A Great Easter Weekend

[william637]

It's a miracle from God on this Easter. Look at what just came home with me after an overnight trip to Ohio (1150 miles round trip is SO WORTH IT!)

Got a little bit of cleaning to do, and a small amount of surface rust on the cabinet exterior, but the inside is immaculate.

 

[william637]

And the inside...

To quote Opie: "Ain't she purty, Paw?"

 

[westingman123]

As Ward would say:

That's fine, son, just fine.

You gotta love a Lady.

 

[kakidd]

Beautiful

I always loved how Sears lit up their Ladies for dishes equally as well as they lit up their Ladies for laundry in this era!  Hope you're planning a big Easter brunch tomorrow to test her out!  Congratulations!

 

 

[chachp]

Oh my!

I am MOIST!

 

[aldspinboy]

What a great find !

Love the control panel on this model.

Inner tub is looks mint.

Best of luck.

Can you explain the cycles please ?

The Easter bunny sure did bring you something better then a chocolate coverd eggs lol. 

Yaa for Lady Kenmore Dishwashers.

Darren k

 

[pdub]

Incredible

Mark,

The Easter Bunny arrived early at your house!

That dishwasher is absolutely fabulous. The interior looks never used.

Can't wait to see how this one polishes up.

Have a great holiday.

Patrick

 

[polkanut]

Am I correct in assuming this is a top-loading model?

 

[william637]

Yep - it's a top loader

I had been wondering how a top load roto-rack would work. It's really quite ingenious. The roto rack is split into two halves.

Can't wait to get this thing water tested - now if someone would just come to the house and help me get it out of the vehicle...I'm dying here....

 

[Unimatic1140]

Congratulations William, that looks like a super fun dishwasher, probably 1966-1968 time period.

It is a wonderful find! With really HOT water they machines seem to wash beautifully.

 

[xraytech]

What a fine Lady you've acquired.
Now let's talk about sending me some of your Easter luck
Sam

 

[william637]

Just fired it up

No leaks, and wow that lady can pump some water.

But, during the second fill, it seems to have shorted out (at least it keeps tripping my GFI). My guess is its the heating element (which got fired up when I did a rapid advance of the timer, just before I started it again for the second fill), or the solenoid (which seems to be defaulting to an open position).

So, now to get the water out, and start yet another project.....

 

[tomturbomatic]

Congratulations! and I'm glad you are back home safely

We have an impeller model with salmon color vinyl racks and a pink porcelain interior and the same black douche nozzle for the ROTO RACK. I had it at my house right after we first found it. Yes, one half of the rack flops over onto the other half for loading the lower rack. The problems that presented got old rather quickly, but it did have an independent water source for the top rack.

GFI circuits can be a problem. I remember all of the years we plugged our Mobile Maid into one of those little gray adapters that had a green ground wire you attached to the center screw of the outlet plate. No one ever got "shocked."

 

[philr]

Wow, that's a nice find! I didn't know there were LK top loading dishwashers. Split roto rack is ingenious but I still can't figure how you can lift it to add dishes to the lower rack it once you started to load the second rack? I suppose you need to overload one of the racks until the lower rack is full and then redistribute the dishes to balance the load between the two racks.

Edit: I thought the racks were on hinges at the center, I looked again and I can't see how one could fold without being blocked by the tub, so I guess they have to be removed from the center post? That makes more sense!

It would be nice to see a video of it with a plexiglass on top while it's washing dishes!

 

[tomturbomatic]

Phil, Count the rings from the outside. In the third ring you see two vinyl hooks at each end of the stainless steel support bar. These allow you to lift the outer edge of the rack at midpoint between the hooks and flip it over onto its other half. This situation you envision is one of the loading problems I encountered. If you are adding dishes during the day, you can only load one side of the top rack until you have completed loading the bottom rack and if you forget to add an item to the lower rack once both sides of the top rack are filled, you have to decide if it is easier to just wash it by hand or unload one side of the top rack so you can tip it to allow access to the lower rack. Since the rack is a circle inside a square, it will not hit the tub walls when being flipped and it will even turn 360 degrees in the flipped position.

The access opening in the horseshoe-shaped upper rack of the GE rollout & Mobile Maid with the bowtie impeller enabled loading the lower rack even with the upper rack full as long as the silverware basket was lifted out. It was a much better loading strategy, but it did not offer an independent water supply for the top rack and water to the top rack could be blocked by something in the bottom rack.

 

[philr]

I know from loading my '65 D&M impeller dishwasher that loading glasses in top loading dishwashers can be a bit tricky (at least those that don't have upper racks that move away when opening the door)!
In mine, there are two center sections that fold over the outer sections, just folding one is enough to place dishes on the lower rack (so you can fill the 3/4 of the upper rack and have access the lower one) but you can't put tall glasses on one of the side because if you do you can't fold either parts of the center section so they in place... And if you put a large glass near where the center sections are hinged to the outer section, you have to be careful not to crush the glass either. It happened to me and I needed to remove everything from the dishwasher to clean the pieces of glass that got to the sump near the impeller...

 

[combo52]

Top Loading LKM Portable DW

Hi Mark congratulations on finding a rare cool machine, I remember these when they were still being sold. Robert hit it correctly as it would be 1966-1969 vintage the last 4 digits of the serial # may tell you the exact build date. This machine has very good water distribution so it gets everything thoroughly drenched, it also had the best food grinder of any DW made at this time, so it will eat any soft and some not soft food bits. The bad thing is no filter so if things touch or nest together food bits may remain dried in place.

 

One of the other good things about this DWs performance is that it is one of the few classic DWs that will clean great on 120 degree water incoming water if you use the PINK 150 button as this cycle heats the 2nd wash and final rinse to 150. And even on the normal cycle the heating element is on to boost temps. One of the worst things you can do any DW especially a classic one is to get the incoming water temps over 140 and lower is even better, newer detergents do not need extremely high temperatures.

 

If you have control over water temps where you live it is a good idea to experiment and see what is really necessary for good results. Always keeping in mind that not only will you save real money on operating your water heater and increase safety for anyone in your household. But the real benefit is much longer water heater life and every plumbing component in your homes hot water system including the hoses and inlet valves in any appliances you have.

 

[philr]

John, what could happen (to the dishwasher) if the water temp from the tank is too hot? I think the setting on my water tank thermostats is currently a bit above 140 degrees (140 is the factory setting for electric water heaters in Canada)... It probably drops a few degrees before it arrives to the dishwasher, I'll have to check that.

 

[william637]

150 - 155 degree water

John

I am curious about the damage that hot water can cause to the machine. The tap water at my house is between 150 and 155. I know that can be bad on hoses and seals in valves. For that reason, all of my permanently installed items (daily driver dishwashers and washing machine) have ss braided hoses. Whether they need it or not I replace them every few years.

What other damage have you found by hot water? I would think that a machine that heats to 150 wouldn't have a problem other than the hoses?

Thanks for the tip - look forward to hearing back.

-Mark