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Thread Number: 88703
/ Tag: Vintage Dishwashers
Deciding between old GE and KitchenAid Hobart |
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| Post# 1132312 , Reply# 1 10/29/2021 at 23:17 (903 days old) by qsd-dan (West) | ||
 The GE would be more period correct with the rest of your kitchen appliances but will suffer in the performance, durability, and reliability areas compared to the the Kitchenaid. The GE will be harder to find parts for. Just be aware that you will be the repairmen/person if either machine requires attention. Nobody is going to bother chasing down obsolete parts and most are not going to bother trying to repair them, even if they have the knowledge, which most don't. This post was last edited 10/29/2021 at 23:54 | ||
Post# 1132316 , Reply# 2 10/30/2021 at 00:54 (903 days old) by jamiel  (Detroit, Michigan and Palm Springs, CA) |
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 TBH either would be perfectly correct as a replacement for, setting the stage, a GE drawer dishwasher installed when the house was new, then swapped out for another GE in 1969, or hung onto for a littttle longer until 1979 when milady just COULDNT see herself with a plastic (Permatuf) dishwasher and wanted the best at the time (but saw no value at not having a dial to turn...KA | ||
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Post# 1132329 , Reply# 5 10/30/2021 at 09:15 (903 days old) by DADoES (TX, U.S. of A.) |
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 The KitchenAid, I believe, is a KDI-18. 18 series was in production from 11/1976 to 10/1979. | ||
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Post# 1132340 , Reply# 6 10/30/2021 at 11:04 (902 days old) by Syndets2000 (Nanjemoy, MD) |
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G E DISHWASHER age... Very likely 1965 , just before they changed the design...it might be a year earlier, cause there's no plastic flatware shield at the base of the inner door...I'd snap it up just cause it's a historical piece in such good shape ! | ||
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Post# 1132566 , Reply# 8 11/3/2021 at 01:05 (899 days old) by panthera (Rocky Mountains) |
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Having had GE and KA. some thoughts
Either will be better than a new machine.
Both will need occasional repairs, start looking for donor machines. Both will have rust, no matter what. Laundress gave us some good notes on fixing that a while back. The GE only needs to have large items, olive pits, bones, etc. scraped off. No pre-rinsing needed. A modern detergent and rinse aid will work fine. Expect the machine to break fine china and melt plastic in the bottom rack. Loading is intuitive. The KA prefers to be fed dishes which are pre-rinsed, not just scraped. Modern detergents may foam a bit too much, you'll have to experiment - the KA uses a much better wash arm then the new dishwashers. You can get better results with 1/3 as much detergent. Loading is as non-intuitive as anything can be. You'll learn. Eventually. KA fans are a bit like apple fans, GE fans are a bit more Windows people. We use both regularly, but the GEs are my personal favorite and my partner doesn't mind how fussy loading the KAs is. Again, either is a better choice than the plasti-elasti junk on offer today. | ||
| Post# 1132638 , Reply# 9 11/3/2021 at 22:35 (898 days old) by toploadloyalist (San Luis Obispo, CA) | ||
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KitchenAid KDI-18 That looks like the model I had in the early 80s. I've been struggling to remember it. | ||
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Post# 1133145 , Reply# 11 11/9/2021 at 23:36 (892 days old) by appnut (TX) |
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Post# 1133146 , Reply# 12 11/9/2021 at 23:57 (892 days old) by panthera (Rocky Mountains) |
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Melmac doesn't belong in any dishwaher I don't know why, you'd thing the melamine resin would be stable, but it's not. The reason you can't put thermoplastics in the bottom rack of the GE is because the element heats the water pretty much whenever the motor is on and the drain solenoid is off. They were down rated from 900Watts to 450-500Watts at some point, but even the lower wattage elements are a big reason for the outstanding performance of the Potscrubbers. You just can't clean with tepid water. I'd not sweat it, but no melamine resins in the Potscrubber. (I wonder if non-chlorine detergents have changed that equation, today? Next time I have a piece of Melmac I don't care about, I'll throw it in for several washes and post the results.) A Tappan! Cool! Pics, please! | ||
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Post# 1134109 , Reply# 15 11/21/2021 at 02:30 (881 days old) by bradfordwhite (central U.S.) |
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They don't hold up to a dishwasher heating element.
They are not to be used for microwaving. Acidic foods can cause the chemicals in the plates to leach into the food. My guess is the stain easily and the are easily scratched when cutting food on them. What? I think I'll stick with my 20-40 year old Corel ware. | ||
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Post# 1134115 , Reply# 16 11/21/2021 at 07:35 (881 days old) by combo52 (50 Year Repair Tech Beltsville,Md) |
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Best Sightly Vintage DW First don't brother with this GE DW trying to use this as a daily driver is like trying to use a 1971 Vega as your daily driver.
These GE DWs were fairly reliable for 5-10 years when new but were never intended to last a long time and worst of all they only did a mediocre job at actually washing dishes when new.
Where the tank is rusted there is no metal left under the rust to redcoat, yes you can start building up epoxy and use some of the good sealants to fix this problem but you will just deal with it in other difficult spots elsewhere.
If you want vintage get a Kitchenaid, they were light years better to begin with and parts are still all over the place, we have a whole wall of KA parts for the KD15 KAs and on we have almost nothing for a GE like yours.
