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Thread Number: 63161
/ Tag: Vintage Dishwashers
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| Post# 857444 12/19/2015 at 17:59 (3,050 days old) by Roto204 (Tucson, AZ) | ||
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| Post# 857459 , Reply# 1 12/19/2015 at 20:46 (3,050 days old) by toploader55 (Massachusetts Sand Bar, Cape Cod) | ||
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Post# 857461 , Reply# 2 12/19/2015 at 21:14 (3,050 days old) by appnut  (TX) |
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| Post# 857465 , Reply# 3 12/19/2015 at 21:29 (3,050 days old) by roto204 (Tucson, AZ) | ||
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Time for modern living | ||
| Post# 857466 , Reply# 4 12/19/2015 at 21:33 (3,050 days old) by roto204 (Tucson, AZ) | ||
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First, some amendments
After my miserable luck with seal failures on the last two machines, I started to question the meaning of life. So naturally, I assumed the worst when I found this (and also assumed the dispenser was likely broken).
The universe smiled upon me with radiance, and lo, the dispenser was not broken after all--just peeking out a bit. Nor--after an obligatory hot-water test--did the pump seal leak a drop. One of the things I noticed in the ad picture, however, was that the lower rack had something attached beneath it. What could it be? Did Sears actually offer a hardware-cloth-like device to prevent items from dropping into the sump? No, but someone got creative.
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| Post# 857468 , Reply# 5 12/19/2015 at 21:41 (3,050 days old) by roto204 (Tucson, AZ) | ||
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Like...
...really creative.
They had attached the screen--first with ferrous wire, which rusted away; then, with stainless. Unfortunately, the heated dry melted the hot wire like a knife through the butter of the vinyl coating. Sigh. They were vigilant, though--the pile to the right is all the attachment points we un-did. Each of the corroded spots on the panel represents a spot where they'd tied it.
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| Post# 857470 , Reply# 6 12/19/2015 at 21:48 (3,050 days old) by roto204 (Tucson, AZ) | ||
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So then...
We water-tested outside, and found that everything looks great. Amazingly, on this unit, the pump housing appears to be metal? I thought D&M used bakelite for all of these. Fascinating.
No drips, and no signs of them in the past, either. Yay! However, when we brought it into the house, I heard a telltale "pssssssss" when the unicouple was attached, and the water turned on. The rubber washer where the unicouple attaches to the water valve was rock-hard and shot; it was lobbing a stream of water toward the cabinet. We broke it into pieces, and replaced it with a new one (after a quick mopping of the floor). Hooray for machines that need a quick tweak to get on their feet! The unicouple ring is broken--you can see where the plastic contracted over the years, and snapped. The whole assembly will probably need replacement, since--if the crack rotates over the ball bearings--they can fall out. Still, all that notwithstanding, she just needed a lot of cleanup. She smelled like an ashtray, and was covered in that coveted film of tar and nicotine, which--oddly--seems to act like the world's best metal and finish preservative. After a thorough detailing with some degreaser, here we have... | ||
| Post# 857471 , Reply# 7 12/19/2015 at 21:58 (3,050 days old) by roto204 (Tucson, AZ) | ||
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Money shots The porcelain is still in nice shape. Although clearly used, this machine appeared to lie fallow for a LONG time. There was an eighth of an inch of dust on the topmost surfaces--underneath, and above. It seems to have just sat, but dig that gleaming top! No hot pans set on it, or crap dragged across the surface. | ||
| Post# 857472 , Reply# 8 12/19/2015 at 22:00 (3,050 days old) by roto204 (Tucson, AZ) | ||
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Silverware baskets No, those aren't the original, but I disliked the "off to the side" uni-basket that these had (and this one was MIA). They were perpetually in the way. Now, with the skinny baskets from the Chambers, I can keep the silverware where it belongs--off to the side, so that large bowls and other items can have free run of the rack. | ||
| Post# 857473 , Reply# 9 12/19/2015 at 22:09 (3,050 days old) by toploader55 (Massachusetts Sand Bar, Cape Cod) | ||
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Post# 857482 , Reply# 10 12/19/2015 at 22:49 (3,050 days old) by turquoisedude (.) |
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| Post# 857493 , Reply# 11 12/19/2015 at 23:58 (3,050 days old) by roto204 (Tucson, AZ) | ||
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Thank you! | ||
| Post# 857494 , Reply# 12 12/20/2015 at 00:00 (3,050 days old) by roto204 (Tucson, AZ) | ||
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Intriguing I'm surprised to see what's likely one of the earliest iterations of the much-hated swing-cup dispenser in this. Robert's Lady K has a metal-lidded cup where the lid panel swings aside--a much better design in many respects (including its capability of holding a detergent pac or tablet--the swing-cup is much too shallow for either).
