Awesome KitchenAid Dishwasher I Found!!

[decodriveboy]

Can anyone out there tell me a little more about this find, when it was manufactured, etc?

I come across it while house-hunting. My friend's elderly aunt let me look at her home which she might be selling. I almost fell out when I saw this.

Sorry it's the only photo I took, for now.... the kitchen also has the original turquoise countertops!

 

[appnut]

That looks to be a KDI19. These Energy Saver IV series were only on the market for just less than 2 years, like 1979-1091. This series had no heated dry. Every major water change heated the water to 150 degrees before it continued with the cycle. Customers practically revoled against these. Uhh, where Tomturbomatic when I need him!! Sing it loud Tom.

 

[decodriveboy]

If it had some features that weren't a hit with consumers, it sure is a nice looking DW, even today.

Considering it was 1979-1981, I'm guessing a large appliance with a stainless steel facade wasn't normally sought after (or available?) during that period....

 

[appnut]

It was simply a wash cycle could take up to 2 to 3 hours, depending where the homeowner set the water heat. But KA advertised tha with this DW, you could turn your water heater down to 120. It didn't circulate water when it paused to heat the water.

 

[launderess]

Smart looking machine!

Considering the dishwasher probably ran on 120v/15hz circut, heating water anywhere from tap cold/cool or warm to 150F probably took more time than many housewives of the time were willing to wait for clean dishes.

Wondering if the thermostat was routed through the timer so cycles would commence once water reached proper temp, rather than waiting for a set time period to elapse. If one had a decent hot water supply to the dw, that should in theory shave some time off cycles.

OTHO have never understood why so many people get their kickers in a twist about dishwashers taking so long to complete cycles. A majority of housewives/consumers run their dishwashers last thing at night, often before going to bed. Therefore it's not exactly like they are standing around waiting for the machine to finish.

 

[appnut]

Cimberlie, each heating phase was thermostatically controlled, not "defaulting out" as it were.

 

[peteski50]

KitchenAid 19 Series!

My Mom had the KDS 19 series Surburba model. It heated water to 150 degrees in the first and last rinse. During the wash phase the heater was on but used lower voltage. The no heat drying cycle took about 40 minutes. It did a good job drying if you used jetdry. If not the drying performance was degrated. It lasted for 25 years and was replaced with a tall tub GE.
Peter

 

[retroguy]

That is truly a unique find...

I'd dole out a lot of coins for one of those in good cosmetic shape, even if it didn't work.

 

[tomturbomatic]

UGH, awful machines. They ate themselves up with the damn water heating; vinyl racks, porcelain, everything eaten up with the hot water. They tended to die young and the miserable sales that resulted from the great customer dissatisfaction makes these pretty rare machines today. Many people found that it was better to just cancel the cycle after the last rinse, open the door and let the dishes flash dry because they dried better and you could shorten the cycle so that you could get another started if you were doing a lot of cooking, baking or were cleaning up after a big holiday meal. They sure as hell went back to the option of heated drying in the 20 series. KitchenAid owners replacing an older machine who were used to faster cycles and new buyers who knew of KA's reputation for good drying raised hell about the cycles and drying in this machine. The way they delayed the cycle for heating meant that by the time it filled for the last rinse, the water in the pipes was warm at best and completely cold if the pipes ran through a cement slab. I believe that it was with the 19 or 20 that KA eliminated the constant rinse overhead spray and it was missing for many years resulting in bits of stuff left on things in the corners of the top rack unless dishes were rinsed before loading. The only good thing about the 19 series is that it introduced the full width wash arm under the top rack. The run of the 18 series, every bit as radical a redesign as the 15 and featuring my favorite Superba, was shortened by KA's push to introduce a more energy efficient machine, but the public was not impressed by the 19.

 

[westytoploader]

Definitely needs a good scrubbing, but very cool nonetheless!

 

[decodriveboy]

On a related note, I have one of the KA Artisan Series mixers (color, 'Ice') and put up with its noisiness b/c I love the look--as I'm sure I would also do with this particular dishwasher....despite Tom's good advice, I'm hardheaded!

 

[gansky1]

Tom, don't forget the filming problem in the KD-19's resulting from heating the final rinse water to 150F and spraying over tepid dishware - particularly worsened with hard water. Even KitchenAid considered this to be the red-headed step-child of their line... Didn't Jason replace the timer or change the heater - maybe disconnect it - to resolve these problems? I would think you could change out the fan-only drying unit in the 19's with an 800 watt heater & fan unit from a 18, 20 or 21 series and solve the drying issues easily.

Don't be offended 19 owners, every classic has a story and personality all it's own - we really do love them all! Given some of the landfill fodder being made today in the domestic dishwasher industry, the KD-19 series looks like a commercial-grade dream machine!

