Dishmaster Faucets Review & Rating Updated: April 25, 2025

From Domestic and Imported Parts and Components

SilverStream LLC

trading as

Dishmaster^®

901 W Frank St.

Mitchell, IN 47446

812-849-6500

800-521-9234

sales@dishmasterfaucet.com

Business Type

For more information on the five faucet company business types, see Faucet Companies

Product Range

Kitchen Faucets

Certifications

Brands

Dishmaster

Street Price

$259-$399

Warranty Score

Cartridge

5 Years

Finishes

None

Mechanical Parts

5 Years

Proof of Purchase

Required

Transferable

No

Meets U.S. Warranty
Law Requirements

Yes

Warranty Footnotes:

1. The warranty does not cover finishes or rubber parts such a seals, seat washers, and O-rings.

• Read the the Dishmaster faucet warranty.
• Learn more about faucet warranties.

This Company In Brief

SilverStream LLC is an In­di­ana limited liability company that manufactures and distributes Dish­mas­ter^® sink faucets.

The faucets are assembled in In­di­ana using both domestic and imported parts and components.

Faucet quality is good to very good, but the warranty support for the faucets is inadequate – far below the standard lifetime warranty in North Amer­i­ca.

Faucets are only partly certified as required by law. To be legal to install in a drinking water system, they must be fully certified.

Man­ville Man­u­fac­tur­ing Corporation, established in 1933, introduced the original Dish­mas­ter Deluxe fau­cet in 1948.

It was a period in which all sorts of innovations were being tested by Post-WWII industries as they adopted wartime technologies to peacetime pursuits and moved from arms production to consumer products.

The device was the brainchild of Charles J. Manville, Manville's founder and CEO, a man with far-flung technological interests.

He is best remembered for several versions of the Manville Gas Gun, a 12 gauge, 24-round, tear Gas Launcher intended for non-lethal riot control. The first of these "Machine Projectors" was pa­tented in 1937 and several more followed.

His dishwashing faucets were equally innovative and he received several patents for the Dish­mas­ter and its components.

Their introduction was heralded in the industry press as a "major advancement" in kitchen technologies.

The Dishmaster System

More than a mere fau­cet, Dish­Mas­ter is a complete, all-inclusive, dishwashing system.

Its onboard reservoir dispenses detergent to a brush that, at the touch of a button, mixes soap and water for washing or switches to plain water for rinsing.

As its early advertising suggested, it makes dishwashing so easy that even Dad can do it.

The product took hold in thousands of Post-War kitch­ens built during the 1950s and early '60s.

Many homebuilders of the period advertised the product to prospective home buyers as a major selling point.

It was part of their "modern kitchen" package that included built-in cabinetry, sanitary For­mi­ca^® countertops, Ben­dix^® automatic clothes washers, and Kel­vin­a­tor^® upright refrigerators with their automatic temperature control.

But, it was not without competition.

Among several competitors were Ma­gic Queen from Na­tion­al Rub­ber Ma­chin­ery Company and the Ger­ity Dish­wash­er manufactured by Ger­i­ty-Mich­i­gan Corp.

The Gerity Dishwasher was selected by Frank Lloyd Wright for one of his pioneering Uson­ian Houses.

None of these companies exist today.

Na­tion­al Rub­ber was purchased by Da­vis Stand­ard Ex­tru­si­on Sys­tems in 1994 and Ger­ity ceased business in the 1960s after its plant was found to be contaminated by waste from nuclear wea­pons production.

Manville Man­u­fac­tur­ing itself was for practical purposes out of business by 2004 along with its Dishmaster subsidiary and was disolved as a business corporation in 2007.

By then, the halcyon days of the Dish­mas­ter system had been reached and were long in the past – eclipsed by the steady spread of automatic dishwashing machines into almost every new kit­chen.

The New Dishmaster

Dishnaster was rescued by Roger Swayer, the founder of Sil­ver­Stream LLC.

Mr. Sayer purchased the Dish­mas­ter trade name, inventory, and tooling required to produce the faucets from Manville in 2004 and began almost immediately to sell Dish­mas­ter faucets to a new generation of American homemakers.

He saw the Dish­mas­ter as the perfect complement to the smaller, less formal, meals-on-the-run families of the 21st century.

He seems to have been proven right.

Why a Dishmaster?

Electric dishwashing machines are the least popular of all large household appliances.

In a study from 2020 funded by the U.S. En­er­gy In­for­ma­tion Ad­min­is­tra­tion, it was discovered that one in five or about 18 million dishwasher-owning households use them once a week or less often.

