Curbside find saves me from the GE

[appnut]

Well, I don't know what happened to that Kenmore, but it had 5 years of use from me. I personally didn't have any glasses break in mine nor any dishes. But then again, my every day glasses are now 34 year old jelly glasses lol. I remember only one or two stemmed glasses breaking in the rotorack. Learned how to load them properly lol.

 

[goatfarmer]

I will say one thing,the Magic Chef is much more asthetically pleasing.Who cares about washpower anyway?

kennyGF

 

[appnut]

I vaguely remember Tomturbomatic saying something about rusting & D&M designs. I think he said the problem became more earnest once the energy saver dry option was put on these beasts, moisture left around, not baked of by that hot coil, and thus encouraging rust with the thin porcelain.

 

[bajaespuma]

I couldn't agree more!

We had one of those disgusting green GE dishwashers. IMHO this marked the beginning of the end of respect that my family had for GE. It was easily the LOUDEST dishwasher I've ever known, and even though the racking was based on a 12 year-old GE design, everything about that machine reeked "cheap". I remember how disappointed I was when it was delivered to realize how all of the tines on the racks arrived bent and out of alignment. I credit that very GE model with converting my parents, who, up to that point being heavily investing in GE stocks, were habitual "GE or nothing" customers, over to proud KitchenAid dishwasher owners. When our top-loading GE SU-400 needed its first and only repair, they were convinced into replacing it with a KDC-17A.

Even though that GE SU 400 with its wonderfully weird "salmon on pink" interior was 12 years older than that abominable "celery on avocado" GE front-loader it was more elegant, quieter, faster, more efficient and better made than anything GE has since produced. Although they have improved their dishwasher design in recent years, IMHO GE dishwashers from 1970-1990 sucked.

 

[westytoploader]

Nate, AWESOME dishwasher, congrats! My parents had a similar Magic Chef from 1985 in their old house, before I was born. Saw it in a few photos. Sorry to hear what happened to the KA but this is definitely a good replacement. I bet that lower spray arm makes a good wall of water!

I have a lot of memories with these machines as my grandmother and aunt had Kenmores from the 80's...I will never forget the distinctive sound they made, as well as the clinking glasses! That 3-level wash, with full-sized spray arms on the top, middle, and bottom, was a great feature...wish more machines had it!

--Austin

 

[rogera608s]

Nate,
Why does that look so familiar and stunning I might add. Just one thing-is that a Whirpool Design 2000 with spinning drain I see hiding around the corner in one of the photos?
Roger

 

[Cybrvanr]

What a cool Magic Chef DW. Look at all those holes in the lower spray arm. I bet that thing would take bark off a log if you put one in there! Can't beat that chrome on black styling either!

 

[peteski50]

GE

Wow that GE was a real common model. I remember those models were placed in so many apartments in the early to mid seventies. I remember for a BOL model they werent bad cleaners but they were so damm noisey. I have cousions that had one and we all used to leave the kitchen when it ran. It is a good catch.
Peter

 

[peteski50]

Magic Chef or Tragic Chef

I thought it was sad D&M arranged this style dishwasher. Their origional design had a full size arm under the upper rack. It seems after Sears stopped producing the roto rack design about 1976 they got the better D&M design with the full arm under the upper rack and the more expensive models had 3 arms with a smaller one at top. I don't understand why so many other D&M models went to a tower or just a top and bottom like this one. To me that one at the top is not to usefull. It seems to drop lower not allowing room for taller glasses. And also if you put large items on the bottom it will block the top glasses and cups from getting clean. This was definatly a big step backward for D&M especally when they had alredy used the sears design. I cant also understand why a company would want to go from not having a tower like most of these models had to adding a tower. Were they trying to copy Maytag?
Peter

 

[roto204]

LOL!

Thanks, everyone!

Austin--Thanks!! Yes, the dishwasher rocks IF you load it properly. It is not very forgiving in that respect, but gosh it's purdy :-D

Ken--First off, I LOVE your pictures--you do those so beautifully! Yes, I agree that the impeller model you show was a great machine (I let one of those get away when I was 11). I've owned a Triton XL--and my friends own a Profile of a similar design--and the new GE dishwashers are EXCELLENT cleaners, and extremely quiet.

Kenny--I agree Sometimes form follows function at a great distance

Steven--You betcha! It can flip pots over under certain circumstances. Of course, I shouldn't be putting pots down their anyhow, right? Hmmm...

Bob--No, you're absolutely right. Rusting due to the ever-present SuperPuddle at the bottom of these machines is usually the rule and not the exception. I'm just lucky with this one.

Roger--You know, you may be right... ;-)

 

[roto204]

The design that really went beyond 2000...

I wonder if Whirlpool knew that this would be the way of things back then, and in an immensely successful way...