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| Post# 857495 , Reply# 13 12/20/2015 at 00:00 (3,050 days old) by A440 () | ||
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Very nice! It does not look to have all that much use. Everyone can say what they want about D&M Dishwashers being cheap, but I have never used one that could not clean! They really moved the water and got the job done in a small amount of time. Fun find for you guys!
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Post# 857505 , Reply# 14 12/20/2015 at 00:53 (3,050 days old) by appnut (TX) |
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Post# 857512 , Reply# 15 12/20/2015 at 01:18 (3,050 days old) by gansky1 (Omaha, The Home of the TV Dinner!) |
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Very nice. We'll be expecting the full review, though not much different than other D & M iterations, the top rack is a bit shallower and interesting to load. Thankfully, the tines aren't very high so larger bowls and the like tend to lie down easier than later versions like I have.
Congrats on a fun weekend find - Santa came early. | ||
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Post# 857521 , Reply# 16 12/20/2015 at 02:46 (3,050 days old) by rp2813 (Sannazay) |
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No Monkey business this time around! | ||
| Post# 857525 , Reply# 17 12/20/2015 at 04:31 (3,049 days old) by toploader55 (Massachusetts Sand Bar, Cape Cod) | ||
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I can keep the silverware where it belongs..
Off to the side.
A long time ago a Commercial Dish Machine Chemical guy told me the side of the rack gets the most cleaning action. It's is strange to write this, but the sides get more of a scrubbing action than the center due to the water passing more vigorously than the center. I still like the KitchenAid Flatware baskets better than most. Those Chambers Baskets are nice. | ||
| Post# 857538 , Reply# 18 12/20/2015 at 06:51 (3,049 days old) by delaneymeegan (Midwest) | ||
 So glad you've found something to redeem your trust in mankind. It's really a waiting game in finding compatible partners, ah, um, ... machines. We had a 1968 or 1969 mol Kenmore roto-rack, in avocado, and the pump housing was metal. I've seen several metal pump housings on KMs. It seems by about 1974 they were switched to plastic. I am amazed to see the fit and finish quality, as you pointed out, of this 60s built machine compared to those later models sloppily thrown together in the 70s and 80s. | ||
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Post# 857542 , Reply# 19 12/20/2015 at 07:37 (3,049 days old) by Jetcone (Schenectady-Home of Calrods,Monitor Tops,Toroid Transformers) |
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Wow Nate that is a nice looking machine. I've had 2-3 D&M portables , always loved the cleaning action. I had roomies that would stuff the machine and everytime things came out KLEEN !
Love the large chrome on the front.
Great save. I saw the first picture and said to myself what the heck is Roger doing taking a vacuum to a dishwasher.
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Post# 857549 , Reply# 20 12/20/2015 at 09:40 (3,049 days old) by Combo52 (50 Year Repair Tech Beltsville,Md) |
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Late 60s D& M dishwasher
This would be the second generation do you have dishwasher with the four charm and rotor rack. The first generations of these came out about 1964 like Roberts.
These certainly were better built than the later D&M designs D&M steadily got worse and quality no doubt about that. This was the first machine where they made the tub a little bigger than Roberts it's an early tall tub designs so to speak. These did still use a cast-iron porcelain enamel covered drain pump housing. D&M dishwashers were probably the best cleaning dishwashers of machines that did not have a filter during this time period. They were below average and durability during this time. Westinghouse hot point and even whirlpool dishwashers were not all that great and durability either.The problem with D&M was that they continued to get worse while other brands like whirlpool GE and hot point got much better throughout the 70s and 80s. But it certainly a great find and save Nate and a great example of one of these dishwashers you'll have fun using it if you need any parts call we are boxes of them that I've been throwing out actually have a good holiday everyone. | ||
| Post# 857553 , Reply# 21 12/20/2015 at 10:07 (3,049 days old) by roto204 (Tucson, AZ) | ||
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:-) Bob--yes, you have great eyes! I was hoping you'd spot the teaser rack. ;-)
Greg--Oh, you know me. I'm itching to put it through its paces. We've been a little spoiled with a Maytag JetClean (non-reverse rack, ultra-generic model), so this might be a little bit of a culture shock to use. :-)
Ralph--LOL No, no Monkey business. ;-) It's quiet-ish; about average, and has that classic cavitation/gronking noise when draining that all D&Ms seem to possess. I'll let you know how quiet it is when it's full of dishes. I'm going to have to go to remediation classes for how to load the Roto-Rack--it's been several years.