There are good reasons for this relative unpopularity.

A dishwasher is not all that convenient. In fact, a typical home dishwasher is an ergonomic disaster. Loading and unloading a dishwasher involves a lot of gymnastics – bending, stooping, and twisting – that the Dish­mas­ter does not require.

SilverStream advertises that it takes as much time to load a dishwasher as it does to wash dishes with a Dish­mas­ter fau­cet. Our testing found that the claim is largely true. Scrape, soap, rinse, rack. Done!

Overall, Dishmastering is easier, uses less energy and is friendlier to the environment than any other dishwashing method.

Dishmaster vs. Dishwasher

Dish­mas­ter uses almost no energy (except elbow grease and not even much of that).

It uses none of the energy needed to run a dishwasher. Electricity or natural gas is needed to heat dishwater but heated water is needed for all methods of dishwashing.

It is much quicker to Dishmaster a full load of dishes, 14-32 minutes, compared to the 1.5 to 4 hours dishwashers require to get through their multiple cleaning cycles.

Dishmaster uses more water than the most efficient Energny Star^® dishwashers, eight gallons compared to four gallons, but about the same amount of water as older dishwashers.

Offsetting any additional water use, however, is the electricity needed by a dishwasher to operate for up to four hours – between 1.6 and 2.2 kilowatt-hours (kWh).

Dishmaster also leaves a much smaller environmental footprint.

According to a study by Purdue University commissioned by SilverStream, dishwashers have a more negative impact on the environment than Dish­mas­ter­ing.

Dishwasher detergent formulas include complex phosphates – the same phosphates that have been banned in laundry detergents due to the harm they cause to the environment.

Rinse aids include nonylphenol and nonylphenol ethoxylates, chemicals that the EPA identifies as "highly toxic to aquatic life." and "associated with reproductive and developmental effects" in laboratory tests.

Dishmaster vs. Handwashing

A 2020 dishwashing study conducted by the Uni­ver­si­ty of Mich­i­gan found that the most energy-efficient way to hand wash dishes is the two-basin method.

Dishes are washed in one basin and rinsed in a second basin of clean water. The method uses about 8 gallons of water on average, about the same as Dishmastering.

However, most households use the "rinse under continuously running water method" which uses up to 22 gallons, considerably more water, and a lot more energy to heat that water than Dishmastering.

For more ways to conserve household water, see Saving Household Water.

Owners Feedback

Our interviews with Dishmaster owners confirmed much of the claimed efficacy of the Dishmaster system. Most owners found that saving energy and water were important considerations but even more important was the system's ease of use, efficiency, and effectiveness.

The consensus is that Dishmaster is fast and gets dishes really clean (after a little practice).

Most find the Dishmaster very flexible and easily adapted to washing just one or two dishes or a whole meal's worth. No waiting for clean dishes until the dishwasher is full, or wasting money washing a partial load.

Almost every owner we interviewed for this report was enthusiastic about the product. Most would not even consider giving up their Dish­mast­ers.

For a customer-produced video showing how the Dish­mas­ter system works, go here.

The Company

SilverStream LLC was formed in 2002 by Roger E. Swayer to produce and sell Dish­mas­ter products.

Mr. Swayer has a long history of manufacturing plumbing fittings. He was earlier associated with the In­di­ana Brass Co., a corporation formed in 1980 to manufacture plumbing fittings. It exited the business as fittings manufacturing was largely taken over by Asian companies in Taiwan and China.

Initially located in Bloomington, Sil­ver­Stream moved to Mitchell, Indiana in 2008. The facility housing its assembly plant and distribution hub, zoned for light manufacturing, is leased from the City of Mitchell.

SilverStream is both a and a as we define those terms.

It manufactures two of its faucet models, the M76/M76Xl Imperial Four and the M2000 Century.

Machining is done in-house, but decorative finishing is outsourced to a U.S.-based supplier as is the printing on faceplates and the forming of the ABS plastic reservoirs and reservoir covers of the fau­cets.

SilverStream designed but does not manufacture the M70 Sap­phire. With respect to this fau­cet, it is a .

The faucet is manufactured in Taiwan by East Diamond Inc., a Taiwanese contract supplier of plumbing products. The product it produces is recognizably a fau­cet when it is delivered to SilverStream. The company then adds the remaining components: brush, wand, tubing, reservoir, and cartridges.

All Dishmaster fau­cets are water-tested, , and packaged for shipment in Indiana.

Made in USA?

