so far and everything's come out clean with varying degrees of prep cleaning. Quiet - despite being on an entirely wooden and hollow counter, it is suprisingly quiet. You can hear it, of course, but you can have a phone conversation standing closer than two feet away from the unit. It's inexpensive. It comes with all the hardware you need unless you have some specialized faucet in your kitchen.

Cons: The manual is horrendous - I still have no clue what the indicators are on the cycle selector knob, and what they mean. You also have very little idea as to by what miracle of engineering you can fit the alleged four full place settings in the unit. It says, and I'm not kidding, four dinner plates, four salad plates, four bowls, four glasses, two serving spoons, and some other stuff I can't remember will all fit in the unit at once. Ummm.... no. Not that I'd want to overload the unit, anyway, but you couldn't if you tried. My chief complaint is that there is too much space between the wires on the bottom of the rack, and you have to be exceedingly careful how to stack items in it, or they'll fall through and render the spinning cleaning unit immobile. I had to open the unit up twice the first time I used it to rearrange the items so that they wouldn't do this.

Overall, not a bad unit. Crap internal rack, and a manual that's basically worthless in three languages, but otherwise not a bad unit.

We'll see how it holds up in light of all the previous reviews.

Me and my wife had to struggle to get time out of our busy schedules to wash dishes. Now its a 2-minute job. And the machine works perfectly. Except for a minor problem with the dial getting stuck sometimes, this machine is trouble-free!

I love this machine. We have had it for just over a year now and I think it just may have saved our relationship! ;) This little baby holds quite a lot of dishes too! I did notice that it occationally gets stuck (between the pots cycle and regular dishes cycle) but if you just turn the dial all the way around once then let it continue, its ok. And that hasn't even happened often--2-3 times in the last year.

This is my second Danby dishwasher. These dishwashers are great. They get things very clean, are easy to use and set up, and are reasonably attractive, especially the stainless steel interior. We keep it on a counter next to the sink in our small apartment, and it works out just fine.

However, these dishwashers only last two years. Then they break down, and we could not find anyone on Danby's list of repairers who would fix it. So we had to throw it away (we were able to give it away on Craigslist to some handy person). My husband didn't want to buy another one, only to have it break down two years later, but it is really the best countertop dishwasher out there. After about a year of washing dishes, I talked him into buying another one. I wish Danby would make a longer lasting product, or find a reliable way to provide repair service for customers.

This little guy cleans better then any full size washer I have ever used. It uses up counter space, but it's the same counter space that would be used for drying dishes. I can not say enough good things about this small but powerful machine. They are not expensive new, but they are often available used from people moving to a bigger place. It does not fit as much as a full size, but I'm not sure I ever want to go back to a full size. Why go big when big is not better.

Great product if you do not have space for large dishwasher, works very well on economy if you have good hot water source. Perfect for a couple.
We have a house that was never plumbed for a dishwasher and would have cost a pretty penny to do so. This was the perfect alternative, although it is small and a little cumbersome to load some things it serves it's purpose well. It does take quite a bit of countertop space, but if you really want a dishwasher the loss of space is worth it. Also it is energy star rated! I like that.

I saw before I bought this, many people write reviews where they had problems with the product before I bought it. Let me tell you that I've had none of those problems whatsoever. This dishwasher has worked pretty much perfectly since I bought it. I did encounter some water leakage a couple times, but I determined that had something to do with the unit's angle -- my apartment for some reason isn't level. So I adjustted it so it was level and it worked.

All in all, I have no complaints whatsoever! This unit is great! And saves this lazy soul plenty of time.

I HAVE A FULL SIZE DISHWASHER WHICH WHEN I AM BEING ENVIRONMENTALLY CORRECT I REFUSE TO RUN UNLESS I HAVE A FULL LOAD. WITH THE SMALLER DISHWASHER IT USES LESS WATER BUT I CAN ALSO USE IT TO WASH ENTIRE DINNER SETTING. LOVE IT. LOVE IT LOVE IT.

