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Reviews

1.9

61 reviews
5
(4)
4
(6)
3
(3)
2
(13)
1
(35)
  • Build Quality
    3.0 (2)
  • Value for Money
    1.0 (2)
  • Ease of Use
    4.0 (2)
  • Cleaning & Maintenance
    3.5 (2)
  • Used for
    • Meat (1)
    • Soft Fruit (1)
    • Hard Fruit (1)
  • Noise Level
    2.5 (2)
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Not Happy

Not HappyPerth, WA

  • 2 reviews

Terrible

published

My dehydrator lasted less than 4 years and used less than 5 times, it just cut out and won’t turn on.



When it worked it did its job well enough however it no longer works.

Terrible.

Purchased in January 2021.

Build Quality
Ease of Use
Cleaning & Maintenance
Noise Level
Value for Money
Used for Meat
See all answers
1 comment
Sunbeam
Customer C.Sunbeam

Hi Not Happy,
Sorry to hear this. Please give us a call on 1300 881 861 to see if we can troubleshoot with you



Sunbeam Dehydrator DT5600

published

Like many of you, I wish we had read the reviews on the DT5600 model as we partly used it last year and have just started using it this year and it has been threatening to die for a while and it just has .
just hope they have either fixed the problem or changed the model, really don't think this one deserves even a 1 star. Graham T

Purchased in October 2021 for $100.00.

Build Quality
Ease of Use
Cleaning & Maintenance
Noise Level
Value for Money
Used for Hard Fruit
See all answers
1 comment
Sunbeam
Customer C.Sunbeam

Hi Graham,
Thank you for your valuable feedback . We are sorry to hear of your issues with your DT5600. Please call us on 1800 881 861 as we would love to assist you further.



Not good value.

published

This unit only worked properly for first year and has worked intermittently for last two years and now fan motor keeps fluctuating and stopping. Wouldn’t buy this brand again. I feel it should last longer.

Purchased in February 2021 at The Good Guys for $100.00.

Used for Soft Fruit
1 comment
Sunbeam
Customer C.Sunbeam

Hi Nessa. Apologies for the issues you have experienced. We will pass your feedback onto our design and quality teams.

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Planned obsolescence

published

Motor died way too soon given the $90 I forked out for a plastic item. Only had around 60 hours and since it was a dehydrator, the motor clearly needed to operate for long periods over the life of the item. Hope someone can point me to another brand with more product life! Do NOT buy this item!

Date PurchasedSep 2016
1 comment
Sunbeam
Customer C.Sunbeam

Hi pterygota, sorry to hear this bad experience with the Dehydrator, please give our Customer Care Team a call on 1300 881 861 to discuss this further...

kcb28

kcb28Victor Harbor, South Australia

  • 9 reviews
  • 7 likes

Second Time bitten

published

You'd think I would have learnt from purchasing this product the first time, let alone a second. Gave it the benefit of the doubt so bought a new one after the first one died after 16 months. This one went sooner. Total rubbish and would never get one again. Expensive for what it does and how long it lasts.

Date PurchasedMar 2017
1 comment
Sunbeam
Customer C.Sunbeam

Hi kcb.....so sorry to hear you have been disappointed with the performance of this dehydrator, we are sending you a pm to see if we can assist further

Briony

BrionyMetropolitan Adelaide, SA

  • 14 reviews

So Disappointed

published

I was so excited to begin dehydrating the excess apples from my parents orchard. Mum has a much larger more expensive dehydrator and has been using it for years with great success on all sorts of fruit. I figured I’d give it a go and purchased the Sunbeam dehydrator.
Everything takes so much longer than described in the instruction booklet. Fruit leathers 5-7 hours according to the booklet. Yeah right ! Even after 12 hours they are nowhere near finished. The first time I thought I’d made the fruit purée too runny in the beginning. The next time I followed the recipe to the letter. It was no better.
It’ also quite noisy. I’m so disappointed.

Date PurchasedMay 2018

Don’t waste your money on a Sunbeam hydrator

published

Unit only lasted a couple of years before the motor started making variable speeds noises. It wouldn’t have done 100hrs work. This season fan motor run for 5mins then stopped. Outside warranty and will have to throw it in the bin. Will make me think twice if buying a Sunbeam appliance in the future.

