She's a Grand Old Dame!


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Thread Number: 17038
She's a Grand Old Dame!

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Post# 280634 5/18/2008 at 17:18 (5,820 days old) by stevet (West Melbourne, FL)
Checkrate/Likes Not so bad looking for a 24 year old dishwasher! Gave this Lady a new set of skins and she is rocking and rolling like a queen! I am not partial to the stainless steel look but this one really grew on me! Sure is better than the GE it replaced. Now If I can only get my Mother in Law to use it more than once a month!

Post# 280635 , Reply# 1 5/18/2008 at 17:19 (5,820 days old) by stevet (West Melbourne, FL)
Checkrate/Likes *next shot* here is the front shot

Post# 280636 , Reply# 2 5/18/2008 at 17:23 (5,820 days old) by stevet (West Melbourne, FL)
Checkrate/Likes *and a money shot for Toploader!* Can't leave this out! And Yes! The Porcelain does still shine like this! BTW the rinse dispenser has been installed and the Solid Jet Dry basket is no longer needed!

Post# 280646 , Reply# 3 5/18/2008 at 18:06 (5,820 days old) by frigilux (The Minnesota Prairie)
Checkrate/Likes Nice machine! Had a similar one, although I think mine was a 1989, and in black. It was noisy, but cleaned well. I soon replaced it, as I was living in an open-plan warehouse apt., so quiet appliances were essential. Cute dog, too.

Post# 280649 , Reply# 4 5/18/2008 at 18:10 (5,820 days old) by gansky1 (Omaha, The Home of the TV Dinner!)
Checkrate/Likes That control panel is particularly well suited to the stainless door panels - it looks pretty hot! Rather reminiscent of the original Hobart machines - it just looks like good quality!

Post# 280650 , Reply# 5 5/18/2008 at 18:30 (5,820 days old) by toploader55 (Massachusetts Sand Bar, Cape Cod)
Checkrate/Likes *Thanks Steve* Loved those pics last night. Thanks for the "Money Shot", Why wouldn't she use it more than once a month ????? I'm using the Kenwhirl tonight only because I'm sensing the seals needed water. KD2-P is up to bat next. I've been using the KDS-18 as the daily driver lately Just love the sound of the motor and the drain solenoid. I've been always surprised that KitchenAid never came up with a overhead wash arm. Besides the constant rinse. The Machine you rebuilt is "Hot". I'm always on the lookout for another. I'm still looking for a Top Loading Portable Superba, Imperial or a Custom KitchenAid. If you find one on the East Coast, I'll probably find the time to drive down and get it.That would satisfy my Portable Collection.(For a while)

Post# 280660 , Reply# 6 5/18/2008 at 19:20 (5,819 days old) by peteski50 (New York)
Checkrate/Likes *KitchenAid!* Hi Steve, Does this model stop (pause) to heat the water? Nice machine. Peter

Post# 280662 , Reply# 7 5/18/2008 at 19:26 (5,819 days old) by stevet (West Melbourne, FL)
Checkrate/Likes *Didnt need much work!* Ed, I actually didn't have to do anything to this machine except clean the control panel. I did replace the original Hobart reversing pump assy with a nearly new setup from my other 21. The top bearing in the Hobart motor was making noise and I didn't want to have a callback in the future. And I added the rinse agent dispenser to it. As far as her using it sparingly, she lives alone and is 85 years old so she rarely has enough to fill it. But since she saw how the motor seized up on her old GE from lack of use, I am sure she will use this one a little bit more.

Post# 280663 , Reply# 8 5/18/2008 at 19:33 (5,819 days old) by stevet (West Melbourne, FL)
Checkrate/Likes *A Waiting game?* Yes, Peter, this is an original Hobart built dishwasher that DOES actually stop and heat the water in the first portion of the full cycles which on this would be the Normal and Light/China cycle. The giveaway is the heat indicator light on the panel which is gone in the later versions of the machines. What is nice is that it heats in the first wash of the Normal cycle and then again at what would be the first prewash of the light wash cycle. So it stops twice to heat if you start it at the beginning of the dial which is the Normal cycle. That uses the 1400 watts of the element in the sump and then uses the 700 watt heater during all the wash portions of the cycles until the last rinse. Does a fantastic job of cleaning like all the 21's did. When my mom had the other 21 I have in her house, she rarely used anything more than the light china cycle and that did a great job too. That machine is more of the later design with the loop element in the bottom of the tank which doubles as the drying element as well. The machine in the picture also has the heater assy under the machine to dry the dishes.