 

[roto204]

A cute little 24-incher

Roger has the Kenmore mate to this design (don't you, Roger?? ;-) Do I detect a new, upcoming thread?). This machine was so full of lime that Roger and I had to attack it with razorblades and CLR galor. The bleach and fabric softener dispensers were full of powder detergent (READ, people), and all I can figure is that the prior owners had really itchy clothes, because their machine probably never saw a freshwater rinse in its life. Even the bottom holes on the basket were plugged.

The bleach dispenser tube had to be roto-rooted out because it was full of congealed powdered detergent, and couldn't dispense into the tub. (What's unusual on this design is that the bleach tube goes all the way to the bottom of the outer tub, not down just four or five inches like in the newer WP/KM machines.)

The centerpost was rusted in a spot (SURPRISE!!), and the tub spanner nut was absolutely fused to the drive block. It had to be drilled out, and then over two evenings of screaming and obscenities, the tub finally let loose when we figured out how to hit the drive block down with a hammer while holding the inner tub up.

We pitched the Tragic Lint^TM filter in the trash. It had ballooned to about an inch thick with lime and lint, and reeked of mildew. Barf.

So, one new drive block and spanner nut (and probably sixteen hours of combined labor) later, here she is. It's a GREAT machine that holds a lot and does everything quietly and beautifully, and has a spinning drain to boot! (hence the clothesguard at the top of the tub):

 

[appnut]

Peter, I know and understand you maligning this D&M design. The next model up did have the tower. As I have said to you before, all this was was pure and unadulterated marketing and product positioning. Sears ALWAYS had the premium features for their D&M dishwashers compared to the other brands that put their label on D&Ms. And from what my experience has told me, a lotta times included the motor. Gaffers & Sattler at one time did off a rotorack series too. Friends of my mom moved from a house with a KDC16 to a G&S with roto rack. She said the difference was like night & day, the G&S cleaned circles around the KA.

 

[peteski50]

D&M Design

Bob,
I understand the the next model up did have a tower. I still feel it was major steps downward for the D&M design especially when you already started with something good. I think only Sears and Modern Maid kept the same design after the fact. The Modern Maid made the model with the optional range top above the dishwasher. I am sorry they went out of business I did like those top cabinet ovens.
Peter

 

[tomturbomatic]

Yibblets result from the GE not pumping out the last quart of water in the sump (below the tub). When the drain valve opened, there was a rush of water that was supposed to carry the crap with it, but that was the theory, not the practice because there was so much clearance between the pump impeller and the housing. There were some models from recent years that had a second pump for drain only. It was used twice in the cycle, after wash and maybe before the last rinse, to empty the sump through a little rubber hose connection, like sucking through a straw. John said that they performed better.

As part of the transition from the Roto Rack, I saw one of the saddest, cheapest Kenmore top load portable dishwashers at the Sears near our old house. It had the wash arm under the standard lower rack, but the top rack was split through the middle like in Robert's D&M Frigidaire portable from about 1960 to allow loading the lower rack and the nozzle that sprayed the Roto Rack stuck out from the back wall of the tub, but no rack, nothing was over it. It just sprayed all over, perhaps keeping grit from settling in the bottoms of glasses and mugs. You just know that model was the cheap one advertised to get people in the store. After they were shown that one, they were led to the better machines to see what made them better. "And you did want to take out a service policy on that dishwasher today, right?" (Never mind that it was covered for a year by the warranty).

 

[gmmcnair]

You will get great service out of it...

...my mother has my old Kenmore from 1988, which is a similar design, and I have the 18-inch Kenmore space-saver portable from 2002. The 2002 model has a plastic spray arm and wash tower, but the motor, and cycles sound the same as the old design, only a bit quieter. Too bad about the wash arm; it really did make loading things easier. However, both machines are still going strong with daily use and no repairs.

I agree they wash much better than the GE's of that era; had a couple of them in apartments, and I think they dishes came out dirtier than when they went into the machines. The BOL Hotpoints were even worse....guaranteed dirty dishes.

 

[westyslantfront]

Hi Nate. Enjoy the Magic Chef dishwasher. Good to see a dishwasher that really gets the job done.

I also like your Design 2000 with it's immediate spin and no neutral drain.

Ross

 

[peteski50]

Finds

Hi Nate,
Best wishes on all the finds. I really like the Whirlpool 2000.
Peter

 

[jasonl]

GASP! A D&M without a Rotorack? Was that only a Kenmore thing?

Is that the first generation Design2000's that did a spin/drain?

 

[DADoES]

That's an early direct-drive model, being as they dropped the Design 2000 designation after it went full-line ... but it isn't the very first issue. The 1st generation didn't have a clothes guard ring.