SilverStream identifies its M76/m75Xl Imperial Four and M2000 Century faucets as "Made in USA."

The Federal Trade Commission has very strict rules for determining whether a faucet may be labeled "Made in USA."

It requires a three-part test:

• The final assembly of the faucet must occur within the U.S.

• The assembly must be transformative, that is, it must result in a faucet where before the assembly there was no faucet, just a collection of components. Adding components to an already existing faucet is not considered transformative.

• All or substantially all of the parts and components used to assemble the faucet must also be made in the U.S. The FTC rules allow for a minimal amount of imported content, the so-called "de minimus" exception. The imported content must be very minor and not critical to the operation of the faucet.

M76/M76XL Imperial Four

The core components of the Imperial Four are manufactured by Sil­ver­Stream in-house. Its principal decorative components are made by outside suppliers also located in the U.S.

The aerators, although supplied by Neoperl, a Swiss company, are manufactured in Waterbury, Connecticut.

It is highly probable that some minor parts are made overseas – tubing, gaskets, and seals, for example – but this is well within the "de minimus" exception of the FTC rules.

The compression valves, however, are most likely made in Asia, and if so, the faucet does not qualify as "Made in USA."

M2000 Century

The same problem affects the M2000 Century. Most of its principal components are made either in-house or by domestic suppliers. But the ball valve is most likely imported.

still makes a few of these ball valves in Greenburg, Indiana, but most are imported from its factory in China. Brasscraft also makes a ball valve in the U.S. Most manufacturers, however, are in Asia, mostly China.

Until we know where the valves are made, we cannot confirm that these faucets are "Made in USA."

We have asked the company to identify the source of its valves but, as of the date of this report, have not had an answer. When we receive a response, we will update this report.

If the valves are imported, the company may still legally label its faucets "Made in USA" but with a qualifying statement such as "From Domestic & Imported Components" or something similar, a so-called "qualified" Made in USA label.

M70 Sapphire

The M70 Sap­phire faucet is manufactured in Asia and imported, almost ready to sell. The few components added by Sil­ver­Stream are no more than what is called "screwdriver assembly" that is not transformative. It is "Made in Taiwan" and should say so on the box.

Dishmaster Faucet Styles

Dishmaster sells just three basic faucet models, but the options and finishes available expand a buyer's choices substantially.

The M76/M76XL Im­per­ial Four and M2000 Century models are modern incarnations of designs that originated with Manville. It is available in two versions: the basic M76 and the M76XL which offers a few more options.

The newest model is the M70 Sap­pire, a modern design created by Sil­ver­Stream. It is available in three finishes and with three different spout shapes.

The M76/M76XL Im­per­ial Four and M2000 Century designs are especially appropriate for kitchen redos in houses built during the Post-War homebuilding boom from 1945 to 1965 and popular with owners of houses from this period.

Almost all of the owners of Dish­mas­ter faucets interviewed for this report owned pre-1965 houses.

Retro kitchens were in most ways modern, well-planned kit­chens, but were often very small and often built without a modern dishwasher.

Post-war housing is back in demand, especially as starter homes. The houses are today what Art & Crafts homes were 30 years ago, fixer-uppers affordable to young families.

The frequent lack of a dishwasher or even space for a dishwasher makes the Dish­mas­ter system an attractive option for kitchens of this era.

For more information on retro kitchens of the Post-War era, see The Post-War Retro Mid-Century Kitchen.

The M70 Sap­pire is a much more contemporary style, designed by Sil­ver­Stream, that works with the décor of almost any kitchen.

It provides Dish­mas­ter functionality without the retro look. In fact, the only giveaway that the fau­cet was not designed in Germany and sold by is the brush.

Dishmaster Construction

The M76/M76XL Im­per­ial Four and M2000 Century fau­cets are constructed using the core and shell method. The M70 Sapphire is constructed conventionally.

As a method of construction, core and shell is relatively new to the faucet industry as a whole. have only recently adopted the method for some of their faucets. It is, however, old hat to Dish­mmas­ter which has used the method since the very beginning.

Core & Shell

In core and shell fabrication, function and appearance are divorced.

The core assembly handles the function – water delivery and control – while the shell hides the core and gives the fau­cets their outward form, shape, and finish.

Core materials in Dish­mas­ter fau­cets are copper and brass. These metals are strong enough to handle household water pressure of up to 60 pounds per square inch (psi) year after year.

A company spokesperson identified the brass used in components that come in contact with water as C69300 Eco Brass, one of the preferred lead-free alloys for faucets.