Eddie--hear, hear! That's a good point, and I never thought of that, but the drama at the tips of the wash arm would likely be far more intense.
Delaney--that's great to know! And yes, it's nice--after having a couple of misbehavers--to have something waltz in that only needs a pinch and a poke to get it going again.
Jon--I can't wait to dive in and run some test loads. The coffee mugs will be blissfully free of water--finally, a dishwasher that gives your wares a final spin! :-)
John--thanks for the great info! That's good to know, and makes sense--you're right, there was no climb in quality for D&M whatsoever. Such a shame, since they definitely cornered the market on pretty machines. I'd definitely be interested in parts--I'll message you on here shortly.
We took the vacuum to it because it was full of debris--not dishwasher-related debris; instead, stuff like threads, hair, bits of cardboard, and whatnot. I think it was used as a chip-storage device/breadbox for years. It certainly had not been doing any dishwashing.
No broken glass, though, thank goodness. Nice that we dodged that bullet.
Here's a question for y'all--what's up with the plastic shield over the sump? I noticed these earlier machines had them, and always wondered why. Were they trying to deflect items away from the pump intake? Trying to prevent you from seeing that ring of rust forming? :-) Or maybe hiding the residual water-pool?
I went ahead and put this one back on after cleaning, since it, well, adds to the authenticity, I suppose. :-) This post was last edited 12/20/2015 at 12:18 | ||
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Post# 857561 , Reply# 22 12/20/2015 at 11:37 (3,049 days old) by jamiel (Detroit, Michigan and Palm Springs, CA) |
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That was the first d/w my parents bought---they'd been gifted a James (cool that it had my name on it) from my great grandmother who used it for 10 years or so. They used it in the rental house, but when we bought the house across the street they bought this dishwasher from Sears Crestwood Plaza in about 1968 or so. My dad converted it into a permanent installation soon afterward (I remember stretching the hoses across to the sink and plugging it into the stove next to it before that--I think I recall staining a piece of plywood for the top) and it was there in the house when we moved in 1978. I remember replacing the upper impeller/macerator once with my dad, and I could take it apart myself when it (inevitably) seemed to get a milk cap lodged in there. The cycle pushbutton also split, so had to order the buttons from Sears Parts. I don't recall the pilot lights on ours, though...but they could have been there. The new house had a 30" Youngstown, which wasn't even as good as this and lasted all of 30 days before my mom had had it.
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Post# 857583 , Reply# 23 12/20/2015 at 17:37 (3,049 days old) by moparwash (Pittsburgh,PA ) |
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Roto-Rack memories... | ||
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Post# 857602 , Reply# 24 12/20/2015 at 19:25 (3,049 days old) by combo52 (50 Year Repair Tech Beltsville,Md) |
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Black Plastic Shield Around The Pump Diffuser Was used for a number of years to shield your eyes from the water that normally sat there and to try to hide the rust stains till the machine was out of warranty or at least paid for LOL.
Bad thing about this silly plastic shield was you didn't see all the foreign objects lying in the sump and often they would work themselves into the grinder blade and do all kinds of damage the the pump etc, so it was great for service calls. Every servicer I knew would just throw the stupid thing away when repairing these DWs, if your DW still has one you can probably assume it was never worked on or used much.
John L. | ||
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Post# 857612 , Reply# 26 12/20/2015 at 20:22 (3,049 days old) by washerlover (The Big Island, Hawai’i) |
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| Post# 857629 , Reply# 27 12/21/2015 at 00:38 (3,049 days old) by delaneymeegan (Midwest) | ||
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I found they were usually so brittle they easily broke in pieces, and one could throw out the pieces. I think they stopped using those mid 70s. In the early 80s, when I was picking up dishwashers, KMs were my fav. and that shield was the first thing to go. It wasn't rare to find chicken bones, broken glass pieces, a clothes pin, money, pieces of plastic, or even a paper clip down. 
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| Post# 857679 , Reply# 28 12/21/2015 at 10:26 (3,048 days old) by roto204 (Tucson, AZ) | ||
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D&M joy
Jamie -- I love that story. Those Youngstown Kitchens 30" units are fascinating, but I gather there's a reason why they didn't prevail design-wise--well, aside from standard-sized dishwasher enclosures. Yes, if you haven't had a D&M apart to fish objects out of the pump, or to replace the impellers and seal, you just haven't bonded with it yet.