I have been wanting a countertop dish washer for over 2 years. For my 60th birthday, my children gave me this dishwasher. After setting it up and using it I was in heaven... no more dishes to do! It was doing my pots and everything with great results. Then 4 months into its use it sprung a leak. I found that it was leaking from the inside window. I tried to find a service company locally but there was nothing available. The young woman at Danby customer service asked if I would mind removing a couple of screws, if I did not, she would send me a new door assembly. Which she did. However, it was more than a few screws. Nonetheless, its back in working order. The one thing that bothers me is that she said it was the dish detergent that ate away the gasket around the window. I'm thinking now if this is going to continue to happen.

I just bought this dishwasher a few weeks ago.. It's fantastic! No problems with it and it was a breeze to set up.. I have a pur water filter on my sink and it attached to it with no problems, didn't have to buy any extra parts. It gets my dishes sparkling clean. Saves me so much time cleaning dishes in my apartment. A little bit bigger than it looks online, but overall a fantastic buy... I simply bought a movable cart to roll it to the sink..... Would buy again...

I got mine for 80 bucks on craigslist. Skeptical at first, but I use this little monkey every day, and my life is better! That's the question you must ask yourself after a purchase - "Is my life better?" Yes. I now have clean forks. All the time.

Window in door is useless.

A real dishwasher for a real man.

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Rating should be "0" but that wasn't a choice. I ordered this item at beginning of July pending move to a place that didn't have a dishwasher. They backordered it until August 10. So I waited and didn't have sanitized dishes in the meantime for myself and my 12 pets. Then, on August 9, they sent me an email saying "we can't get this item, we're cancelling the order." I have gone 5 weeks without a dishwasher! Now I have to go find another online store to order from. Target may advertise the cheapest price but THEY DON'T DELIVER!

I bought my Danby dishwasher about a year and a half ago. I have a very tiny kitchen in a studio apartment, so there is no room for a full-sized dishwasher. This product is excellent! My kitchen faucet was old (from the 1940s), so I had to go to the hardware store to buy an appropriate faucet adapter. That didn't take long to figure out. I have never had any leaks with this dishwasher, and it really does clean dishes well. Besides four place settings, you can also wash large casserole dishes and mixing bowls if you position them inside the dishwasher carefully. As far as noise goes, I barely hear this machine when I'm sitting in my living room. I don't know how the rinse agent dispenser works, and when I called Danby customer service about it, they were very helpful. They said that if I use Cascade Complete dishwashing detergent (which I do) I don't need to fill the rinse agent dispenser. So I don't worry about it. I don't have spotting, and dishes come out sparkling clean! I highly, highly recommend this product!

We needed a small countertop dishwasher for our rec room, and after a few months of use, I can say this one is working out very well.

It shipped quickly, with no damage (the box was pretty tattered, but the packing material and the actual dishwasher were fine). It's large for a countertop device, certainly bigger than most microwaves. Be sure to measure your available space, especially clearance to any cabinets above your installation site.

I hit some minor bumps getting it installed. The dishwasher hose nozzle is supposed to connect to your kitchen faucet using a threaded quick-connect coupler included in the box. The coupler is supposed to screw onto the end of the faucet, but the faucet on that sink was a removeable spray handle on a long hose. There's no way for the included adapter to hook up to this, so I wound up having to install a new faucet (this isn't as bad as it sounds, as we were planning to replace the old one anyway).

I brought the quick connect adapter to the hardware store with me to be sure it would fit the threads on the new faucet. Everything seemed okay in the store, but when I got home and installed the new faucet, I had some trouble. It turns out that the included adapter isn't particularly good quality, and didn't fit the faucet threads tightly enough to stay in place once the water pressure was actually turned on.

I blew the hose nozzle off the end of the new faucet a couple of times until I finally went back to the hardware store and picked up an off-the-shelf adapter. Fortunately, it looks like Danby is using all standard-sized parts, so I was able to replace the flaky adapter with a new one that works well for only a couple of dollars.

