Look what I picked up on Craigslist today.  It was about an hour away.  The seller said he had it posted for a while and was about to throw it out.  Thank goodness I got to it first.

The story is it's been in climate controlled storage for the past 30 years and I believe it.  This thing appears to have had very little use.  They had it set up for a permanent connection but thanks to the forethought of the person who did it, the hoses are just taped inside so I can very easily convert it back to a true portable.

I plugged it in and hit the cancel and drain.  I heard the loud snap of the drain valve and it clciekd all the way through until it was off.  I'll deal with the plumbing and then send more pictures.  I'm optimitisitc it will run perfectly.

Look at those racks and look at that sump!!  The inside is shiny and ding free.

Congratulations Chach!!!

Wow, Chach, this is an amazing find!!  And you got to it just in time, too!  Glad you were able to save it.

Last night when I ran it there were 3 or 4 small drips.  I ran it through the SANI cycle this morning to test the element and it worked perfectly.  It's now down to one tiny drip so I suspect the seals are good and that one small drip will likely disappear soon as well.

Here is a picture of the lower panel.  Pretty clean for a machine this old.

:)

Chach, this probably will last until you will no longer need a dishwasher.   And it won't be your only dishwasher either. 

That's my mother's first dishwasher but hers was a built-in.  I was 3 when she got it!  Same color and all.  It was ran every single day for 13 years.  It eventually got to where it would fill and just sit there, then drain and fill again and just sit there.  She replaced it with a Kenmore 3 level wash that developed a problem at seven years old.  She then bought a KUDI 23 in 1994 and is still using it.

I haven't a clue when the last time was that this machine actually washed any dishes.  Could be 30+ years but she sure did a great job.  

Everything is sparkly clean and dry just as I expected.  All the little droplets under the machine are gone so I suspect all the seals are just fine now.  Ready to put the bottom panel back on and put her into "rotation".  

I used to stand in the kitchen and watch the lights move as the cycles progressed.  It thrilled me to be able to push the start button....I was only 3....but I can still hear it and remember every single click as the timer advanced as well as the pump beginning to build pressure as the water level came up.  Looking back and knowing what I know now I think I could have saved Mother's machine, but she wanted a second level wash arm.

Ken,

The dishes are called Informal Iroquois by Ben Seibel.  I actually saw someone else with them here on the site years ago and decided I wanted them too!!  I run this search on eBay "informal iroquois (leaf, daisy)" without the quotes and you'll see both designs.  One is leaf and another is daisy which I also think are very pretty.

There are quite a lot of them available on eBay and fairly reasonable.  What I really like about them is they are nice sturdy pieces so they stand up to the abuse of everyday use.