Lookie what I picked up at H4H

It was staring at me. I couldn't help myself. I was looking for another dishwasher project and looks like I found one. Or maybe it found me. This one looks about the same condition as the 21 when I brought it home and that one is working well right now as my daily driver. I just miss the sounds of the drain valve popping, the rinse agent clicking and all the great sounds that went away in the later models. Plus I really do want another rinse.

The machine itself is in pretty good condition. The chrome is really shiny, clean and shows no pitting. The side chrome rails even still have the plastic on them. The racks are near mint. The biggest thing looks wise is that rust. Can't understand how someone could let it get that bad. When I pulled the spray arm out my hands were orange from the rust. What have some of you used to remove it?

Functionally, I think it needs a new shaft seal which I have ordered on eBay for $18 new in the package. You get that fine mist underneath when it's circulating water. I also have a small leak coming from the vicinity of the drain valve. The valve sounds strong when it clicks to drain and I suspect it's the hose connection but we'll see when I get under there a little closer. So for now I will let it sit I don't want that mist to cause any damage. Hopefully I'll have the parts in a couple of days.

The timer seems great. So I think the real issue is the fine spray and the drip from the drain valve area. And of course that rust!! I think I can use the stainless panels from my 21 so if I can get this going I will move it in as my daily driver. I have always liked this model.

The photos start at #15 of my collection.

CLICK HERE TO GO TO chachp's LINK

This post was last edited 10/20/2013 at 09:40


Forum Topics & Rules Manuals & Literature	New users Click-here to sign-up

Post# 710419 10/20/2013 at 09:14 (3,852 days old) by chachp (North Little Rock, AR)
Checkrate/Likes It was staring at me. I couldn't help myself. I was looking for another dishwasher project and looks like I found one. Or maybe it found me. This one looks about the same condition as the 21 when I brought it home and that one is working well right now as my daily driver. I just miss the sounds of the drain valve popping, the rinse agent clicking and all the great sounds that went away in the later models. Plus I really do want another rinse. The machine itself is in pretty good condition. The chrome is really shiny, clean and shows no pitting. The side chrome rails even still have the plastic on them. The racks are near mint. The biggest thing looks wise is that rust. Can't understand how someone could let it get that bad. When I pulled the spray arm out my hands were orange from the rust. What have some of you used to remove it? Functionally, I think it needs a new shaft seal which I have ordered on eBay for $18 new in the package. You get that fine mist underneath when it's circulating water. I also have a small leak coming from the vicinity of the drain valve. The valve sounds strong when it clicks to drain and I suspect it's the hose connection but we'll see when I get under there a little closer. So for now I will let it sit I don't want that mist to cause any damage. Hopefully I'll have the parts in a couple of days. The timer seems great. So I think the real issue is the fine spray and the drip from the drain valve area. And of course that rust!! I think I can use the stainless panels from my 21 so if I can get this going I will move it in as my daily driver. I have always liked this model. The photos start at #15 of my collection. CLICK HERE TO GO TO chachp's LINK This post was last edited 10/20/2013 at 09:40

Post# 710427 , Reply# 1 10/20/2013 at 09:48 (3,852 days old) by chachp (North Little Rock, AR)
Checkrate/Likes *Photos* Sorry I had my photos all messed up. They are fixed now. I reduced the resolution and rotated them appropriately. Hopefully they are easier to see now.

Post# 710468 , Reply# 2 10/20/2013 at 17:09 (3,852 days old) by jetcone (Schenectady-Home of Calrods,Monitor Tops,Toroid Transformers)
Checkrate/Likes *I just love* mine, you will two. Nothing like bi-level washing!

Post# 710485 , Reply# 3 10/20/2013 at 19:32 (3,852 days old) by Westie2 ()
Checkrate/Likes *Rust* The rust looks like this came from a country home that was on unfiltered well water. Most of the well water north of the river upon the ridges have this problem. When we lived in Russellville folks up in the Dover area that had well water the washers and DW's and even tubs/ showers and toilets had this bad stain on them. Run some CLR or Lime Away through this machine and that should do the trick.

