Back in fall, a portable version of the much-venerated KDS14 dishwasher came up for sale on the South Carolina craigslist.  This is a model I have dreamed of owning but never thought I'd find one, so I just HAD to have it.  

I finally got it back to the house in Ogden last night, but not without a lot of help and kindness from folks here on the site.   Brainard Cooper, III was instrumental in getting this deal done.  He very kindly picked up the dishwasher and stored for me until December.  Our favorite shipper, Jackie Demperre, brought the machine from South Carolina to a certain appliance museum in Beltsville.  John (combo52) very graciously held on to the machine until Jon (jetcone) came to visit.  Jon then trucked it from Beltsville to Boston and stored it until last week for me.  Finally Phil (PhilR) drove me down to Boston with his truck and we brought the dishwasher over the border and into my basement in Ogden.   Thanks to all of you for helping me with this - I am beyond thrilled with the dishwasher!!  

Now back to business - I was itching to check this dishwasher out and made it my 'activity of the day' for today.  To heck with the Super Bowl.... LOL 

I don't have a lot of photos at the moment, more will follow later this week, I hope.   I knew there were some issues with hoses - the drain hose was so brittle it had snapped into 4 or 5 sections!  I haven't seen anything that 'vulcanized' before; oddly enough, the fill hose is just fine.  Nice and flexible and no interior rot - it makes me wonder if it didn't get changed at some point.    I removed the drain hose and inspected the rest of the machine.  Everything else looked just fine!   I figured I had nothing to lose so I tried a dry power test, using the Rinse and Hold cycle.  Well I was thrilled to find the timer works, the pump motor worked, the drain solenoid worked and so did the water valve!  

The next test was the drying system - I set the dial to Plate Warm and hit the Full Cycle button.  The heater powered up but I could not hear the fan turning.  The fan/heater housing is pretty easy to remove on a KitchenAid so I popped it off and found a fan blade was caught on the housing.  Odd, but easily bent back into shape.  After that it worked fine!

So what next?  I threw caution to the wind and hauled the machine down to the basement for a water test...  I started with a bucket of hot tap water and.... I found a leak.  It seems to be coming from a joint or coupling where the pump housing joins what I guess is the the drain/recirculate chamber.  I drained the water out and found a dish that would fit under this and hooked up the fill hose. 

I was very, very happy to find the water valve still works and that ol' Big Blue wash arm was moving water around the tub.  I can't get over how quiet these 14's are and how much water seems to be moving around!  

I've got to stop for today, alas, but I'm looking forward to further testing next week!

Oh and if anyone can help me 'date' the machine, it's a model KDS-54P, serial 874965. 

What a great looking machine!  Can't wait for more pictures.  This is also one of my favorite old machines!!

appliance to ride in my new truck bed ! It behaved itself I must say!

How can you let that in your kitchen?????!!!!  At least "Full Cycle" button is turquoise.  I guess that makes it acceptable. 

I figured the turquoise "Full Cycle" button was the qualification that saved this one.

lawrence

Hi Paul, I am glad this neat DW got home to you safely. It is not unusual that the fill hose survives and the drain hose falls apart, they are very different type hoses. When the DW arrived the dryer unit had fallen out and was only attached by it power cable, so I snapped it back in place. Also the front bracket for one of the front wheels was off so I removed the others so the machine would get damaged in the rest of its trip.

These were fun machines and diffidently the most heavily built and durable DW you could buy in the early 60s. Hope you have fun with it.

Great machine, Paul,  you'll use it a lot.   I have one installed in the garage and use it once or twice a week.  With the top rack removed, I was refrigerator shelves and drawers, washer and stove parts, dog dishes - anything that needs a good scouring in under and hour!

It's a wonderful party dishwasher too, no excuse for disposable dinner ware ever again :-)

OH wow, what a beauty Paul!  Congrats!  And the team effort that went into play to save this gem - way to go gang!

Ben

I've been looking over the service documents and parts lists (which I found right here on the site!!) and I have, as usual, jumped to the conclusion that the leaks I've observed are due to o-rings.   I've found the R-67500-14 and R-67500-27 o-rings, but I'm having trouble finding the R-67500-31 o-ring and the M-63984 pump gasket.  