Post# 280671 , Reply# 9 5/18/2008 at 21:46 (5,819 days old) by tlee618 ()
Checkrate/Likes Hey Steve, That is a beautiful machine. I am sure your mother in law is happy to have the GE out of there!! Greg found a KDS 18 for me in Omaha. While I was up there he went over it from top to bottom and replaced a few things. Ended up painting the panels with black hammertone paint. He had done the same for his and I loved the look. Now one day I will get it shipped down here and be rid of this GE once and for all. Hope when it arrives you will come on over!! Terry

Post# 280675 , Reply# 10 5/18/2008 at 22:15 (5,819 days old) by brent-aucoin ()
Checkrate/Likes Steve, It looks Great! This is a great Dishwasher! Love the puppy! Congrats to Terry on the KDS-18! You will love it!!!! Thanks for the pictures Steve. Brent

Post# 280684 , Reply# 11 5/19/2008 at 00:03 (5,819 days old) by eddy1210 (Burnaby BC Canada)
Checkrate/Likes I want a KA like that! Love it.

Post# 280685 , Reply# 12 5/19/2008 at 00:06 (5,819 days old) by 70series ( Connecticut.)
Checkrate/Likes Cute dog, and nice dishwasher Hopefully she will run it more often than once a month. With her living alone, it is easy to see why her dishwasher was so seldom used. I know a woman who rarely uses her GE, and is not living alone. She still washes by hand for everyday dishes, and uses the dishwasher for holidays when people are over. However in recent years that is few and far between, if at all. I guess some people would rather wash by hand than use their automatics. It is less sanitary to hand wash IMHO since hands carry germs, and because nobody washing by hand can use water as hot as the automatics do for effective sterilization of dishware and utensils. Beautiful Kitchenaid by the way. I agree with Gansky; this is reminiscent of the older Hobart models. The interior looks exactly like the Hobart built Kitchenaid my grandmother got back in 1976. Have a good one, James

Post# 280689 , Reply# 13 5/19/2008 at 03:02 (5,819 days old) by toploader55 (Massachusetts Sand Bar, Cape Cod)
Checkrate/Likes *Reversing Motor ?????????* Hobart had built a reversing motor/pump assy ? I thought it was just the drain solenoid that snapped open with the motor running in the same direction.Hmmmmmmm. Or is this machine built after Whirlpool took over ?

Post# 280694 , Reply# 14 5/19/2008 at 07:04 (5,819 days old) by bajaespuma (Connecticut)
Checkrate/Likes *Comfort vs. convenience* Seems like when people(women?)get older they enjoy the process of washing dishes by hand. Seems like the warmth of the water and suds has a calming and soothing effect on the washer. My mother and her companion stopped using their dishwasher about 12 years ago. I know this because whenever I visited, the dishwasher was always being used as a dish drainer and had the odor of non-use.

Post# 280695 , Reply# 15 5/19/2008 at 07:06 (5,819 days old) by bobbyderegis (Boston)
Checkrate/Likes Lovely Steve! Where does one find stainless steel front panels for the 20 and 21 series? Bobby in Boston

Post# 280711 , Reply# 16 5/19/2008 at 10:07 (5,819 days old) by peterh770 (Marietta, GA)
Checkrate/Likes Handsome machine!