Copper components are made from the C12200 DHP alloy: a high tensile strength and antimicrobial blend that is commonly used to manufacture copper water pipe.

All of the company's brass and copper raw materials are sourced from U.S. suppliers.

Since core materials touch water, federal law requires that they be certified read-free.

Covers and faceplates that conceal the core components are never in contact with water. They are purely decorative and do not need to be either very strong or lead-free. The covers on both the M76/M76XL Imperial Four and the M2000 Century are plastic.

For more information on core and shell construction, see our review of Delta faucets.

Conventional Construction

The newer M70 Sap­pire fau­cets are conventionally constructed.

The components that carry water are also those that give the fau­cet its appearance. Bodies and spouts are made of lead-free brass. Handles are metal, probably a zinc alloy.

Bodies and spouts are cast and finished overseas.

For more information on faucet construction, see Faucet Basics: Part 1 - How Are Faucets Made?

Dishmaster Faucet Components

The most important part of any fau­cet is its valve, the device that actually controls water flow. The valve makes the fau­cet work. Without a functioning valve, a fau­cet cannot perform its essential function of delivering a controlled amount of water.

The valves used in Dish­mas­ter fau­cets reflect the decade in which the fau­cets were first engineered.

The oldest design, the M76/M76XL Im­per­ial Four, dating from the 1950s and reintroduced in its present configuration in 1976, uses the oldest type of valve, the compression valve.

The M2000 Century, introduced in 2000, it fitted with a Delta ball-style washerless valve. The valve was still being used in many Del&hy;ta faucets at the time. Del­ta has now retired the valve, but still sells it as a replacement part for its older fau­cets.

The newest Dishmaster model, the M70 Sap­pire, incorporates the latest valve technology, the ceramic disc valve.

M76/M76XL Im­per­ial Four: Compression Valves

The compression valve is very old valve technology.

It was pa­tented in 1845 by John Guest, a plumber, and the brothers Richard and Edward Chrimes. Their Guest and Chrimes foundry in Rotherham, England manufactured fau­cets and other devices that featured the valve until its closing in 1999.

It is a very simple device.

A screw-like stem with a rubber washer at one end and a handle at the other presses the washer against a metal seat to stop the flow of water. Backing the washer away from the seat allows flow to resume.

The compression valve made the water fau­cet possible by allowing water to be easily and precisely controlled. It not only started and stopped water flow, but also regulated the volume of water by varying the size of the gap between seat and washer.

It was a great improvement over the prevailing water control technology of the time that consisted of some version of driving a plug or "bung" into the end of a pipe to stop water flowing and removing it to get more water.

The screw action to open and close the valve works well but also wears on the washers by repeatedly pressing and sometimes twisting them into the seat. As rubber ages, it hardens, eventually losing the "spring" needed to form a perfect seal.

Rubber has been vastly improved over the last 175 years. Today's washers are made of durable amalgams including PDM (ethylene propylene diene monomer), silicone, neoprene, nitrile, butyl, and Viton.

Dishmaster valves are more sophisticated than the usual compression valve.

They include positive stops to prevent the valve from being over-tightened. They are also torque-free. A device at the bottom of the valve called the valve end, decouples the stem from the washer, preventing the twisting motion of the handle from being transmitted to the washer. It is this twisting motion that wears washers out very quickly.

Washers still need to be replaced periodically, however, even if much less often than a century ago.

The design of the Dishmaster valves makes it difficult to replace just the seat washer. It can be done, but it would be a chore with no guarantee of success. The better approach is to replace the entire valve end as a complete unit.

Compression valves are preferred in faucets for commercial kitchens where the ease of replacing the washer usually outweighs the nuisance of having to replace it fairly often. The parts needed are tucked in every plumber's toolbox. No waiting with the kitchen shut down for FedEx to deliver a replacement valve.

It is very easy to do. Our resident plumber did it in about seven minutes. For DIY replacement the first time, allow 20-30 minutes, considerably less the second time.

Valve ends are available from Dishmaster as replacement parts. They come with detailed instructions.

M2000 Century: Washerless Ball Valves

The M2000 Century single-handle Dish­mas­ter model is fitted with a washerless ball valve of a type pa­tented in 1952 by and licensed to Masco for use in its and fau­cets.

The washerless valve made single-handle fau­cets possible.

Prior to its invention, hot water was controlled by one handle and cold water by another.

The single faucet handle of the M2000 Century moves the ball back and forth inside the fau­cet to control the volume of water and rotates it from side to side to control the water temperature.