Once I had the thing up and running, it was easy to load and use. The basket is built to hold four full place settings, but I find that with some creative jiggering I can get it to take in any odd collection of dishes, mugs, baby cups, storage containers and what have you. The basket insert is removeable, converting it to an all-glasses tray, which we found useful for party cleanup.

The machine really heats the water, so dishes come out clean. Even sticky stuff like melted cheese usually cleans right up. I've never had to use the heat-boost "sanitize" setting.

It uses a very small amount of dishwasher soap and rinse fluid, and you want to be careful NOT to add too much. I made the mistake of overfilling the soap holder (spilled a little too much, figured it would just rinse out, oops) and wound up flooding my countertop in suds. This has only happened once and there was no damage. Call it a learning experience.

I saw in some of the other reviews that the timer knob occasionally won't advance when you start running the machine, and this did happen to me once as well after I'd had it for about two weeks. It hasn't recurred since then, either becuase I've been particularly careful to set the timer in the right start position, or the timer's "wearing in."

Been using it steadily several times a week for a few months now, and after the initial hiccups, it's been working fine. No complaints, and now I'm looking for a Danby under-counter mini-refigerator to replace one in the same rec room. I'd recommend this dishwasher, provided you don't mind a little effort getting it dialed in.

It took a little while for me to find the right type of adapter for my faucet, but once I did, the dishwasher was easy to set up. It cleans really well and holds a decent amount of dishes (perfect for a single person). The price is really reasonable given the quality and convenience of the dishwasher. It is bigger than a standard microwave, but it should fit on most kitchen countertops.

the door wouoldn't stay closed,and the company repair rep.couldn't fix it.amazon did replace it quickly.

I've had mine for over a month now. Setup was a breeze, user instructions are easy to follow, and the dishes come out spotless. I'm truly amazed at how well this thing works. If you're looking for a compact dishwasher, this is the one!

Installation was easier than I thought, and I had it up and running with no real problems, In 15 minutes. I did need a little teflon tape to stop a very minor drip in the water line connector, but it was easy to fix

Excellent! Cleans very well i was impressed, i didnt think it would get dried stuck food off my plates but it did. You really dont even need to rinse your plates and bowls off before u put it in. Just load and go! The only thing is i wish the cord was longer or they sell cord extensions but other than that great product.

I bought this machine because I thought it would be a great time saver! But... the hose did not attach to my kitchen faucet! Even with the extra attachment, it was not compatible. Unfortunately, it turned out to be more of a hassle instead of a help.

Works just like a normal dishwasher but you plug it onto your faucet. The quick-connect style faucet end they provide makes this a breeze. The 'sani-clean' mode uses a heating element to make the water hotter than comes out of your faucet which seems to really help in cleaning off dishes with caked on food. It can't get all caked on food off, it is a very small dishwasher after all, but it does it's job well and I am super happy to not be washing utensils, bowls, plates, and cups.

I bought this dishwasher mainly because it fit underneath the cabinets in my apartment kitchen. It is a time saver and it does a good job cleaning dishes compared to most apartment dishwashers I have used.

The installation is pretty tricky as the manual leaves a lot to be desired. I also had a difficult time tightening the connections at the back of the dishwasher to prevent leaks, but was eventually able to do so.

I am on the road at least 1 week per month for work. I stay at little private motels. The owners of these little motels never have problems with me bringing this little item along. I like to grill at the motels and I could never bring the grill with me becuase cleaning the grates was impossible in a bathroom sink! This dishwasher makes the grill look brand new, it cleans the BBQ grease and grime right off! One of the best features is the heating element for the water. As most anyone knows motel water is NOT always HOT!!! No problem for this dishwasher. I hate to admit it but this $179.00 item cleans JUST HAS GOOD as my $1,000.00 Kitchen Aid model.

I love this dishwasher! After moving from a large house to a one-bedroom apartment, I was sure I'd have to get used to washing dishes by hand again. Not true! My partner bought the Danby, and it's been terrific. Works just as good as a full-sized dishwasher with the only difference being the size of the load it can handle. I even wash my Pyrex oven pans in it after making lasagne.

