Sunbeam DT5600

Worst appliance and company to have the misfortune to encounter – Worst product I have ever had the misfortune to buy. Total inefficient. Take 3 to 4 times longer to work than it should and have hat the motor housing crack on 2 appliances and make a horrible noise like a jet engine. Only use it twice, turned it on to use it a third time and it cracked. Disgusting. Ask to speak with a manager or director and… Read more

have been ignored. Was told it is out of Warranty and there is nothing they can do. Sunbeam you should be ashamed of your selves.

Too noisy and poor performance – Do not purchase… used like 5 times and now fan speed setting not working. Far too noisy and literally takes days to dry thinly sliced citrus, chilli ect. Waste of money

ONLY NEW AND PURCHASED IT FOR ONLY MAKING jERKY – 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… Read more

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??

A lot of negative comments... don't know why? – 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.  Show details ·  1

Great – Can dry anything with ease, taste great, well worth buying. Easy to use comes with five trays and a fruit roll tray, not to noisy at all, easy to clean, can cook and preserve food to eat later in the year. This is a worth while buying. Very, very, good. easy to use, great piece of work Nothing

This item is dangerous – I bought two of these dt 5000 from Harvey Norman both made a horrible noise when first switched on. Took them back. The examination of the fan at the shop found the fan at the top as cracked. We opened another new one in the shop and plugged it in. It almost caught fire and destroyed itself as the fan was also almost in two pieces. Apparently a… Read more

warning about faults with this model had been sent out to harvey norman. Harvey Norman refunded my money. If I had left the ones I had bought running overnight it could have caused a major fire.

Dead after a few uses – Used a few times a year over 4 years. Dead now. Poor value. Fruit leather trays were unavailable which was the main reason for purchase. Why do I have to put 30 words? Show details

Under powered – Doesn't even rate half a star, noisy, slow and died after a few uses, fan burnt out by the look of it but the element didn't so potentially could have been a fire hazard if no one was around. Show details

Don’t buy it - Sunbeam – Takes literally hours (15 hours) to soften the fruit, and then the fruit is not dehydrated, even when thinly sliced. The machine is so noisy. Don’t waste your money. Shocker! Show details

Review of food dehydrator – Been Using his food dehydrator over a Year now has stopped Functioning today 17/2/21 It takes 5-6 to dry beef jerky Not enough drying performance vs newer ones sold by Devanti Good for drying beef jerky Noisy  Show details

Only used 3 times dont waste your money – Worked really well dried meat relatively quickly and evenly but only worked for about 3 weeks then it started overheating everytime. So basically it was a total waste if money. Show details

Only worked for 2 weeks. Not at all happy – Dries food well enough in a good period of time but only worked for a sum total of 2 weeks. I am very disappointed, I should have read reviews before buying. Show details

Broke the day I unboxed it – Ran for 5 hours no issues but will no longer turn on. The dehydrator quite literally broke the same day it was unboxed. Do yourself a favor and buy an actually functional dehydrator, not this >$100 cheap feeling piece of garbage with a working life shorter than the lifespan of a mayfly... Show details

Terrible – 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. Show details

Not good value – 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. Show details

Planned obsolescence – 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!  Show details

Second Time bitten – 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.  Show details

So Disappointed – 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… Read more

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.

Don’t waste your money on a Sunbeam hydrator – 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.  Show details

So sad, the sun has gone from the beam – 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… Read more

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).

Ok....but – I was given this as a present, worked pretty well if you don't mind swapping the trays around every half hour or so. Then, as so many other people have experienced, it just stopped.... Luckily at the end of making a batch of jerky. Having nothing to lose (out of warranty) I pulled it apart and found the heating coils okay, but the fan difficult to… Read more

turn. (I'm an electrician - don't try this at home!!) A bit of bike chain oil on one end of the motor... Still tight. I couldn't remove the fan, so drilled holes through the hub to gain access to oil the other bearing. Voila! It's been running for 6 hours today making my latest batch of jerky. Come on Sunbeam - an appliance that's meant to run for several hours at a time should not be failing through lack of lubrication.