John L. | ||
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Post# 1134129 , Reply# 17 11/21/2021 at 12:41 (880 days old) by panthera (Rocky Mountains) |
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A few answers
Home depot and Menards both sell dishwasher hookup kits with 'universal' adapters. UPC Code #820633958697
That might meet your needs. The top sprayer is always a bit out of perpendicular, if it spins freely, it's ok. Plastisol...not one of GE's best ideas. Laundress has posted extensively on how to fix it and, yes, that's a rust bubble. I like GE dishwashers. I like KA. Some KitchenAid fans tend to be a bit...well, let's just say they never quite recovered from Consumer's Union rating the GE higher in cleaning really dirty dishes. Never dealt with a recalcitrant Rinse-Glo cover, perhaps hot water to loosen? | ||
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Post# 1134140 , Reply# 18 11/21/2021 at 14:29 (880 days old) by bradfordwhite (central U.S.) |
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I would go with a KA, even one from that era and I don't even like their one level wash arm that they used up into the 70s.
However, as others have pointed out GEs back then had a plethora of problems. It's ultimately going to be a bunch of problems. Unless you just want it for the looks, which is understandable. Still, I think I would go with a KA over GE. Good Luck | ||
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Post# 1134141 , Reply# 19 11/21/2021 at 15:01 (880 days old) by panthera (Rocky Mountains) |
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Loading and Washing Matter
I've dealt with a KA one-arm dishwasher in regular use for over 15 years - so I know whereof I speak when I say: I like KA, but here's the facts:
Loading in a One-Arm KA: Non-intuitive, takes many, many, many cycles of unwashed dishes to master. Ultmately, about 1/4 to 1/3 of the lower rack can't be used if the top rack is filled. Loading in GE: Intuitive, easy, you get it off the bat. Everything delicate will be smashed or burnt to a crisp in the lower rack, that's the sole limiting factor. Washing in a One-Arm KA: If thoroughly pre-rinsed, and loaded right and the detergent not overdosed (that bottom arm was the best design in any machine, period) then stuff in the bottom rack always gets clean. Upper rack? After many years of practice, usually. Washing in GE: Scrape off the bones and olive pits. The rest will be washed off, all dishes washed clean and sparkly. Were pre-Whirlpool KA better built? Yup. Did they, you know, like, clean better? Nope. GE cleaned better, hands down. Not my opinion, tests showed it again and again. | ||
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Post# 1134142 , Reply# 20 11/21/2021 at 15:21 (880 days old) by DADoES (TX, U.S. of A.) |
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KDI-17a was the family's 1st dishwasher. We never prerinsed anything. Rinse/Hold was initially run accordingly to its intended usage, which was when we learned that it generally caused a foul odor by end of the day from the residual wet dirtiness so we stopped that practice and left the scraped unrinsed dishware to accumulate. | ||
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Post# 1134146 , Reply# 21 11/21/2021 at 15:48 (880 days old) by bradfordwhite (central U.S.) |
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Yes, if you can find one like this, which is about 1966 top-of-the-line Superba, you can put on a custom front and hopefully have a reliable machine. BIG IF
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Post# 1134161 , Reply# 23 11/21/2021 at 17:53 (880 days old) by appnut (TX) |
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Post# 1134163 , Reply# 24 11/21/2021 at 18:15 (880 days old) by bradfordwhite (central U.S.) |
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easy
Easy to change the color of the panel.
Get shiny contact paper, remove panels, clean them, wipe down with rubbing alcohol, dry, apply contact paper and fold back behind panel, re-install panels. Might need to do 2 layers if the panel is a dark color and showing through the vinyl.
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Post# 1134164 , Reply# 25 11/21/2021 at 18:40 (880 days old) by Steved (Guilderland, New York) |
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Tappan The Tappan is a Whirlpool made machine. | ||
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Post# 1134174 , Reply# 26 11/21/2021 at 20:47 (880 days old) by panthera (Rocky Mountains) |
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That KA is pretty | ||
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Post# 1134805 , Reply# 28 11/28/2021 at 18:46 (873 days old) by panthera (Rocky Mountains) |
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Properly loaded ( a pain, to be sure) should be better Any KA, including this beauty should was much better than modern dishwasher. Have you had a chance to make sure the filters are clean (careful for broken glass!)? Make sure the arm is free to rotate when filled? Not overdone the detergent? Most detergent tabs made today are for the anemic modern dishwashers and over-foam in a good dishwasher. Try using powder and use all the dispensers. You should be getting better performance, not worse. Yes, loading is a pain but still. Wish you luck! | ||
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Post# 1134811 , Reply# 30 11/28/2021 at 19:24 (873 days old) by combo52 (50 Year Repair Tech Beltsville,Md) |
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Older KA DW Cleaning Performance Pods will work just fine in this DW, I would supplement the pod in the main wash cup with some powered or liquid detergent in the pre-wash cup.
If the main wash cup does not open and the pod does not desolve there is something wrong with this DW.
It is true that an older DW like this does not clean as well as newer DWs that have longer cycles that actually heat the wash water to a guaranteed temperature, the overall best cleaning DWs were machines like the WP Power-clean machines built from 1985-2011.
John L. | ||
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Post# 1134815 , Reply# 31 11/28/2021 at 19:35 (873 days old) by panthera (Rocky Mountains) |
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Yes, under the arm | ||
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Post# 1134816 , Reply# 32 11/28/2021 at 19:38 (873 days old) by panthera (Rocky Mountains) |
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John,
Our Potscrubbers with the orbital arm on the most intensive cycle out clean every modern dishwasher any of our friends have. Especially when you take into consideration that I absolutely refuse to pre-rinse and only remove bones and olive pits.
Yes, we have 145F water and, yes, it's softened. That does help. | ||
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