As for the comments that it's "bigger than it looks" - there's no way a photo on the internet can give any idea what size an object is. I don't understand how anyone would buy such an appliance without noting the dimensions and actually measuring their counter space and clearence. We measured, made sure there was enough room on the counter and under out kitchen cabinets, and that the space was close to both the sink and an electrical outlet. When the Danby arrived we literally took it out of the box, slipped it into the space, and washed our first load of dishes within tweny minutes.

A great product I would highly recommend to anyone.

Dishes very clean, not very loud. Hooking it up to the sink was a problem. Had to take the hose to the hardware store and get an adapter to fit my sink but now it works great. make sure to use all washers. Had to buy a thiner washer to get a good seal and not have water spraying everywhere. washer that comes with the unit may be too thick to really tighten down the airator.

I have it for about a month. I live in a small apartment in the Boston area, and it fits perfectly on the counter in my small kitchen. I was amazed with the simplicity of the installation. It even comes with detergent, just plug and play. The washer heats up the water and the dishes come out real hot at the end. The quick-connect feature of the water intake and drain works well and is really quick and simple. I have read in other reviews that the machine is noisy, but I found the operation quite quiet - perhaps it is a matter of ear sensitivity. Most importantly, the dishes come out real clean! Life is much better when you don't need to do dishes. To summarize, so far it has been just perfect for me.

We've been using this dishwasher for about a month and just love it. It's just the right size for a couple with no kids. All the dishes and silverware from each meal go right in the dishwasher and if we have company, we just run it twice. It's easy to keep clean and we've had no problems with the plumbing. Our house is very old and we were worried that a full-size dishwasher would be too much of a drain on the kitchen circuits. With the counter-top model, it's not a problem and we don't have to sacrifice any of our cabinets. It takes up the same amount of space as our old drying rack, so it's been a great addition to our appliance family. No complaints at all.

I am very happy with this dishwasher, is small, leave the plates very clean and only I have to connect to the faucet...Wait 6 to 40 minutes and ready....

After reading all of the great reviews here on Amazon (thank you all for your information), I went ahead and bought myself a Danby DDW396W Countertop Dishwasher. Its money well spent!!!

Everything arrived intact - no dents and all the parts I needed were included. Before I opened the box, I went to the store to buy dishwasher detergent and rinse agent only to find that Danby was kind enough to include a detergent sample and a full bottle of rinse agent (I had forgotten that another reviewer had mentioned these items were included).

Hook-up was a breeze and I was washing my first load in less then 30 minutes.

The unit looks and feels to be of high quality and it cleans just as well (if not better) then the full-size dishwasher in my previous apartment.

Note that this is not an attractive machine; it's big and industrial looking when you get it in your kitchen. The window while essentially useless without a flashlight helps though. But hey, it's a dishwasher not a piece of art and I still love it regardless!!!

Quiet possibly the best purchase I have made for my apartment!

After reading all the reviews I could find, some being negative, but most being positive, I decided to make the purchase. I'd have to agree with the positive reviewers after two months of using this machine.

The machine seems pretty solidly built. The quick release hose connection is simple to install and easy to use and tuck away when not in use.

Some reviews have mentioned that you cannot use your sink while the dishwasher is in use. You can turn off the machine in mid cycle and use the sink for whatever you need and then put the hose back on and turn the machine back on. Simple!

The manual is pretty short and somewhat hard to figure things out. Here is some useful information I have learned so far.

1. The machine has a pre-rinse cycle and 2 wash cycles. You only need to use the pre-rinse cycle for heavily soiled dishes, or if you have dirty dishes inside that you don't intend to wash for more than a day (I don't use this cycle). You should run the pre-rinse cycle if the soiled dishes will sit in the dishwasher for more than a day. There are two places to add detergent, an indent in the door for the first cycle, and a closed compartment for the second wash cycle. If you are only going to wash glasses on a short cycle then just put detergent in the closed comparment. If you use both wash cycles then you should put a teaspoon of detergent in both places.

