My AH dehydrator trays melted!
Michael Lloyd
I have had my American Harvester FD-50 dehydrator for about a month now and
have used it about 13 times. After each use, I clean the trays and lid in
the dishwasher. I was shocked and appalled last night to discover that the
trays and lid had melted and warped! They had not fallen off the racks and
contacted the heating element and I am puzzled as to why they melted on this
occasion but not others.
I carefully re-read my box and owner's manual and could find no cautions
about not putting the components in the dishwasher. Has this happened to
anyone else? I sent a fax to AH pointing this out and asking for
replacement of the lids and trays under warranty. I will post to the group
their response.
--
Michael Lloyd
MGL...@msn.com
George Shirley
Damn! Scared me to death, I usually wash mine by hand but put through
the rinse and wash on the dishwasher yesterday. Came out fine. Sounds
like you may have gotten the water to hot or the dry cycle came on and
was to hot.
George
Don Wiss
On Mon, 1 Jun 1998, "Michael Lloyd" <mgl...@email.msn.com> wrote:
>I have had my American Harvester FD-50 dehydrator for about a month now and
>have used it about 13 times. After each use, I clean the trays and lid in
>the dishwasher. I was shocked and appalled last night to discover that the
>trays and lid had melted and warped! They had not fallen off the racks and
>contacted the heating element and I am puzzled as to why they melted on this
>occasion but not others.
Where they in the top rack or the bottom rack? Generally one can only put
plastic on the top rack, far away from the heating element.
Don (at panix com).
Kenneth Hixson
On Mon, 1 Jun 1998 12:35:57 -0700, "Michael Lloyd"
<mgl...@email.msn.com> wrote:
>I have had my American Harvester FD-50 dehydrator for about a month now and
>have used it about 13 times. After each use, I clean the trays and lid in
>the dishwasher. I was shocked and appalled last night to discover that the
>trays and lid had melted and warped! They had not fallen off the racks and
>contacted the heating element and I am puzzled as to why they melted on this
>occasion but not others.
>
>I carefully re-read my box and owner's manual and could find no cautions
>about not putting the components in the dishwasher. Has this happened to
>anyone else? I sent a fax to AH pointing this out and asking for
>replacement of the lids and trays under warranty. I will post to the group
>their response.
>
>--
>Michael Lloyd
>MGL...@msn.com
>
Well, mine did too--but in use drying food-they just gradually
twisted, cracked, became unusable-were washed by hand in
warm soapy water, and air dried, and damage occured while
drying fruit, and one time making jerky sticks, but not at high
heat setting
Ken
Paul Hinrichs
George Shirley <gshi...@iamerica.net> wrote:
>Damn! Scared me to death, I usually wash mine by hand but put through
>the rinse and wash on the dishwasher yesterday. Came out fine. Sounds
>like you may have gotten the water to hot or the dry cycle came on and
>was to hot.
I can fit 3 trays from my AH-2400 in the top rack and have never had a
problem. I never use the hot-dry feature, never saw the point of it.
chat...@usa.net
In article <#YIrESZj9GA.240@upnetnews05>,
"Michael Lloyd" <mgl...@email.msn.com> wrote:
>
> I have had my American Harvester FD-50 dehydrator for about a month now and
> have used it about 13 times. After each use, I clean the trays and lid in
> the dishwasher. I was shocked and appalled last night to discover that the
> trays and lid had melted and warped! They had not fallen off the racks and
> contacted the heating element and I am puzzled as to why they melted on this
> occasion but not others.
>
> I carefully re-read my box and owner's manual and could find no cautions
> about not putting the components in the dishwasher. Has this happened to
> anyone else? I sent a fax to AH pointing this out and asking for
> replacement of the lids and trays under warranty. I will post to the group
> their response.
>
> --
> Michael Lloyd
> MGL...@msn.com
>
>
Michael,
I have had my AH for several years now. Never once had a problem with it. I
replaced one tray, that was all, and that was because I dropped the silly
thing on the rim of the sink from above the cabinets and it shattered. That
was my boo-boo. I am really confused as to why so many folks here have said
theirs have melted/warped/cracked, unless AH has been making them out of less
superior materials since dehydrators became popular again.......Hmmmmm.
Let me ask you this,.......was yours the one with the clear trays or the
opaque ones? I have had zero luck with any brand with clear trays. I use
the opaque trays only. They aren't as brittle to start out with, so they
deal with the heat exchange much more nicely. It is like the difference
between a clear plastic cup and a RubberMaid one. The plastic is different,
softer or more flexible, as it were. The hard plastic can't expand and
contract as easily and readily as the flexible plastic can. BTW you need to
check your drying food frequently, at least twice to three times a day. That
keeps the unit from running needlessly and having nothing to dry, so it just
heats up and stores/retains that heat. Over some time, this will cause any
plastic item to begin to break down. I run mine with no empty trays, and
only as long as it takes for each batch to dry properly. Mine runs alot,
because I dry alot, but never empty or with already dried foods sitting in it
waiting for me to get around to it. Also, I keep the machine stacked just
the way it is until it is cool before I unload it. I unplug it after I have
checked it, and I put all the trays back in the same order they were in while
it is warm, and then unload after the unit has come to room temp. This
allows the trays to cool down as a unit and therefore help ensure that they
will still stack nicely later the same day when I go to load up again.
I never had a dishwasher with an element in the bottom. Don't
use/want/desire the heat dry option. Waste of energy, time, and money. The
feature makes the machine cost more in the begining, uses more electricity
than elbow grease would, and I can dry them by hand with a towel faster and
more completely than the machine can do it....giving me more time to play
with my dried food laying in. I sure hope that my machine isn't going to
fail me any time soon. Looks like all I have to look forward to on the
market now is almost not worth the money. Phooey. I really enjoy my
machine. I guess I will have to seek out a commercial model next time.
Chatzie Massey
See my homepage on Dried Foods in the HomeCrafts section at:
(http://geocities.com/heartland/meadows/6996> for more info/recipes.
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Margaret Donnelly
My AH manual says that you can safely wash the trays in the dishwasher IF
you remove the trays before the drying cycle.
Margaret
In article <#YIrESZj9GA.240@upnetnews05>,
Michael Lloyd <mgl...@email.msn.com> wrote:
>I have had my American Harvester FD-50 dehydrator for about a month now and
>have used it about 13 times. After each use, I clean the trays and lid in
>the dishwasher. I was shocked and appalled last night to discover that the
>trays and lid had melted and warped! They had not fallen off the racks and
>contacted the heating element and I am puzzled as to why they melted on this
>occasion but not others.
>
>I carefully re-read my box and owner's manual and could find no cautions
>about not putting the components in the dishwasher. Has this happened to
>anyone else? I sent a fax to AH pointing this out and asking for
>replacement of the lids and trays under warranty. I will post to the group
>their response.
>
>--
>Michael Lloyd
>MGL...@msn.com
>
--
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