A test of our 1960's RCA Whirlpool... and some questions

[adamr]

Following up on my thread below about the 1960s RCA Whirlpool dishwasher...

First of all, thanks to all for the replies.

To the person who said they could date this unit with the serial number, is says SPU 60-1 (or 80-1?) serial PU 94Z176.

I cleaned the dishwasher as best I could, and then poured a big pot full of boiling water into it, and found no visible leaks from underneath.

So, I turned the unit on. I noticed a few things...

-It doesn't seem to add water to the water I had added to begin with. I don't know how to tell if the water shutoff valve is in the right position. I turned it assuming it has been off for these 35+ years.

-When I open the door during the cycle, I get sprayed!

-I can't get it to drain the water I put in, by turning the dial forward to the various positions. I didn't put in enough to cover the heating element, so I don't want to let the it go for a full cycle by itself.

Any ideas??

 

[cycla-fabric]

I will take a stab at this, it's good to know it didn't leak that is a good sign. As for the water not entering the machine, turn the water valve half way that way you will either have it half on or half off. You might have put enough water in the machine for it not to take in anymore, or it could be the solenoid that maybe faulty. This machine should allow the water to enter the machine for the first 2 minutes and then turn off. If I remember right, when the timer is at the home position from the dry cycle, and you choose button A or B, you just have to pull out the knob and the machine either starts to fill or it waits a 30 seconds or so and then starts filling. As for opening the door and you get a spray, I bet the button that is to stop the machine is stuck, you may have to free it to get it to operate right. As for the draining, it should drain between the cycles, the machine should stop, wait a few seconds and then start to drain out. Let the machine go though a rinse hold cycle and see if it drains between the cycles. If it doesn't drain, it could be another solenoid, but if the motor is running to pump the water around the machine, it should reverse and pump it out.

Doug

 

[adamr]

Thanks, Doug. I just tried your suggestions. I got the water to start going, but as the water rose I find I do have a leak from the along the front face coming from a couple of places.

So right now I think I want to go straight to draining out the water, without a lot of time spent spent washing or rinsing, but I'm unsure which position to put the dial in for that... I've tried starting while the dial's in a number of positions, and tried letting it run just a bit in rinse, but nothing has drained yet, and I've yet to see the dial actually advance with time... maybe I'm not being patient enough to wait.

 

[adamr]

Oh and forgot to mention I looked around for anything looking like a button that stops the machine when the door is open, but I couldn't find it...

 

[DADoES]

 

Manually setting the timer to drain can be tricky.  You have to listen to and "feel" the clicks to figure out where are the drain increments in relation to the various wash/rinse phases.  The cycle sequences on the timer dial usually aren't detailed very well.

 

The door switch is likely inside the latch mechanism.

 

[combo52]

1960S WP DW

To see if it really drains let it go through a full Rinse & hold cycle, it is hard to manually find the drain cycle. If it is leaking turn off the water and put down a couple of old bath towels it will only leak so much.

 

[adamr]

OK. I pushed the Rinse Hold button, moved the dial to AB and pulled to turn it on. I watched it for 15 minutes and the dial did not advance at all... Hm.

 

[turquoisedude]

Oh, that doesn't sound right... Odd coincidence, the 1967 Inglis version of this machine that I had been chasing after was scrapped due to timer failure. BUT, replacement timers can be found and if a replacement is not available, I will swear by Midwest Timer Service in Benton Harbor, MI. They have repaired things I thought had no hope!

 

[DADoES]

 

 

<blockquote>OK. I pushed the Rinse Hold button, moved the dial to AB and pulled to turn it on. I watched it for 15 minutes and the dial did not advance at all... Hm. </blockquote>
That indicates, of course, that the timer motor is not working.