Are there replacement/substitute part numbers for the last two?? 

I'm in Montreal this week and not being able to play with the KA is killing me.... Of course I really should finish up that Blackstone tub too, but the KA is just too much fun to play with!

Well it turns out the R-67500-27 o-ring isn't available after all... but I did manage to scare up the M-63984 pump gasket. 

I am hoping that maybe, just maybe, I'll be able to find o-rings at a plumbing store I know of.  I got pure-dumb-lucky with replacement o-rings for the '68 Viking (Westinghouse) dishwasher.  

I still swear I'll fix the Blackstone tub first, though...  Hubby's kvetching again.... LOL 

Here's a picture of the interior showing the heavy cast-iron wash arm (and what seems like a happy new owner!).

Phil (overphil) - this is indeed the machine you spotted and posted in Shopper's Square.  Don't worry, I won't tell hubby - he blames 'Canadian Phil' (PhilR) for aiding and abetting me with this one already... LOL 

I took a few more pictures while taking a break from work on the Blackstone today.  Geez, this dishwasher is in really good shape!  Something tells me the 'second in command' in Ogden may no longer be a portable top-loader... LOL  

Steve - thank you for those Hobart part numbers.  I've sent you a PM also. 

tub is darn near mint !!

Well, with Stevet's help on those KA part numbers, I was able to track down the o-rings and seals I needed for my 'new' dishwasher.  

I was feeling pretty confident after the Blackstone restoration, so earlier this week, I figured it was time to tear into the KA to see what I could do about those leaks.  

Amazingly, I got the pump out with a minimum of fuss and cussin'!   Eddie, thanks for the tip about doing this slow and easy - I can see how a ham-handed approach would result in a busted pump sump chamber.   I found that by working with the machine on it's back, I had better control over what happened to the pump as it was loosened from it's original position. 

I should have documented this better, but you'll see some key components that may need to be replaced in a leaky 14 Series.   To sum up, I needed to replace the gasket where the wash arm chamber attached to the drain valve, the o-ring on the drain valve plunger, the itty-bity o-ring at the plunger shaft, and just for good measure, the o-ring at the joint of the pump chamber and the pump itself.  

After it was all put back together, the question had to be asked: 'Vill it hold vater?'

Much to my delight, the answer was YES!!  

I still had to deal with the cracked and damaged drain hose, though.  

It took some serious effort (OK and some cussin'...) to cut off the original compression sleeve from the drain hose.  But I got a new one in, and surprisingly quickly!

So, the moment of truth....  All hoses were reconnected - it was time for a test-wash!

I ran a quick Rinse and Hold cycle and discovered a couple of drips - the gear clamps I used instead of those cursed Corbin clamps simply needed to be tightened a bit more.  PHEW!

Ah, the rinsed and held interior.... LOL  

I am so pleased that I got this classic KitchenAid back up and running again!   Hubby's going away later this week, so guess what I'll be playing with on the long Easter weekend??  Phil may even be here to witness the Maiden Wash!!  

I've never had a 14 Series machine, but wow, this one is a real beauty.  And again, my heartfelt thanks to Brainard, John, Jon Charles, and Phil who all helped me knock a 'dream machine' off my list!!  

She's a Beauty.

Great! Another thing to see in my next visit! 

This lovely KitchenAid dishwasher has been getting occasional use down in the basement in Ogden, but it is destined for greater things...   It's going to be moving into the new house in St-Liboire soon.  Hubby's been told, but he'll still kick up a fuss when he sees it in the kitchen.  

But before moving it, I wanted to spiff it up a bit... 

A change of colour was indicated (it has to match the '62 Flair Range and '65 Cyclamatic Refrigerator!).

No surprise as to the colour choice, I suppose... LOL 

And here we are, all back together again and ready for the move!  

Now, there is a dishwasher in the kitchen already, but there's a small snack bar at the end of the peninsula cabinet where the current dishwasher is.  I want to lose the snack bar and roll the KA to the end of the peninsula (for easy rolling to the dining area...).  The extra counter space will be a bonus.  

Next time you see this, it'll be part of a new kitchen portfolio.  Coming in August!!

Looks great Paul!

What a Great Machine.  Turquoise suits it well.