Date PurchasedMar 2015
PhilB

PhilBNew South Wales

  • 8 reviews

So sad, the sun has gone from the beam...

published

Bought the dehydrator after a food camp in AUS from NZ ...bought at Briscoes NZ. Hardly used but now the fan motor siezing. Very disappointed, made in China...that's fine..if the thing worked.

Really upset actually...they charge a mint for a crap product.

Buy off ebay...it could not get worse. Noisy from the get go...did not last...not much use...Sun-what???

Living on past yay days it looks...selling crap products for over the top prices. And you know it...either realise Sunbeam is now crap or pick up your game...another DaeWoo (now GM Korea, i.e Captiva crap boxes).

Date PurchasedMay 2015

ONLY NEW AND PURCHASED IT FOR ONLY MAKING jERKY

published

We purchase our dehydrator for making Jerky, have only had it for 4 months but don't seem to have any issues YET. I make Jerky out of chicken, beef, turkey and Liver treats for our dog. Have followed instructions from Google, and Manual and it seems to work fine so far. All meat needs to be sliced FINE, and anyone not following this instruction deserves issues with the meat. Our dog hates liver treats from the vet or store, but loves his Sunbeam Liver Treats. Both the poultry and beef cook fine, and according to instructions they suggest changing the trays halfway through the time. ie: 5 hours cooking, change at 2 1/2 hrs, but I don't, it means the bottom trays are dryer that's all. I guess it maybe too early to tell yet??

Date PurchasedOct 2017
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Trevor

TrevorSafety Bay

Ok....but....

published
Date PurchasedDec 2015
Lilly

LillyKerikeri New Zealand

Don't waste your money,time and food with this product.

published

Very disappointed with my silly stupid self for not reading these reviews in the first instance. Could have saved my money time and food
..but I have always loved my other Sunbeam products. This TD 5600 Sunbeam Food Dehydrator has performed very poorly and in much the same way as others people have commented. I purchased mine just over 12 months ago attempted to dry super thinly sliced apple for healthy crisps. After a full 12 hours the apple was still soggy. Had to then finish them off in the oven. Just unpacked the dehydrator to give it the benefit of doubt...the fan and motor fizzled and died...and I've done my dollars!

Date PurchasedApr 2015
Rob

RobMullumbimby

Don't Buy This Product

published

Noisy, ineffective. I have compared with my friends dehydrator. My tomatoes took 24 hrs (and still some soft) and hers took 6 hrs. I now do mine in the oven and its very effective. Very disappointed so want to avoid other customers having same trouble. I don't usually leave bad reviews by the way...but this is a doozy!!!

Date PurchasedDec 2016
Ocker

OckerFar North Queensland, QLD

  • 2 reviews
  • 2 likes

Piece of rubbish

published

It lasted exactly 7 months and stopped working it has done hardly any work at all
I will not purchase another sunbeam product because this has been ongoing since 2012 as I have found out and nothing has been done by Sunbeam to fix it
Very disappointed in this product
I would have scored it no stars at all but it wouldn't let me

Date PurchasedJan 2017

Terrible

published

I wish I would have read these reviews before buying mine...I've just now turned it on for the first time to make my dog some chicken breast treats...it was so noisy I wasn't sure if it was broken or not....I'm a bit concerned that everyone on here is unhappy with their sunbeams and I hope that it's not as bad as they say. If not I will expect a full refund because if i refuse to pay for a product that is useless and will take up valuable kitchen space. I treated myself to this for my birthday which happens to be today so I hope it doesn't ruin my day. The only reason sonar I have rated it a #1 is because of the noise ....when it's finished my chicken I'm hoping it will be worth more stars.

Date PurchasedJul 2017

Slow and noisy.

published

I pulled my dehydrator back out from the cupboard after putting it away disappointedly on my previous uses. Today I tried to dehydrate celery; the book states 4-5 hours with a 1cm dice... well it was more like .5cm dice (so yes some has ended up at the bottom... but after being out for the day (to avoid the noise) turning and rotating on return and letting it continue... 9 hours later I have had to turn it off... I will have to turn it back on tomorrow for another 4 hour minimum I think as some are still soft! >:-( Save your money and get something else. After this I think mine will be back in the cupboard for good :-(

Date PurchasedMar 2013
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Mykl

MyklCairns

  • 2 reviews
  • 2 likes

A lot of negative comments... don't know why?...

published

Used mine for bananas... Perfect! the longer you dry them the longer they last. Apples... soak in lime juice and their ready when they feel like rubber.
I brought mine to preserve meat and it has not disappointed me after about 100 hours of use.
All it really is is a hair dryer blowing hot air down a series of sieves and is effective at that.

