Found a KDSS-21

About a week ago, one of my Kijiji searches turned up a KDSS-21 about 15 minutes away from me. At first I thought I wasn't going to go get it, but then a few days went by and the ad stayed up, so I thought it was a sign that I needed to pick it up. Contacted the seller yesterday and he said it was still available, so I drove over and grabbed it for next to nothing.

Tried it out this afternoon. I first filled the sump with very hot water and let it sit for a hour, and was pleased to come back and see there wasn't any leaks. Hooked up temporary power, and the control board powered on and displayed "PF". Opened the door and closed it again, hit the "Rinse and Hold" button and then "Start", and the control panel responded and was displaying fine but nothing else happened except for a relay click. I quickly shut down the power, but couldn't smell anything burning or hot, so I tried it again leaving the power on this time, but it did the same thing. After about a minute, the timer rapid advanced for a fill, but it didn't sound like the valve was getting power (it might have been but I wasn't sure). Another click and still no motor. Hit "Cancel Reset" and the displayed changed to "CA", the timer rapid advanced, a relay clicked but again nothing. Then another click and the display turned off.

So I took the front panels off, and everything looked fine inside and underneath. The motor spun freely, and there was no sign of dripping from the detergent dispensers. I disconnected the motor power connector and tested the windings, and they tested fine. Re-connected the connector, and decided to try the "Normal" cycle this time. Low and behold, the motor fired up and pumped out the water that was in the tub! After the pumpout, I reset the power, and tried another "Rinse and Hold", and the motor ran fine in both directions, and I could definitely hear the fill valve opening this time. So I got a bucket of hot water, ran another "Rinse and Hold", and was pleased that there were no leaks underneath or at the detergent dispenser. Tried the "Normal" cycle and found the water heater worked, as well as one of the detergent dispenser bi-metals (cancelled before the second door had a chance to open because I ran out of water in my bucket). Then tried a "Plate Warmer" cycle and the blower worked fine. Not sure if the heater was working as the tub was hot from the washing, so I'll have to try it again when the tub is cold.

So now I am going to clean it up as the front panel and control panels are dirty. The racks are in great shape with no rust. It is missing a door spring so I will grab one off of my parent's old KDI-21 that I kept as a parts machine, and it needs some insulation behind the lower kick panel. If it weren't for the fact that I've got a KDS-23 as my daily driver, I'd probably use this one, but I'm still pleased that I decided to go get it.


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Post# 1150587 6/8/2022 at 18:04 (687 days old) by barcoboy (Canada)
Checkrate/Likes 4 About a week ago, one of my Kijiji searches turned up a KDSS-21 about 15 minutes away from me. At first I thought I wasn't going to go get it, but then a few days went by and the ad stayed up, so I thought it was a sign that I needed to pick it up. Contacted the seller yesterday and he said it was still available, so I drove over and grabbed it for next to nothing. Tried it out this afternoon. I first filled the sump with very hot water and let it sit for a hour, and was pleased to come back and see there wasn't any leaks. Hooked up temporary power, and the control board powered on and displayed "PF". Opened the door and closed it again, hit the "Rinse and Hold" button and then "Start", and the control panel responded and was displaying fine but nothing else happened except for a relay click. I quickly shut down the power, but couldn't smell anything burning or hot, so I tried it again leaving the power on this time, but it did the same thing. After about a minute, the timer rapid advanced for a fill, but it didn't sound like the valve was getting power (it might have been but I wasn't sure). Another click and still no motor. Hit "Cancel Reset" and the displayed changed to "CA", the timer rapid advanced, a relay clicked but again nothing. Then another click and the display turned off. So I took the front panels off, and everything looked fine inside and underneath. The motor spun freely, and there was no sign of dripping from the detergent dispensers. I disconnected the motor power connector and tested the windings, and they tested fine. Re-connected the connector, and decided to try the "Normal" cycle this time. Low and behold, the motor fired up and pumped out the water that was in the tub! After the pumpout, I reset the power, and tried another "Rinse and Hold", and the motor ran fine in both directions, and I could definitely hear the fill valve opening this time. So I got a bucket of hot water, ran another "Rinse and Hold", and was pleased that there were no leaks underneath or at the detergent dispenser. Tried the "Normal" cycle and found the water heater worked, as well as one of the detergent dispenser bi-metals (cancelled before the second door had a chance to open because I ran out of water in my bucket). Then tried a "Plate Warmer" cycle and the blower worked fine. Not sure if the heater was working as the tub was hot from the washing, so I'll have to try it again when the tub is cold. So now I am going to clean it up as the front panel and control panels are dirty. The racks are in great shape with no rust. It is missing a door spring so I will grab one off of my parent's old KDI-21 that I kept as a parts machine, and it needs some insulation behind the lower kick panel. If it weren't for the fact that I've got a KDS-23 as my daily driver, I'd probably use this one, but I'm still pleased that I decided to go get it.

Post# 1150615 , Reply# 1 6/9/2022 at 00:58 (687 days old) by bradfordwhite (central U.S.)
Checkrate/Likes Sounds like a great find. I'm glad it's tested working. It's fun being able to get something like this and find that any fixes are so simple. Pictures would be great, too.

Post# 1150710 , Reply# 2 6/9/2022 at 16:50 (686 days old) by barcoboy (Canada)
Checkrate/Likes I'll get some photos posted as soon as I have a chance to clean it up, possibly this weekend. The seller told me that it had been his shed for two years in storage, so I'm hoping the motor not initially starting was a bit of corrosion on a relay contact or something similar that maybe a bit of arcing cleaned up. A couple of questions for the KitchenAid experts: - When I took the front cover off, I noticed that the lower door baffle looked like each side had either been chewed away by a mouse or gotten brittle and broken off, leaving only the middle sticking out below the bottom of the door. It didn't leak when I ran my few test segments, but I'm wondering if I should change it anyways? I can check the one in my KUDC22 parts machine (not a KDI-21 as I mentioned above), or I see they are still available new. - If I do decide to change the baffle, do I need to remove the door? I ask because I read in my KDS-58 service manual that this is required, but I think there is enough clearance to wedge it out and wedge the new one in on this one. - When I ran my "Normal" test cycle, I noticed that after the water heating portion of the cycle was done, the detergent dispenser door opened before the motor started. I smelled a bit of burning smell, but I figure it was just the dust burning off the bi-metal as it didn't last long. I know that the other vintage KitchenAids I have owned or seen (KDS-58, KUDC22, and KUDS23) always opened the dispenser doors with the motor running, as it used the current draw from being in series with the motor to heat the bi-metal, but I saw that the heating element stayed on while the bi-metal was energized, so I'm wondering if it is being used as a current source for the bi-metals? (I also noticed that the timer seemed to rapid advance an increment or two after the heater was turned off and the bi-metal de-energized, so I'm thinking this is normal).