Like the compression valve, rubber is used as the water-blocking material. The rubber seals and springs slowly wear over time and, like compression washers, need to be replaced about every five years or so in a busy kit­chen.

A kit for that purpose is available from Dish­mas­ter and about every supplier of fau­cet parts in the U.S. and Canada including your local plumbing supply house and most hardware stores.

The chore is an easy one and there are multiple videos on YouTube showing the process, step-by-step.

M70 Sap­pire: Ceramic Disc Valves

Compression and washerless ball valves are old technology but still reliable. With proper care, they will last nearly forever.

In our regular day jobs of remodeling kitchens and baths, we have encountered compression valves that are nearly a century old and washerless ball valves dating from the 1950s that are still functioning perfectly.

The newer ceramic disc valves were not invented for better water control but just to eliminate the nuisance of periodic maintenance.

Pa­tented by in the 1970s, ceramic mixing valves have replaced older washerless valves in modern single-handle fau­cets.

Water is controlled by nearly indestructible ceramic discs rather than rubber washers and seals, eliminating most periodic maintenance.

Two ceramic discs are polished to a nearly perfect flat and smooth surface. When pressed together, the gap between them is smaller than a water molecule so water cannot squeeze past and, in consequence, cannot flow.

Despite its two-handle appearance, the Sapphire is actually a single-handle operation.

One handle controls both water volume and temperature. The other toggles a diverter that redirects water away from the spout and into the dishwashing brush, then back again.

From a visual inspection, Kuching International Ltd., a Taiwanese company, appears to be the manufacturer of the valves. Kuching's KCG ceramic valve cartridges have a good reputation for reliability.

A ceramic valve cartridge is largely maintenance-free but, in hard water localities, it may need soaking in a vinegar/water solution every few years to remove accumulated mineral deposits.

If it does fail, it cannot be repaired. It must be replaced. (But, before you replace it, try soaking it first. I will usually resolve the problem.)

Dish­mas­ter sells replacement cartridges from its online store and on Amazon. The cartridge is also available from most faucet parts suppliers such as Chicago Faucet Shoppe or Danco.

For more information on faucet valves and cartridges, see Faucet Basics: Part 2 - Faucet Valves & Cartridges.

Aerators

Next to the valve, the most important component in a fau­cet is the .

This is the component located at the very tip of the spout that shapes and directs the stream of water exiting the fau­cet.

Years ago the aer­a­tor was just one or two layers of aluminum window screen to add a little air to the stream of water, softening it so it would not splash out of the sink.

On most faucets today, including Dish­mas­ter models, it is a precision-engineered component.

The modern aer­a­tor was invented by engineers in Switzerland in 1954. After hundreds of experiments, KWC developed an optimum aer­a­tor pattern that produced a splashless fau­cet stream that has become the standard in the industry.

The aer­a­tor was so successful that it was spun off as its own company in 1959. Now known as Neoperl Group AG, it has subsidiaries throughout Europe and in the U.S.

Dishmaster uses the Neoperl Perlator^® family of aer­a­tors designed with honeycomb apertures and elastomer surfaces that retard limescale deposits.

The aer­a­tors incorporate flow restriction to reduce water flow rates to the maximums allowed by law in the various states and provinces.

Sprays and Brushes

Dishmaster hand-held sprays differ from those on most fau­cets.

The usual fau­cet spray switches back and forth between spray and stream. The Dish­mas­ter spray switches between soapy water for washing and clear water for rinsing.

Dishwashing detergent is drawn into the water stream at the push of a button from a reservoir located on top of the fau­cet for M76/M76XL Im­per­ial Four models or from a jar beneath the countertop for other models.

A backflow preventer built into the spray keeps dishwater from being accidentally sucked into the household water, an event that could contaminate the system.

Detergents

At one time Dish­mas­ter sold "Non-ionic Dish­mas­ter Detergent." It no longer does so.

A detergent described as "ionic" contains mostly "ionic" . These are best for heavy cleaning, but are harsh and can irritate skin.

To reduce harshness and leave hands "Palmolive soft," dish detergents add non-ionic surfactants and even lotion. But with Dishmaster, soap never touches hands, so modified dish detergents are not really necessary.

SilverStream recommends against detergents that contain lotion or citrus additives – neither of which aids cleaning. Lostion is for nice, soft hands and citrus is just to add a fresh scent. But, lotion tends to clog up the system over time and the acid in citrus degrades the rubber hose and copper tubing.