 

[tomturbomatic]

HI Greg! You have to modify the wiring harness and timer to add dry heat along with removing that plastic blower and tank inlet before you could try. Best thing to do is change the door with wiring harness or the timer assembly if that's all you can find to the corresponding 18 model. It's sort of like the radiator cap fix my father, alav ha shalom, used to say was the best way to eliminate problems with a car that was a chronic lemon; lift the hood and unscrew the radiator cap then drive a better car under your radiator cap.

My plastic tub Maytag convertible can be set to hold the wash timer near the end of wash and continue heating the water to 140, but it heats so well during the main wash that the heating delay light rarely comes on. Of course, my hot water is closer to 140 than 120. I think the thing about the KA 19 & later series that really got people was all of the time those dishwashers just sat there heating water when they could have been washing or rinsing dishes. But heating that first fill in the sump and then throwing it on cold dishes was one of the dumbest things KA did. It only took them until the Tall Tubs to get rid of the static water heating.

 

[appnut]

Tom, I think the KUD*24 and KUD*25 models recirculated while heating. Those were the stainless steel tank ones before the TTs emeerged. JetCone has a KUDS25 I believe.

 

[pturo]

I think that it has a cool timer and front cabinet.(how ya gonna argue with stainless?) Very timeless and ahead of itself. At least it was an attempt to be pre emptively Energy Star. I was going through threads that had mention of a PreWay GAS dishwasher that heated it's own water to about 180o(I guess Granny Clampett had one) Then there was another that mentioned a microwave clothes dryer in the making(watch out zippers and coins) Ok, so what about a dishwasher with a tank that mircowaved tap water to 150o+ before it got to the dishes(especially the silverware and metal things, the aching))? I guess the question is if microwave heating is more efficient than coil heating of water, and can microwave be an immersion heater and what space does it take up. Just seems to me if ya got a microwave oven that can boil a cup of water in less than 2 minutes, this technology could be applied to diswashing and laundry instead of relying on 40 gallons of water always ready to do the job sitting and wasting energy.

 

[launderess]

Heating the small amount of water dishwashers use is not a problem. Problem lies in that most American homes use 120v power on 15amp circuts, which limits the heater to about 1000 watts give or take a few, especially when one takes into account the motor needs some juice as well. Commercial dishwashers heat water to 180F or higher and manage to complete a cycle in under 30 minutes, but they rely on 208v/220v/240v power.

What I would like to see is for someone to bring out new version of the Thermador steam dishwasher. If powered by 220v,that sort of unit could do a steam "pre-wash" quickly then a nice hot (140F-160F)wash, then a rinse at either wash temp or up to 180F. Since the first wash would be steam, it wouldn't need as much water as a normal wash, that could cut down on water use.

L.

 

[pturo]

It seems that water heat and how to get it to the high temperature to the dishes/load in time faster for cycles is the most critical for cleaning and efficency and in what amounts capable within the dishwasher's heating capacity. I think that our Europeans have shown us that the higher the temperature of the water, the less water you need, based on their water and power usage statitics. Seems to me a 24 by 24 by 30'" sealed cabinet should be a self sufficent heat producer and retainer if compared to a metal outside/plastic inside cheapass microwave oven from Walmart measuring 12 by 12 x 12 that can boil a cup of water in about 60 seconds. I go back to my question of microwave, would it not be more efficient than a 110 or even a 220v internal heater to use to heat a tank of a few gallons of water? Even if it TOOK the same energy to heat it, would it not be faster, resulting in shorter cycles,less water ,and eliminating electric use on motors that currently spin water forever waiting for temp to rise to the occasion? Just some thoughts to save the planet and our power bills. God help me for being Green and Clean with this administration. I think we should ask Hillary what she thinks of the idea.

 

[launderess]

Speaking of European dishwashers, their preferred method of heating water, via an inline heater is also faster and more efficient than exposed heating elements used by most American domestic dishwashers. Think of how fast a tankless hot water heater can produce an almost endless supply of hot water, compared to a tank version.

 

[pturo]

I think that is smart. In line water heaters for whole homes exist, imagine how little energy to heat an in line coil for a dishwasher? We could actually have a dishwasher that ran on cold water. We in the US represent 5% of the world's population and use 33% of it's resourses. Nevertheless, cutting back on resources doesn't mean sacrifice, it means being smart about technology and being demanding as consumers and voting for people who support this in our govenment. I am tired of catching polluted fish in the Adirondacks, where there is no industry but the acid rain and mercury blow over from a powerplants and coal burning tire plants in Ohio. And we sell them our energy credits that we save up by compliance so they can continue to pollute. What a world.