Does this look like a KDS-18?

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NOT the motor shaft, that's the upper support shaft.

A new upper support can be had. I recently bought and sent one out to a member from Trinidad and Tobago for his KDS-19. They're getting a little tricky to find, but not impossible. Part# is 4162724.

 

It looks like the shaft was wearing into the Phillips head screw of the wash impeller. You may need to change that out too. I'm seeing upper support parts inside the wash arm, lol. Hopefully the wash arm is still good.

I LOVE my KDB21 don't get me wrong, but I just couldn't let this one slip away for $10.

You'll LOVE this one a hell of a lot more! Guaranteed!!

I'm very surprised it still retains the original upper constant rinse arm. Those are extremely fragile and usually broke a few years after the machine was new. Someone took very good care of it and was incredibly careful loading the upper rack. The newer designed constant rinse is part # 4162658, just for future records.
 
Jen:

Raise your right hand and solemnly swear:

"I will never discard a vintage KitchenAid dishwasher until it has been pronounced dead by the most knowledgeable people on AW.org.

I will never question a vintage KitchenAid dishwasher's ability to rise from the dead.

I will never accept the word of Internet appliance parts companies - or Sears Parts - that a vintage KitchenAid part is no longer available.

I will never doubt the simplicity, longevity or reliability of any vintage KitchenAid dishwasher.

I will never commit the infidelity of casting covetous glances at new dishwashers of any brand, be they swathed in stainless steel and capable of eighty-four cycle options, for they are the work of the Devil.

I will honor my vintage KitchenAid dishwasher unto death and even after death, when I will offer its remaining good parts to the membership of AW.org.

So help me Hobart."
 
der the impression that the 18 series and above heated the w

Let me clarify here since you are spliktting hair.  First, KitchenAid dishwashers would have the the "lesser" heating element (I don't know the official name of it) run to maintain and slightly heat the water during  water circulation (wasshing and rinsing) phases.  This is NOT automatic water heating it's simply maintaining water temperature and slightly raising it.  On Superbas up through the 18 series, only the SaniCycle had the final rinse whereby the machine shut off water circulatoin so all heating element maximum watts could be applied to raise the water tempererature to 18 degrees.  BUT beginning with teh 198 Series, the machine paused (depending upon cycle selected) 2 to 3 times (if not more) to heat the water to a specified thermostatic hold target.  With the 19 series through teh 23 series, one was able to lower their water heater to 120 degrees and still have the dishwasher heat the water to 140 degrees.  Prior to the 19 series, to get very clean dishes and cookare taht was heavily soiled, incoming water ha t be a minimum of 140 degrees.  Thus for the 19 seris and above, true automatic water heating.
 
Thanks

Gosh I really appreciate you helping dummy me. My hubby got a new position and is never around so I have had to take on more and its a whole new world LOL I am not too mechanically inclined as you can see. I took the old (6 yr old) DW out and installed the KDB21 and thats it. HAHA
 
Gosh I really appreciate you helping dummy me.

Glad to help, but believe me, you're no dummy. Not only have you found our little side of crazy here on the internet, but you quickly nabbed a highly coveted dishwasher that some have spent years to get in their hands.

 

As far as KA knowledge goes, I'm a complete retard compared to Stevet.....aka The Hobart Master Extraordinaire.
 
Happen to have a link to a parts manual or a diagram so I can understand the assembly on how mine is broken. I am such a visual learner :)
 
I do solemly swear

Raise your right hand and solemnly swear:

"I will never discard a vintage KitchenAid dishwasher until it has been pronounced dead by the most knowledgeable people on AW.org.

I will never question a vintage KitchenAid dishwasher's ability to rise from the dead.

I will never accept the word of Internet appliance parts companies - or Sears Parts - that a vintage KitchenAid part is no longer available.

I will never doubt the simplicity, longevity or reliability of any vintage KitchenAid dishwasher.

I will never commit the infidelity of casting covetous glances at new dishwashers of any brand, be they swathed in stainless steel and capable of eighty-four cycle options, for they are the work of the Devil.

I will honor my vintage KitchenAid dishwasher unto death and even after death, when I will offer its remaining good parts to the membership of AW.org.

So help me Hobart."

*I spit on all new/newer DW.
*I will promise to look upon them as the true devil spawn they are.
*I will dance of praise as my 6 year old KA DW is toted off to the scrap yard.
*Said 6 yr old KA DW will earn enough money at the scrap yard to pay for my KDS18 and I shall forever hold that near and dear. It was the only thing it EVER did well.
*Upon any death I hear by promise to part every possible part to prolong many years of life to other KA models.
*I appreciate the knowledge of all the experts. It really shows your passion.
 
@appnut

Ok, thanks for clarifying that. Just for that, I think I'll go back and read my printed copy again :) (I printed it... So help me)
 
Welcome to the world of Real Kitchenaid dishwashers

Jen, now you will become hooked by the allure of one of the best machines Hobart ever made. The 18 series took Kitchenaid dishwashers out of the dark ages of single washarm washers to something that allowed us to truly load as we liked yet those of us who grew up with or grew into the one armed wonders surely know how well they could clean too, if loaded properly.