Date PurchasedMar 2015
1 comment
Mykl
Mykl

Too slow?... turn the *fting* up. Rotate the racks on a regular basis. And don't be afraid to monitor the process as this tool is not yet automated.

Utter crap.

published

Noisy and takes far too long to attempt to dry anything. Had to put it out in the garage and could still hear it. Tried to do banana chips and the time frame in the booklet is completely off. I dried all night and then again for the following day. All it did was make it go rubbery and chewy. Dried for a bit longer and not a lot of change. Tried drying apple slices and the same thing. Complete waste of time and money. Sunbeam have definitely lost a lot of credit with this product as far as I'm concerned as you would probably get a drier product with a hair dryer!

Date PurchasedJun 2016

Noisy and short lifespan compared to other dehydrators

published

As others have said this is very noisy. After a few uses the fan has slowly seized up and the internals have started to melt. Nowhere near as good as other dehydrators I have used.
Better off buying an Ezidry, unfortunately I'm stuck with the extra accessories I paid top dollar for.

Date PurchasedApr 2012
Win

WinFremantle wa

Waste of money - Sunbeam food drier

published

I am appalled at the poor performance of this Sunbeam dehydrator. This machine is unbelievable noisy, airflow from top down, directions in booklet are way off, the tomatoes, and figs for that matter, took three times longer than the recommended time in booklet.
A dud, complete waste of money, thankfully Good Guys did not hestitate to return my money. I won't entertain purchasing another Sunbeam product.
I have since purchased an Ezydri food drier - it does the job no problem.

Date PurchasedOct 2016

The word Sunbeam used to represent QUALITY products

published

Like many people I believed in Sunbeams quality products. The Dehydrator should be withdrawn immediately before some-one has an accident, as it is I feel not up to their usually high standards. I have tried a few things in it and put up with the horrible noise, and takes far more time than the booklet says. The biggest mistake is no thermostat to the machine. Because of this horrible design does nothing for your credibility for future products.

Date PurchasedAug 2015
1 comment
Sunbeam
Brendan K.Sunbeam
Page 1 of 4

Questions & Answers

Gwen

Gwenasked

What is the purpose of the lock/unlock vent on the lid of food dehydrator DT5600 and should it be locked or unlocked when in use. Instruction booklet does not say and customer support person did not know.
Tried drying plum slices and after 6 hours there is hardly any difference. Very dissatisfied with this product. X

4 answers
Graham Turner
Graham Turner

Sadly our one crapped out on us after a bit over a year,so we bought an American made 9 rack one.

Sunbeam
Customer CareSunbeam

The small vent is to allow air to escape and the lock/unlock is to allow for cleaning of the filter. It does not close when locked, it only holds the lid in place.
As for timing, the manual has given guidelines for expected timing. For apricots (similar size and fruit to plums) they would that up to 12-14 hours, peaches would that 8-10 hours. Dehydrating produce is not a quick process, unfortunately.
See manual below for more timing guidelines:
https://www.sunbeam.com.au/Root/Specifications/InstructionBooklet/DT5600_ib_1.pdf

Gwen
Gwen

So should it be unlocked or unlocked position when in use dehydrating ?

lauren

laurenasked

I have been asked a question on how to turn sugar syrup back into sugar granules. May i know if a food dehydrator will be able to do so? Thanks for your help.

1 answer
Sunbeam
Customer C.Sunbeam

Hi lauren,
Thank you for contacting Sunbeam. This will not work in our dehydrators. It will be more like a hardened toffee and will not crystalize completely. Kind Regards, Sunbeam

Geoff M.

Geoff M.asked

Can you use only 2 trays

1 answer
Sunbeam
Customer C.Sunbeam

Hi Geoff M,
Thank you for your question. You can use just two trays. We suggest to put a spare empty tray on the top shelf and then place the 2 trays evenly apart below. The empty top tray allows the air to circulate evenly rather than directly onto the next tray down.

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