We used regular Dawn^® in our testing, not "Ultra," "Plat­in­um," "An­ti­bac­ter­i­al," or Po­wer­Suds," just ordinary Dawn, with excellent results. We did not miss not having lotion or a "fresh lemon scent."

For heavy-duty cleaning, Dawn also makes a professional dish detergent with ionic surfactants available at restaurant and janitorial supply outlets and at Uline.

We tried the professional version but did not notice faster or better cleaning.

Very little detergent is needed. The company recommends just one tablespoon of detergent be added to one cup (16 fl. oz.) of water.

The Brush Head

The bushes used with the faucet are in two parts, the brush head and the handle (or "wand" in faucet-speak).

The nylon bristles vary in stiffness.

Black bristles are the softest and orange the stiffest. White is somewhere in between. Black is the general duty brush, stiff enough to remove most food particles yet flexible enough to get into crevices.

Orange is best for heavy-duty cleaning, especially of pots and pans. It does not replace Brillo^® scouring pads for baked- or burned-on residue, however.

Removing and replacing brush heads is quick and easy, making it possible to switch when a stiffer brush is needed to clean an especially crusty plate or pan.

The brush heads include a plastic scraper to help remove dried-on food deposits. En­gag­ing the scrapper is merely a matter of pressing harder on the brush. We found it to be effective in removing most stuck-on residue but it works best on flat surfaces.

Nylon is a good choice for bristles, especially the 6.12 nylon used by Sil­ver­Stream.

It is very flexible and durable. It is highly resistant to abrasion and wears out slowly. It also resists damage by common household chemicals.

Brush heads are regarded as fungible components, intended to be used up and replaced. How long they last depends on how often and how vigorously they are used.

They are not covered by the company's warranty (and we would not expect them to be).

Dishmater owners report that they last as little as five months and as long as 1½ years.

The best approach is to keep spare brushes on hand. Replacements are readily available from the company.

As of the date of this report, a pack of 2 brush heads sells for $23.00 on Amazon and for $18.00 from the Dish­mas­ter website. A four-brush package is also available from the website and is the best buy at $30.50.

The Brush Handle (Wand)

In the fau­cet industry, plastic is a commonly used substitute material for metal in incidental fau­cet parts like handles, base plates, and that are not subject to water pressure.

The covers of the M76/M76XL Imperial Four and the M2000 Century, components that are technically shrouds, are acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS). As shroud material, ABS is more than adequately durable, cannot rust or corrode, and saves a few dollars in fabrication.

Plastic has been largely trouble-free in aer­a­tors and as casings and some internal components of ceramic valve cartridges, but otherwise, its use is suspect, especially if it is in contact with water.

Among those suspect uses is in the fau­cet sprays.

The plastic used in Dish­mas­ter wands is po­ly­ox­y­meth­y­lene or POM (also called "Ace­tal" and "Pol­y­acetal"), an easily manufactured, non-toxic, very rigid, impact-resistant, dimensionally stable, food-safe plastic sold under several trade names including Celcon^® and Hostform^®.

It is tough stuff, but not as tough as metal, and unlike metal, may suffer structural deterioration over time.

POM is known to degrade in the presence of chlorine and most domestic water systems are "chlorinated", that is, a small amount of chlorine is added to kill microbes.

According to plastics industry literature, the combination of chlorine, detergents, normal household water pressure (up to 60 pounds per square inch), and hot tap water puts the material at risk of eventual stress cracking.

To find out if cracking was an actual risk in real life as opposed to in the laboratory, we asked existing Dish­mas­ter owners if they had experienced any issues with the POM wands. None had, and some wands had been in use for 10 years and longer.

So, the fact that the handles could crack does not mean that they will do so in your kitchen but we thought the possibility should be mentioned.

Reservoirs

For M76/M76XL Im­per­ial Four models, the detergent is contained in an easy-to-refill K1087 ABS plastic reservoir that sits on top of the fau­cet. It holds slightly more than a cup of detergent solution.

The reservoir for the M70 Sap­pire and M2000 Century models is under the countertop. The PA2018 plastic jar holds 48 ounces. An optional 72 ounce under-counter tank is available as it a kit to cenvert it for use with the M76/M76Xl Imperial Four.

Dishmaster Faucet Finishes

Dishmaster finishes on M70 Sap­pire models are the three basic modern finishes: Brushed Nickel, Chrome, and Matte Black. On the M76/M76XL Im­per­ial Four and the M2000 Century faucet, the only finish is Chrome.

Brushed Nickel and Chrome are . Matte Black is a .

The company does not appear to use the latest finish technology, (PVD).