Post# 280831 , Reply# 17 5/19/2008 at 21:49 (5,818 days old) by stevet (West Melbourne, FL)
Checkrate/Likes *Panels can be yours for the asking!* Bobby, the stainless steel panels are still available and are the same part number for the 18,19,20,21,22,and 23 series. The part number is 4169400 and I get my parts thru Marcone Parts. They are the biggest in the country and usually have most parts available in one of their many warehouses.Also helps that I get a discount on the parts too! One Note!! That part number is for all the standard machines thru those models, but do not fit the Architect series which had a smaller upper panel due to the larger control panel design. Also, you have to have the original trim kit with the removable Chrome strips on the sides for these to work. I doubt if they ever made or still make the old style wrap around panels. If you can't get them for the architect series,(I don't have one so I never checked) you COULD use that number above but would have to cut the top panel. It is about double the thickness of the standard vari-front inserts which you could score and cut with a sheetrock knife so you would have to try your luck on it for the A-Series. Also, most of the A series did not come with the chrome trim on the door insert so that could be a problem as well. But some leg work and resoucefulness will go a long way if you want to do it. Oh and one other quirk.. I don't know if it was exclusive to the set I got, but the upper panel grain went from top to bottom and the bottom one went side to side! Go figure! Good Luck in your quest, Bobby.

Post# 280832 , Reply# 18 5/19/2008 at 21:52 (5,818 days old) by andrewinorlando ()
Checkrate/Likes Hobart still makes those stainless panels that fit KitchenAid dishwashers. SteveT had actually gotten those panels for me, for a Superba Selectra 22 that I found, but I decided to leave it black, so gave them back to him to use. They are very well made panels and should fit 20, 21 and 22 series machines, non-architect series only. Steve knows the exact specs and what models they fit. The machine pictured here was actuall built with a Hobart motor, but as Steve said, it was making noise, so he swapped it out with an Emerson model. Both are reversing motors, so yes, Hobart did make a reversing motor and pump assembly.

Post# 280833 , Reply# 19 5/19/2008 at 22:00 (5,818 days old) by stevet (West Melbourne, FL)
Checkrate/Likes *Thought you knew that, Toploader!* All the machines from the 21 and up had reversing motors. My Uncle used to tell me how Hobart was the only company that had a unidirectional pump with the drain valve which would extend the life of the motors since they would not have to keep starting and stopping. There seemed to be some real truth in that. I dotn think the newer motors lasted as long and they certainly went thru shaft seals faster for some reason. But you cannot beat the cleaning ability of those 2 way pumps prior to the power models installed in the 23's.

Post# 280877 , Reply# 20 5/20/2008 at 07:12 (5,818 days old) by toggleswitch (New York City, NY)
Checkrate/Likes ~My Uncle used to tell me how Hobart was the only company that had a unidirectional pump with the drain valve which would extend the life of the motors since they would not have to keep starting and stopping. GE did as well. I believe they still do. (although the motor now "rests". Methinks mid 60's Whirlpools were the same way. One-way motor and a drain solenoid valve.

Post# 280937 , Reply# 21 5/20/2008 at 17:15 (5,818 days old) by bobbyderegis (Boston)
Checkrate/Likes Thanks for the tip, guys. The KD we had growing up was a Superba 17-A, with the wrap around SS panels. I wish we never parted with that machine. It never gave trouble, but was replaced with a Superba 23, due to the fact that some not so bright ones in the family couldn't understand that the bottom rack could not be blocked with a bowl or the like. Too many complaints of dirty top rack items caused the change, though it was operator fault, not the dishwasher. Bobby in Boston

Post# 281565 , Reply# 22 5/24/2008 at 17:26 (5,814 days old) by stevet (West Melbourne, FL)
Checkrate/Likes *You are right, Bobby!* Those of us who know or have grown up with the older style Kitchenaids all knew they cleaned well with the single washarm design whether it was a Hydrosweep or the Big Blue Washarm, as long as you loaded the machine correctly. There was plenty of water pressure and volume to reach the top rack as long as there wasn't some big pot or pan blocking the spray to the upper rack. But if you had pots and pans to wash, that was what the Utility-Utensil/Pot & Pan/ Soak and Scrub cycles were for! It just took some getting used to or else being satisfied with doing an extra load for the top rack stuff! Didnt take us long to figure that out when we had our KDS15. But even given the poorer detergents back then, it did one heck of a job cleaning. Then I really got my mom spoiled and moved her up into the 21 series and that was such an improvemtn over the older models. I couldn't beleive the cleaning power of that unit. Totally awesome and I would put those machines against anything out there today and would bet it cleans just as well if not better!

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