1958 KitchenAid Hobart KDC-2P portable dishwasher

[VintageApplianceGirl]

It's alive!!! I've hunted down replacement parts and got this baby running again. It wasn't easy though. Finding parts for a 1958 dishwasher and figuring out how everything works together is way more difficult than you would think. Thankfully, I found a parts manual online. This machine is a beast. It's basically an industrial dishwasher. It has a cast iron wash arm that is so powerful, I can't wash plastic dishes because it will throw them around

I love this beauty so much . The wash/rinse cycle is 20 mins and the full wash/rinse/dry cycle is exactly 45 minutes start to finish. That's twice as fast as new machines! It's no louder than any other dishwasher I've had. Once I put the back and bottom shields back on, it will be even quieter.

Checkout how the upper racks come out, so neat. Because it is top loading and only has one wash arm on the bottom, there is a very particular way of loading it. Plates in the bottom so water can still shoot upwards and bowls/glasses/small pots on the top rack. Larger pots will need to be washed in a load separately because they will cover most of the wash arm, but I usually handwash my large pots anyway.

My antique appliance collection is coming together nicely. The next thing I want to find is a 1950/60s electric can opener!

 

[christfr]

awesome.. love it

 

[combo52]

Very first Hobart built KitchenAid top loading portable dishwasher

This was an incredibly overbuilt machine. It used the same main pump and motor in washing system, as they’re built-in machines and some of their smaller commercial machines, including the famous cast-iron wash-arm.

The machine itself has a double wall tub even the exterior is porcelain coated for durability and beauty like older ranges.

Glad you got it running thanks for sharing the pictures. It’s been a long time since I’ve played with one of those my friend Tom has one in excellent shape that he used for a while.

The only real limitation to it is the lack of a water heater so you need fairly hot water, but modern detergent, cleaning and cooler water and it should work fine.

Hobart KitchenAid dishwashers were basically the Speed Queen of washers and dryers today because they’re based on commercial machines they’re incredibly ruggedly built and their designed to be serviced, they’re definitely designed to be kept for a long time.

Enjoy, John