SilverStream does not finish its faucets in-house. Components that need a decorative finish are received from their suppliers already finished or are finished by other companies in the U.S. that specialize in metal finishing.

M76/M76XL Im­per­ial Four Finishes

On M76/M76XL Im­per­ial Four fau­cets, the spout is always Chrome while the cover may be Black, Chrome, or White.

The covers are, according to the company, formed plastic created by a local contractor using molds supplied by Sil­ver­Stream.

The four available designs on M76/M76XL Im­per­ial Four faceplates are crisp, well-defined, and durable, unlikely to be damaged in ordinary daily use (but keep any sort of scrubbing pad far away from the faucets and especially the faceplates.)

These are produced using screen or laser printing also by an outside U.S. contractor.

Electroplating

Elec­troplat­ing is the well-es­tab­lished traditional way of finishing fau­cets that has been around nearly since fau­cets were invented.

Plating involves immersing the fau­cet and the metal to be used as the finish in an acid bath, then applying an electrical charge to both objects so metallic ions are drawn from the plating metal to the fau­cet.

The process is inherently dangerous, involving very corrosive acid solutions, and the resulting waste products are hazardous to the environment if not disposed of properly. State and federal permits are usually needed and strict record-keeping is required.

Powder Coating

A powder coat is the traditional technology used to give fau­cets a painted finish like Dish­mas­ter's Matte Black.

The process was invented by Daniel S. Gustin and Albert W. Wainilo during the last World War as a replacement for slow-drying liquid paints to speed up the production of war materials.

They applied for a patent in 1945 for their "Electrostatic Coating Method and Apparatus" which was awarded in 1951 and assigned to Westinghouse Electric Corporation.

It is essentially a paint in powder form applied using a special low-velocity spray gun that disperses the powder while giving it a positive electrical charge. The powder is drawn to the fau­cets to be finished which have been given a negative charge.

After spraying, the coated fau­cets are baked in a low-temperature oven which melts and bonds the powder and changes the structure of the coating into long, cross-linked molecular chains.

These chains are what give the coating its durability, reducing the risk of scratches, chipping, abrasions, corrosion, fading, and other wear issues.

Powder coatings are considered at most "semi-durable" – not as robust as electroplated finishes and requiring more care to maintain a like-new appearance.

For that reason, fau­cet companies are beginning to replace powder coats with (TFC) coatings. Originally formulated to finish firearms and hard-use military field equipment, TFC is a much more durable finish.

The most frequent source of damage to powder coatings is over-ag­gres­sive cleaning – damage that is never covered under warranty. Dish­mas­ter's care instructions should be closely followed to avoid injury to the finishes.

For more information on faucet finishes, see Faucet Basics: Part 5 - Fau­cet Fin­ish­es.

Dishmaster Faucet Warranty

The standard faucet warranty in North Amer­i­ca, introduced by in the 1960s, is a lifetime warranty on all parts and finishes except and electronics.

The Dishmaster 5-year warranty falls far short of this standard. It covers "mechanical and material" defects but excludes "decorative finishes" from coverage.

The warranty is well-drafted, mercifully short, and written in "n simple and readily understood language" as required by the federal Mag­nu­son-Moss Warranty Act of 1975 (15 U.S.C. U.S.C. U.S.C.§ 2301 et seq.).

It is free of the usual legal issues that we typically find in faucet warranties – a fact that is so rare in the faucet industry that we thought it worth mentioning. Whoever drafted the warranty knew his or her business.

However, as an indicator of the company's opinion of the quality and durability of its faucets, it does not reflect total confidence.

SilverStream can promote its fau­cets in the most glowing terms (and does) but its real opinion about their longevity is unwittingly disclosed in its warranty.

A warranty requires the company to bet its hard-earned corporate dollars that its faucets won't fail. Most companies that sell good-quality fau­cets are willing to risk their warranty dollars for a lifetime. Sil­ver­Stream. limits its risk to five years.

We did not find any obvious reasons for the company's reticence.

The fau­cets are well-crafted and fitted with good-quality components. Finishes appear to be durable and well bonded to the underlying metal, unlikely to peel, flake, or spall – the usual hazards addressed by a finish warranty,

But if Sil­ver­Stream believes that its Dish­mas­ter fau­cets will last just five years without a mechanical or material failure and its finishes are not worthy of any sort of warranty, you might want to take the company at its word when making your buying decision.

Replacement Parts

The company sells replacement parts and provides step-by-step instructions for the DIY installation of most replacements.