Don't waste your money,time and food with this product – 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… Read more

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!

Don't Buy This Product – 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!!!  Show details

Piece of rubbish – 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  Show details

Terrible – 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… Read more

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.

Slow and noisy – 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… Read more

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 :-(

Utter crap – 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… Read more

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!

Noisy and short lifespan compared to other dehydrators – 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.  Show details

Waste of money - Sunbeam food drier – 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… Read more

money. I won't entertain purchasing another Sunbeam product.

I have since purchased an Ezydri food drier - it does the job no problem.

The word Sunbeam used to represent QUALITY products – 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.  Show details

Worse than rubbish! – Where do I start! This dehydrator must be the worst domestic food dehydrator on the market. It is a well made, but very poorly designed device. I am astonished Sunbeam market such a poor performer. Bad points: 1 - It is noisy (too noisy for sleeping if on the same floor of the house). 2 - It is power hungry. As it has no thermostatic… Read more

temperature control the heater remains constantly on.

3 - It is an inefficient dryer by design. Airflow is top down so the top layer gets most of the heated airflow and dries faster than the lower levels. Faster being a relative term (the dryer has to be on for days to dry anything).

4- The noisy high speed fan motor is of the brushed universal type. Low quality with bronze bearings that will wear quickly. It's basically a ladies hairdryer fixed into a racked food container.

Good points:

None - I have since purchased an Ezidry (no I don't work for Ezidry) dehydrator. This is an excellent dryer whose design addresses virtually every shortfall in the Sunbeam. The fan is larger and is powered by a quality low speed shaded pole induction (no brushes to wear out) motor. The heater is electronically regulated and the unit is fitted with a variable temperature controller. By design, heated airflow is evenly distibuted to all trays and as a result food dries quickly and evenly. Most importantly, it is quiet when operating. Sounds like a quiet extrator fan running in the background.

Conclusion:

Don't waste your hard earned on the Sunbeam DT5600. If you're in the market for a domestic dehydrator do yourself a favour, buy an Ezidry or second hand Harvest Maid dehydrator. These units are both of similar design and quality. They reliably get the job done, quietly and efficiently.

Request:

Sunbeam please don't respond to this post with your automated reply. Standard replies are at best fatuous, insulting and pointless.

Very disappointed – I really wish I had read all the reviews for this before forking out over $100 for this. It's an absolute dud! The noise is crazy!!! And it can take all day to show only the slightest bit of difference in the 'dehydrating' of fruit/veges. It's far too expensive and loud to run for hours and hours at a time. Plus I never wanted to leave it out of… Read more

sight because I thought it was going to explode. Awful product and I have no show of getting a refund as have discarded my receipt. It's now collecting dust in the back of a cupboard. Very, very disappointed!!!

What a disaster. So disappointed – I have just bought a sunbeam dehydrator DT5600. My mothers Day gift. So was enthusiastic to try it as I had excess fruit and tomatoes. I couldn't believe the noise as soon as I turned the thing on!! The recommendation was setting 2 for fruit/veg. I checked at 5 hours expecting it to be well on the way, but not a bit of difference. I had to… Read more

turn it off while we sat down for dinner, it was so loud. Disappointed I turned it on for 8 hours on the 3rd setting the next day, and not a good result either. I ended (in frustration) taking most of the pulp out of the tomatoes. Then thought that was just so pointless. I could have done a much quicker and better job with no frustration by placing the produce in the oven. My husband came in and said it was a dud, and just too long/expensive/noisy to run, with no result and to take it back to Harvey Norman. I couldn't believe their attitude. No you cant return it as its now been used. When I asked about the power cost, out came the phone and he said its only 2c per hour?? They rang Sunbeam while I was there and their comment was as that as it wasn't faulty and running it couldn't be returned. The sales person said put it on Gumtree or Facebook, they sell so well here in the shop they can't get enough of them. Well I have never been so annoyed as to have been fobbed off and also join the line of VERY, VERY unhappy customers, after checking on Gumtree/ Google. What is Sunbeam doing about it??? Nothing!!!!! Get smart Sunbeam and make all your customers happy, Take it off the market.