The wash arm suport for your machine is probably the only thing wrong with your machine. Don't worry about that phillips head screw right now. You could always get it out if needed with a vise grips.

I will venture to guess that the previous owner took a hammer to the wash arm to remove it for whatever reason and broke the whole thing. If you replace the upper housing, you can probably still use the original wash arm and be set.

If not, and if you cannot find any more new in box support assemblies, there are many of us on here who have many spare ones.I even have a new wash arm in the box and quite a few used ones.
I have posted pictures of my 18 with the upgraded Hobart arm used in current machines which would probably last 100 years but they are very costly and I bought this set up way back in the early 90's when they first came out and were much less expensive.This will fit the 18,19 and 20 series machines too.

You would have to truly be a very devoted owner to upgrade to this kit at the price it will set you back.

But anyway, get the support fixed and then your next project will be to install the upper rack from the 21B into the 18 so you can take advantage of the larger upper washarm to get the wares in the corners cleaner than your 18 arm ever did.
This will require removing the machine or doing the work prior to installing it.

Let at least me know if you want to do that and we can work on it over the phone if you like.

Good luck with the new machine and I think we all know you will let us know how it progresses.
 
6yr old KA???

Jen, what was wrong with your Tall Tub unit? Maybe it will pay to fix it anyway and use it as a spare? I have a Kenwhirl Tall tub that is great as a spare set up in my garage and being able to remove the top rack and get all the meager water pressure out of the lower arm lets me wash tall items like stock pots and barbecue pans and grates and such without a problem. Once again, you have to have the adjustable upper rack with the manifold that has the rubber stoppers that close off the openings where the upper rack wash arm would connect. That makes all the water come thru the bottom arm and the constant rinse up top.
 
Oh where do I begin with the TT unit. It never cleaned very well, I always rinsed the dishes but that didn't matter, the upper rack broke, the door wont close. It is going to the scrap yard and I will dance and wave that sucker goodbye.

Ok so on to the good stuff....

I have found broken glass down in the bottom of the DW. How does the wash arm support assemble? I am a little confused with it at the moment and all the pictures online are snap shots from above. I can't find a side shot :(

I really can't complain at the cost of repairs since it only cost me $10. Its VERY clean on the outside, clean on the inside, mold stains on the rubber around the door, need to look into replacing the rubber lip under the door since its ripped, the rinse agent circles have some issues. The one looks like a metal mesh was there but its ripped. I'll have to post a picture of it tomorrow. No flash on the phone so pics come out dark.
 
The master has spoketh....

Hey Steve, do you have the part#'s handy for upgraded commercial wash arm kit (wash arm/support/strainer)? I found a Hobart distributor 3.4 miles from my house. I'll have to pay them a visit about these parts as well as a <a name="start_40670.601720">435102 seal and impeller kit.
</a>
 
Parts breakdown

On the way.. will scan it and send it to via email tomorrow. You do know that just about every part for this machine as well as the 21 are no longer available so you may have to make do with what you have or what you can carry over from the 21. Whatever you do, don't toss the 21 tank, or pump. The pump will come in handy one day.
As far as concerns the rinse dispenser, the metal mesh is no big deal just yet. What you need to do is determine if it works at all. It may leak all its contents when filled so let's get the machine going first. That was the last model that used the double hole design for the rinse aid with a solenoid that opened and closed on command from the timer. later machines had a single opening in the door and used a bi-metal spring that moved a plunger that dispensed a small amount of jet dry to final rinse water.

It would not surprise me if something is wrong with it since they had the basket type in the pictures.
 
Shocking Revelation!

I've just been looking at the User-Guide for the KDS-20 dishwasher (from the KA website), and found the following:

 

The Soak 'n' Scrub/Sani/Heavy Wash cycles run as long as our DishDrawer, when you shut the machine off for flash drying (Oh my!). 

The Light-Wash option is 69 minutes - our Delicates cycle i 62 w/o drying (although there isn't much performance). Our actual "Fast/Light" cycle is 49 minutes.

 

Our performance is pretty decent! I am shocked by what I read...

 

None the less though, I'm sure the KA will outperform the DD on the worst loads, although we've gotten some burnt on stuff off casseroles with just the Normal cycle (84mins w/o drying) - and one of our casseroles is coming cleaner every time. 

 

It is surprising though to learn how some machine's cycles are still equivalent - although if you go and "Flash-Dry," your cycles will probably be 30mins or so shorter... However, those times are with 140F incoming water, if you use 120F (recommended), then the cycle may be extended by 30mins, if it takes 15 mins to heat the water from 120-150 every time (with two heating stages)

 

 
 
Amazing...

Your machine has the Original Constant Rinse.

Mostly all of them are sheared off due to loading things in the center of the upper rack and then shove the rack in only to snap the sprayer head off.

You'll love the KDS 18.
 

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