Australian 1965 Frigidaire Deluxe Dishwasher

[mit634]

Hello everyone,

It's been a long time since I last posted on here. I've recently picked up a few interesting appliances. The most recent is a Frigidaire Deluxe spin tube era dishwasher. The model number is DWDU5. The schematic is dated June 1965.

It's in beautiful condition. The chrome on the front is pristine and has no pitting. The markings on the timer dial are not worn and there is no water staining inside. It must have had minimal usage.

Comparing with pictures and literature of American models, it appears to have features of both the Custom Imperial (the front trim and the wire cutlery basket) and the Deluxe (no detergent dispenser).

I have connected it to power and advanced it through the cycle and everything appears to operate. Next step will be to add water. I've read here on AW that leaking gaskets can be a problem with these dishwashers, but I can make replacements.

It's exciting to have a vintage Frigidaire dishwasher to go with my Frigidaire Flair range and Frigidaire Custom Deluxe Frost Proof refrigerator. At some point I intend to use all three to create a vintage all-Frigidaire kitchen.

 

[mit634]

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[mit634]

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[mit634]

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[tomturbomatic]

Congratulations!

Have fun and thanks for sharing.

 

[jetcone]

Wow nice unit

looks underused with all those factory tags! Where in OZ is Dandenong? Outside Melbourne???

 

That enamel is so Aussie too like the St George ovens blue blue blue !

 

 

[steved]

That's just like a '64 US model

The fact that the dial says "Dishmobile" indicates it was converted to a built-in unit. It looks exactly the same as the one I had, with the exception of the interior color. Question is, why doesn't it say "product of general motors holden's"?

 

 

[combo52]

Cool DW

Thanks for sharing it with us Tim.

 

I love the blue interior, it is interesting that the timer knob says Dishmoble as it does not show any signs that it ever had wheels on it etc. I guess if you looked up the model # you could really tell if it was once a portable or if someone either put the wrong knob on it or replaced it with the wrong knob.

 

I guess it says Product Of General Motors even thought it was built by the Holden division because the Holden was part of General Motors.

 

John L.

 

[gizmo]

Dandenong is an outer south-east suburb of Melbourne. At the time this was built, Dandenong was the far limit of suburbia.

 

I wouldn't be sure that GM-H would have bothered with maintaining the name dishmobile for mobile units only. Dishwashers would have been a rare beast in Australia in the early 1960s. The numbers sold would have been tiny. It is quite possible they kept inventory down by having just the dishmobile knob for all dishwashers. My uneducated guess is that they would have been assembled in Dandenong using some locally sourced parts such as motors, solenoid valve and so on, but would have had a large proportion of parts imported from the USA. That is my guess why it doesn't say "Made by General Motors - Holden" because that fascia, trim, knob and so on would have been imported, so it just says "General Motors."

Frigidaire washing machines would have sold in much larger numbers and would have had much more Australian content. They had "made by General Motors - Holden."

 

 

[steved]

pics

Here is a 64 US brochure for the Deluxe "Dishmobile" model. This model was never made as an under-counter unit as the Deluxe model always had the thin control panel. The "U" in your model number of DWDU5 and the brass water valve probably indicates under-counter,  so my assumption it had been a portable is probably incorrect.  Since 1964 was the final year for spin-tubes in the US, perhaps GM sent excessive inventory of control panels to Australia? 

It's a cool dishwasher, nevertheless!!! Congratulations!

 

 

[steved]

Gizmo

Thank you for the explanation, that makes a lot of sense.

 

[gansky1]

Gorgeous blue - thanks for sharing with us!

 

 

[Unimatic1140]

Yes that speckled blue interior tub porcelain is so very different from the US made machines and so very cool!!!

 

[mickeyd]

Kissin’ cousins~

Four leaks stopped by a long bead of marine sealant and a shark bite for the supply thanks to lover boy, and I was in business. Good luck on yours; spintubes are a ball !

 

[panthera]

This is beautiful!

I know that the Frigidaire Spin-Tube dishwashers were almost as picky as the one-arm KA wonders, but, gosh. Good thing you're half a planet away - I'd be sorely tempted.

 

[hippiedoll]

WOWZERS...

Very cool Frigidaire Spin-Tube dishwasher!
Can't wait to read your progress and find out if you found any leaks? (Keeping my fingers crossed there won't be any leaks)

And hopefully see/hear a video of this Frigidaire Spin-Tube on action.

CONGRATULATIONS on such a cool find!
WOOOOOOO HOOOOOO!

 

[mit634]

Thanks so much everyone for the comments, advice, pics, brochure and overall enthusiasm !

I was similarly intrigued that the front panel does not say "General Motors Holden's" as is usual for vintage Frigidaire appliances here. Also that the timer dial refers to it being a "Dishmobile" even though it is an under counter model.

I came to the same conclusion that @gizmo states - dishwashers were not commonplace here at the time and so rather than tooling up to manufacture the whole machine, many parts were imported from the USA. And to minimize inventory, all dishwashers were designated Dishmobiles.

Looking through advertisements of the era in digitised newspapers online, it seems Frigidaire offered only two models here in a single "Deluxe" line: an under counter and a mobile unit.

Looking forward to posting more updates here.

 

[mit634]

Hi Everyone,

Yesterday I connected the dishwasher to the garden hose to test it running through a cycle. Everything seemed to operate as it should, even the fill valve, remarkably.

The only leaks noticed so far are where the heating element enters the bowl at the bottom and where the spray head enters at the top.

It's a very pleasant sounding machine and the drain solenoid makes an impressive "clack' when engaging. I love the way the timer slowly but confidently creeps to the next segment, rather than jumping quickly, as many other timers do.

Here is a video of its inaugural run.

 

[steved]

Yay!

I love the clear markings on the timer dial. Mine is a little worn and faded. Enjoy!