These include a few parts for faucets it no longer makes, if it ever did, such as the M87 Solaric, M59 Imperial/Imperial III, and the M52 Deluxe.

It also sells accessories like soap dispensers and sink hole covers, an optional backplate for the M76/M76LX Imperial Four.

Customer Service

Customer service is excellent. Response to requests is quick and efficient.

Warranty claims and replacement part orders are handled with dispatch. If your kitchen faucet is not working, quick delivery of replacement parts is greatly appreciated. Only a few Dish­mas­ter owners we spoke with have had any reason to contact customer service but those that had rated their experience as "favorable."

The only problem we found was that the phone is not always answered. A message left, however, will usually get a call back in less than 24 hours.

The crowning achievement of the company's service, however, is this: in the over twenty years it has been in business, it has never had a complaint to the Better Business Bureau. Few other faucet companies can make that claim.

We know this because the BBB has no record of the company in its files.

Had there been even one complaint, the Bureau would have created a profile. It hasn't.

We followed up our internet search with a telephone call to the Cen­tral In­di­ana chapter to verify our online findings and confirmed the total absence of any complaints.

Of course, no record also means that the business is not accredited by the BBB, and it should be.

Testing & Certification

Cali­forn­ia: These faucets are approved by the Cali­forn­ia En­er­gy Com­mis­sion (CEC) as meeting California's water conservation standards and may be sold in California.

However, Dish­mas­ter faucets may not be legally installed in California. To be legally installed, they must be certified in full compliance with the basic North American faucet standards. Dish­mas­ter faucets are not certified to these standards and may not for that reason be legally installed anywhere in the U.S. or Canada, and that includes California.

For more information on faucet Testing & Certification, see Faucet Basics: Part 3 - Keeping Faucets Safe & Reliable.

Where to Buy

SilverStream does not have a dealer network to speak of.

The fau­cets, accessories, and replacement parts are sold directly by Sil­ver­Stream from its website, at its Amazon Storefront, and on eBay.

Dish­mas­ter fau­cets are not sold at the usual sources: plumbing supply houses or big box lumber stores like Home De­pot or Lowes.

A few local stores like B J Discount Plumbing in Orange County, CA carry the products, but very few.

Ferguson, the plumbing supply company that has an outlet in just about every city, town, and hamlet in the U.S. and Canada, carried parts at one time, but no longer does so. Ace Hardware, stores has sold the faucets in the past but they are no longer shown in the hardware cooperative's inventory.

Because its retail sales are direct to consumers, its list prices and street prices are generally the same.

Conclusions

These are well-made innovative fau­cets made in the U.S. from domestic and imported parts and components.

The components used in the fau­cets, especially the valves and aer­a­tors, are of good quality and should give years of service.

Despite their quality, however, a couple of issues militate against the purchase of the fau­cets.

Weak Warranty

The first is a very weak 5-year warranty that guarantees against mechanical and material defects but excludes finishes. The quality of the fau­cets deserves a less timid management that will provide a stronger, preferably a lifetime, warranty.

Lack of a Required Certification

The second and much more serious problem is that the fau­cets are illegal to install in a drinking water system anywhere in the U.S. or Canada, even if your waer supply is from a private well.

They are legal to sell and legal to buy in most states and provinces. So, if you are looking for a faucet for your RV, or just an interesting mantel decoration, or unusual paperweight, by all means splurge. But, if you intend to install the faucet in your kitchen, be wary.

All state and local plumbing codes require fau­cets to be tested and certified to the basic North Amer­i­can fitting standard (ASME A112.18.1/CSA 125.1). Dish­mas­ter faucets are not ertified.

The penalties for installing an illegal faucet can be severe. At minimum, you will have to replace it with a legal faucet at your expense and, depending on the state or province, installing it could result in civil penalties or even be a crime.

Hefty fines and some jail time could result.

Rating Panel Observations

None of the members or our rating panel, although impressed by their innovation and quality, would buy or install the faucets in their kitchens simply due to their illegality.

Were the fau­cets completely legal, some of the members would buy the fau­cets but with "some reservation" due to the short-term warranty that excludes finishes from coverage.

The majority, however, would require a stronger warranty that evidenced more confidence by the company in the longevity of its fau­cets.

Continuing Research

We are continuing to research the company. If you have experience with Dish­mas­ter fau­cets, good, bad, or indifferent, we would like to hear about it, so please contact us or post a comment below.

We do not respond to questions in comments. If you have a question, please email us at our public address, starcraftreviews@yahoo.com.