2. There is no true drying cycle - as others have stated in thier reviews, crack the door open to let the steam out after the cycles have completed and the dishes will dry faster. Also Jet Dry helps to dry dishes faster and leave them spotless.

3. Before connecting the quick release hose, run your tap water to get it hot. Use the sani-wash feature to get the water extra hot and to help dry the dishes faster.

4. As with ANY dishwasher, don't think that you can just put filthy dishes with food remnants in there and expect it to get clean, take a second or two and wipe the food off the dishes or give them a quick rinse... you'll have cleaner dishes and you will extend the life of your dishwasher.

5. Clean the metal filter regularly, just take it out and wipe it off. Again, you'll have cleaner dishes and you will extend the life of the washer.


6. Use the recommended amount of detergent 1 tsp per wash cycle.
You don't need any more than that, too much detergent can shorten the life of the pump.

That's about all I can think of for now, I love this dishwasher it is well worth the money and probably saves me money in the long run doing dishes manually. This machine only uses about a gallon and a half of water, which is far much less than the amount I would use doing dishes manually. Also I have not noticed much of a change in my electric bill.

My lease states that I am not allowed to have a dishwasher (don't tell my landlord). However if the landlord ever needs to get in my apartment, I can easily store this in my closet.. although he may think it is a microwave anyway.

If this machine dies I will buy another.... This saves me 20 minutes a day of my time. I love it and it gets the dishes sparkling clean!

It's been over a month since i purchased the Danby dishwasher. And it has been a fantastic month. I've previously read about issues with the unit, cleaning issues as well as quality issues. I want to say i have experienced neither. This new model [ddw396w] works flawless and cleans very well. it is solidly built with a high quality stainless steel interior. it washes whatever i throw at it.

if you have a tiny kitchen or live in an apartment with no regular dishwasher, i'd highly recommend this model.

On the whole this is a decent dishwasher for the price. It is good for small apartments with limited space. All the parts were included and I had no problem with it's set up. The one drawback that I find is it is a little loud but the cleaning factor out weights the loudness. Over all I would recommend this dishwasher. Cindy

I went to see this dishwasher in person at Home Depot, and have to say it is very big and awkwardly shaped. The picture and description are very misleading: It doesn't look petit and like a boxy microwave, and there is NO WAY it would fit under a cubbard. It is short, deep and wide and would stick out on most countertops, or at the very least, take up a huge portion of it. Personally, I opted for the Danby portable, adding a butcher block to the top and getting rid of my exisiting rolling butchers block. That way I don't lose counter space.

Since I can only comment on the appearance of the machine--it does seem very solidly built, inside and out. However, if space is at all an issue for you, I highly recommend finding a box of similar proportions and putting it on your countertops to get a visual BEFORE buying it.

Love this dishwasher. Fits under the cabinet and on the counter by sink like it was custom made for it. The quick sink adapter works great, and very easy to put on. Quiet when washing. Reading the other reviews made me a bit hesitate, but am really glad I got it. Highly recommend it. You can get it from Wal Mart.com for $160.00 with sales tax and there is no shipping involved if you pick it up at store. It is a little heavy and awkward to get in car/truck, but nothing compared to a big washer. Go for it!!!

i live in a small apt, and this dishwasher fits my needs perfectly. its actually alot larger than i expected BUT it does the job perfectly. its easy to setup (dont anyone tell you otherwise) and it cleans everything really well. im not sure what the window on the front panel is for (since you cant actually see in), but its 'nice' to have. the sani setting heats water MORE than enough to kill any germs you leave on your plates.

They say that when someone hates a service they tell 8 people, and when they love it they only tell two. I decided to make Amazon one of my two. I love this dishwasher. My fiancé and I got the Danby Dishwasher as a present from my parents for xmas (which, granted, was only 2 months ago), and it has made our life's so much easier. There have been no major problems as of yet (KOW). Not to mention that we don't have to fight over who does the dishes anymore...only who loads the dishwasher (which isn't nearly as bad). I love it, I give it two thumbs up - it's a lazy girls/boys dream.