Jerry--they are fun! I just did a mega-load in it last night, and was surprised that I was able to get a couple of my largest mixing bowls in the top rack. I'm impressed so far. It is only really noisy when the bottom panel resonates against the hooks that hold the top portion of it, so I may stick some weatherstripping in there to try and quiet that. John L. -- Ha! I wondered. I couldn't figure out any other rational reason for that. I also wonder why they even bothered to put those random holes through it, when I would assume the water would just run off the top. Maybe to make it look more official? John -- Yours is BEAUTIFUL! I love the translucent buttons, how pretty! It's a handsome control panel. I saved the unicouple from the last D&M I had, which is identical in length, and also has the improved, shrouded drain port that doesn't allow the water to shoot out in a solid stream, blasting the sink surface and bathing the entire countertop and the wall with overspray. If you use the old unicouple, stick a coffee mug underneath, for sure. David and I talked about it, and the chance for the coupler falling apart is just too great to bother with keeping the old one on there. That, and the hoses are pretty stiff. Todd--thank you! It is a cutie, isn't it? :-) Delaney--Oh, yeah. Usually when I find D&Ms, I take the wash arms out and shake them, to see how many glass chunks and other bits of detritus I can recover. It's incredible what gets shot through the pump and right into the wash-arms. If it was particularly abused, sometimes I'll find shorn-off vanes from the drain impeller in there, too. Then I know it's time for an impeller/seal kit. :-) | ||
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Post# 857767 , Reply# 29 12/21/2015 at 19:48 (3,048 days old) by moparwash (Pittsburgh,PA ) |
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Its the one | ||
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Post# 857768 , Reply# 30 12/21/2015 at 20:00 (3,048 days old) by rp2813 (Sannazay) |
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Hey -- Wait a second! | ||
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Post# 857785 , Reply# 31 12/21/2015 at 22:45 (3,048 days old) by Kenmoreguy64 (Charlotte, NC) |
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AWOL Kenmore dryer... | ||
| Post# 857792 , Reply# 32 12/22/2015 at 00:44 (3,048 days old) by LordKenmore (The Laundry Room) | ||
We had a Sears DW like the one in reply #25 when I was growing up. No idea how well it worked...I can only remember it being used ONCE. I have no idea all the whys and wherefores. It was left behind in our house by the previous occupant. I know my mother had a belief that dishwashers broke dishes, and I have a feeling that one might have broken something when she tried it out. Plus she might have felt it wasn't worth running after each meal for a small family, or worth the hassle rolling back and forth. Whatever. It wasn't used except for that one time, which was to wash a huge pile of "better than daily but not fine china" dishes before relatives came for a visit. But during the visit, it was back to hand washing.
The manual for that dishwasher was lying around, and it seems to me there were 4 profiled. That one was one step down from the Lady Kenmore. I can't remember if the next step down was the one featured in this thread, or if it even was one with a Roto Rack. The BOL certainly had a conventional rack. | ||
| Post# 857849 , Reply# 33 12/22/2015 at 11:30 (3,047 days old) by roto204 (Tucson, AZ) | ||
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the next machine to bat its pretty eyes | ||
| Post# 857851 , Reply# 34 12/22/2015 at 11:37 (3,047 days old) by roto204 (Tucson, AZ) | ||
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Dryer
It's a BOL 1-18 dryer, because Scott said I needed one to go with the washer. :-)
Ironically, shortly after acquiring it, the 1-18 washer's timer croaked anyway, and I haven't gotten around to replacing the faulty gear, so the dryer is just dealing with pretty average-sized loads from the '64 Maytag and the '63 Westinghouse at the moment. The Kenmore proved untenable for the 1-18's larger loads--items were forever wrinkled and/or under-dried. David grew tired of it, and we have a standing agreement that the daily driver of any position (washer, dryer, dishwasher) has to perform well; no trying to use a Tappan Dual-Drench as the household dishwasher, as it were. :-) Under-dryness is a problem with all of our dryers; since our laundry gear is outside, if it's a cold day, you'd be better off line-drying. Frosty intake air makes for so-so warm air in the dryer when heated. Where's that Filtrator when I need it? | ||
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Post# 857868 , Reply# 35 12/22/2015 at 13:31 (3,047 days old) by rp2813 (Sannazay) |
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Nate | ||
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