MADISON, Wis. -- When you buy a new appliance, you expect it to work. But Consumer Reports found problems with some microwaves and dishwashers.

To find these problems, Consumer Reports dirties some 5,000 dishes a year to test dishwashers and to test microwaves, it reheats 170 servings of lasagna and pops 1,200 cups of popcorn.

The latest test turned up problems with a microwave made by Haier. The turntable didn't rotate properly. Testers bought four more of those microwaves. Most had problems with the turntable, and one shut off right in the middle of cooking.

As a result, Consumer Reports doesn't recommend the Haier model MWG-10081-T.

Over in the dishwasher lab, there was another problem. In Consumer Reports' standard test, a Frigidaire couldn't get the dishes clean.

Egg stuck to the plates, and the bowls were spotted with spaghetti sauce and oatmeal. The silverware didn't come clean, either. A second Frigidaire had the same problems.

A third did get the dishes clean, but with such variable performance, the Frigidaire model FDB-125-ORE sank to the bottom of the ratings, and Consumer Reports has a caution about the high-priced, two-drawer dishwashers from Fisher and Paykel.

"Our readership survey finds 25 percent of the Fisher and Paykel dishwashers bought over the past five years needed repairs," said Tara Casaregola of Consumer Reports.

That's about double the number problems with most other major brands. As for microwaves, with over-the-range models, Consumer Reports says Sharp has been much more likely to need repairs than any other major brand bought in the last five years.