Early KitchenAid KDS-21: The Holy Grail Has Finally Been Found

Hey now!

Save some for the rest of us! LOL. I agree, I absolutely love the KDS-20. I always thought that it was the second best DW ever made, right after the KDS-21. I read on here that the 20 series had a redesigned drying system, which would explain why the dishes dry better than in the 18 series. I’ve also read that the vent location on the 18 series can contribute to rust in the corner of the lower rack if heated dry is used, which was fixed in the later models.

I’ve officially started working on the machine. I got all the itchy, mouse infested cotton candy removed and thrown away last night. I also got the majority of the glue that held said evil cotton candy to the tub scraped away as well. I spent about two hours cleaning it after these pictures were taken. What really amazes me is that all of the rubber is still flexible, and doesn’t appear to be deteriorated. The only deteriorating rubber I’ve seen so far is the seal around the detergent dispenser, which will be addressed in due time. I don’t know what kind of rubber was being used in these DWs, but it was top notch. So far, everything looks like it’s pretty much completely intact still, which I guess makes sense, given that it still works fine. The only issues that I’m aware of so far are the motor bearings, the detergent dispenser seal, dirt, and some surface rust. I plan to dismantle the entire machine to clean it, and check for any rust that needs to be treated. Since I’m going so far into it, I’m wondering if it would be worth adding a constant rinse arm to the top of the tub, and changing out the hold thermostats to ones from an 18 series machine, so that I can get hotter temperatures. I’m planning to run it again later today, and I’ve got some pretty bad dishes. Pictures will follow.
Thatwasherguy.

KitchenAid Superba dishwasher differences

Reply number 20, the KDS 20 dishwasher uses the same drying system as the 18,20,and 22 of the superb of dishwashers only the 19 had a different system, as it did not have a dry heater at all. It just had a fan to circulate air through the tub after it did a hot final rinse many users did not like this as well because it did not dry as thoroughly and they went back to the KDS 18 dry system on the suburban models for the next few models.

The KDS 20 is a much better performing dishwasher than the KDS 21 the 21 was cheapened to just one final rinse and had too many corrosion problems with racks pump, seals, etc., because the lack of rinsing away the caustic chlorinated phosphate detergent that were used in this time period.

Cleaning performance test KDS 21, the dishes with food on certainly came clean as they would
in any decent dishwasher. The flower vases are more of a mineral stain and probably no dishwasher would get that type of soil or stain off glassware without using an acid, which would not be good for the dishwasher, it’s also a bad idea to wash flower pots, etc. in dishwasher with sand and grit I’ve seen a number of dishwashers damaged by customers trying to wash flower pots in them.

John L

My KDS-19 still runs like a champ.
I had to re-seal some hose fittings a while back, but she runs fine now.
As for any rust showing up on the racks, I had a few spots that I sealed up with J-B Weld about 20 years ago, and that cured the issue permanantly.

I’ve got a little bit more done on the KDS-21 over the last couple of weeks. I dismantled the entire control panel, and cleaned all of the kitchen grease out of it. I also found some fake wood paneling at Menard’s that looks very close to 70’s woodgrain, so I cut panels from it for both my Sub Zero 550 and the KDS-21. I plan to start the disassembly process soon, so expect another thread over in the shoppers square forum detailing the parts that it’ll need.

Combo52…
That’s kind of what I was figuring. I didn’t think that those vases would come clean with regular DW detergent. I wouldn’t have thought about the dirt damaging things, but it makes sense. I certainly don’t plan to wash stuff like that in there on a regular basis, I just threw those in for fun.

phillymatt53…
I’m not surprised, everything I’ve seen so far with my 21 is extremely well thought out and service oriented. Thanks for the tip about the JB weld! I’ll put some of that under some Re-rack to fix any rust on the new racks. The old ones are way too far gone to fix that way, unfortunately.

Thanks,
Thatwasherguy.

That's incredible! As someone who's been hunting for a KDS-21 myself, I know how rare and revered they are. If you're planning a restore, I'd recommend checking vintage appliance forums or parts resellers—some gems still pop up there!

Welcome to the forum! Are you looking for a Whirlpool built KDS-21, or a Hobart built model? I’ve already found a set of racks from another member, I just need to pick them up at some point. I’ve also got a lead on a potential source of NOS parts locally. By the way, I actually saw another KDS-21 on marketplace yesterday. I’ll post it on a thread over in Shopper’s Square here directly.
Thanks,
Thatwasherguy.

In the 21 series KitchenAid dishwashers there’s virtually no difference between the ones that were built by Hobart or after whirlpool acquired the company except that the qualities is a little higher on the whirlpool ones

So you really shouldn’t be looking for one or the other you should be looking for the one in the best condition

John L