Post# 710546 , Reply# 4 10/21/2013 at 07:16 (3,852 days old) by combo52 (50 Year Repair Tech Beltsville,Md)
Checkrate/Likes *KDS-20 KA DW* Good find Ralph, the KDS-20 is one of KAs best DWs ever, hopefully it will cleanup well. The little leak you see on the drain valve is a bad DV seal so you will need another DV unless you want to get very creative and try to replace the seal, normally these valves were just replaced when they had problems, KA never sold the seals separately.

Post# 710562 , Reply# 5 10/21/2013 at 08:40 (3,851 days old) by jetcone (Schenectady-Home of Calrods,Monitor Tops,Toroid Transformers)
Checkrate/Likes *Wait!* isnt that a KDS-21 in that picture??

Post# 710566 , Reply# 6 10/21/2013 at 08:56 (3,851 days old) by chachp (North Little Rock, AR)
Checkrate/Likes *Yes the first picture is.* Please start at #15 to see pics of the KDS-20. Those pics starting at #1 are of the 21 I bought at H4H and brought back to life. It is now my daily driver. Thank you John. Actually last night I was able to get closer to the leak and see where it was coming from and you're right. Luckily, I have a spare DV in the package that I will put on. The other leak seems to have disappeared. Seems it was likely just that it had sat so long. As I already purchased a new Shaft Seal I think I will put it in anyway due to age of the machine. If I decide to make this my daily driver I think this would be a good idea. Ralph

Post# 711392 , Reply# 7 10/25/2013 at 19:24 (3,847 days old) by chachp (North Little Rock, AR)
Checkrate/Likes *It's finished and installed.* I took out the 21 and replaced it with this KDS20. This machine cleaned up beautifully. The rust is gone on the inside. The racks are perfect. I replaced the Drain Valve which was leaking and replaced the Shaft Seal. The Shaft Seal leaked when I first started using the machine but it stopped leaking after a couple of days. I figure is just needed to sit with some water. I replaced the seal anyway because I had one. The plastic protection on this machine had never been removed on the side panels so I removed it and cleaned it up. It was a little "Gooey" after all these years but some Goo Gone cleaned it right up. I used the Stainless Panels from the 21 I took out so I think it looks pretty good and personally I think it cleans better than the 21. It does have an extra rinse and the purges seem to use more water but I could be mistaken on that.

Post# 711395 , Reply# 8 10/25/2013 at 19:30 (3,847 days old) by firedome (Binghamton NY & Lake Champlain VT)
Checkrate/Likes 1 *I agree...* the 20 does clean better than the 21, but then imo the 18 cleans better than the 20, so I may be full of it!

Post# 712723 , Reply# 9 11/2/2013 at 03:45 (3,840 days old) by FEster (Lafayette La USA)
Checkrate/Likes *rusty water* 13 or so years back, I lived in a rented 70s model trailer near Indian Bayou, Louisiana. I thought it had some sort of dark harvest gold tub, lav, toilet, sink etc. I moved in and decided to clean the dark rust stains from the drains. I sprayed the rust and lime remover and discovered that the bath was almond and the kitchen sink was white! If you have water issues, whole house water filters and softeners are the only way to go. Trust me. Clothes, dishes, etc. are brighter and soap actually cleans. Packing in your drinking and cooking water gets old, quick. FEster

Post# 712739 , Reply# 10 11/2/2013 at 07:33 (3,839 days old) by chachp (North Little Rock, AR)
Checkrate/Likes 1 *Always had a water softener.* Anytime I have ever lived somewhere with really hard water or water with this amount of rust I always installed some kind of water conditioner or softener depending what I needed. The amount of rust in this dishwasher is really unusual for our area but I suspect maybe it either came from some other area or maybe a very rural area where they had well water. Hard to say what did it, but it looks pretty good now and is cleaning like crazy. I am pretty happy with it.