1975 Westinghouse Continental 500 Dishwasher

[reactor]

Westinghouse 1975 model is the last model line before Westinghouse sold its appliance division to White Industries.

The seller, Lori, is asking $75.00. It is located in Knoxville Tennessee. As mentioned previously on another post, she said she turned it on and saw smoke. She immediately turned it off so no more damage would be done.

Having never had a Westinghouse dishwasher, I don't know if the pump motor starts immediately when the cycle selector button is depressed, or if it fills first before the pump starts. If the pump motor does not start immediately, then it's likely either the timer/fast advance motor, the fill solenoid or the drain solenoid that is smoking. Recall this machine has the drain solenoid energized at all times EXCEPT when draining.

Hopefully one of us can save this machine from the scrap heap. Being the last of its kind it should be preserved, even if it is not the strongest performer, when it comes to washing ability. For those who have not seen my other post, it was rated at "slightly below average" in washing ability by Consumer Reports when it was set to the normal cycle (listed as double wash.) The Pots and Pans cycle gives an extended wash.

Paul Chaks (Turquoisedude) has a similar 1973 Westinghouse built dishwasher under the Viking badge and indicates it washes well.

Lori is very nice to talk to, and if you have questions I am sure if you ask her on the FB messenger she will be happy to respond.[this post was last edited: 8/23/2023-12:28]

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[appnut]

Yes, the pump runs while it fills. There was a movie I watched in the theater and it dealt with a child (son) that had been kidnapped. I think Judd Hirsch was in it. But there waws a brief scene where the mother finishes putting the breakfast dishes in the DW and closes/locks the door and pushes the cycle button. Then I vaguely remember briefly hearing the dishwasher in the background as she leaves the apartment/condo.

I cannot quite make out the cycle button titles.

 

[jakeseacrest]

Bob it was Without a Trace from 1983

 

[appnut]

Michael, that's it!! Thank you!!

 

[reactor]

Movie star dishwasher

Someone will have to buy this dishwasher, not only was in the last machine made by Westinghouse, but it has appeared in the movies!

Thanks for the tip Bob and Michael, I will have to look up that film.[this post was last edited: 8/23/2023-15:59]

 

[combo52]

Last real Westinghouse top-of-the-line dishwasher

In the wall of dishwashers at the museum, we have the basic version of this machine, this machine would perform better with the added, constant rinse, and a detergent dispenser. Ours just has a cup, and it starts washing immediately, and only has one wash and five rinses.

This is certainly the worst or tied for the worst dishwasher of the 70s. It makes a D&M dishwasher look good. But still it’s a very interesting dishwasher and I hope somebody saves it. If I was closer I would grab it and upgrade the one we have

It was interesting. Westinghouse had a top rated dishwasher in the late 60s that was the cleaning equal of KitchenAid and whirlpool and the three of them were check rated in consumer reports in 1966.

But they tried a desperate attempt to make it cheaper to build machine to try to compete with the likes of GE builder models, etc. and it was just a disaster.

There was a whole condominium project near us that had the basic version of this machine and Jeff and I rebuilt lots of them. The pump and motors failed. The drain solenoid would burn out all the time , and they just didn’t last very long or work very well.

When my next older brother Jerry moved to Minnesota around 1980 the apartment he rented first had all Westinghouse appliances, he said the 30 inch electric range was quite good, the refrigerator pretty decent, but he said that dishwasher sure isn’t much and didn’t work very well.

John

 

[tomturbomatic]

Catchers have cups, too.

 

[reactor]

Westinghouse

I wish you lived closer, too, John. That would look very nice in your museum, I am sure. Do you know what the cycle progression is on the models with the detergent dispensers? Was it WRRWRR? Or did it have three final rinses and delete one of the two pre-main wash rinses...that is WRWRRR.

One of my concerns is the gigantic sump. It looks as if it has more carry-over water than even the GE's of the day.

Westinghouse's description of the pump states that a flapper valve prevents water (from the pump housing and sump) from splashing on the dishes during the dry cycle, as the pump motor is still running, to provide forced air.

I believe the "Filter-Clean" models of the sixties had a vertical motor and pump,
did they not? I assume Westinghouse went to the horizontal pump in the seventies
to allow them to increase the tub size to hold larger dishes, taller pots, etc. due to the lower profile of the pump/motor.