Hobart KitchenAid dishwasher detergent dispenser question

[rance]

I just joined and I already love this site. I'm a fanatical fan of KitchenAid built in dishwashers when they were Kitchenaid by Hobart. When my lover and I shopped for a new dishwasher I only wanted a Kitchenaid. My boyfriend who's 35 years my junior likes modern and feels a dishwasher is just that it cleans the dishes.He's into yoga, dance and using holistic medicine in his nursing career. He hated going shopping with me. When we went (he's super fit and moves faster than me especially during the heat of summer) and found the Kitchenaid dishwashers. He opened one up to show me and make amends for making fun of my obsession with getting the perfect appliance. The KA dishwasher he opened up had a Whirlpool interior S arm. I read on another thread KA uses this design for water conservation. Are they phasing out the Hobart Hydrosweep design? Anyway I pitched a fit and the sales associate showed me a high end KA with the Hydrosweep. Another potential heart attack nipped in the bud.
Sorry for going off in a tangent. I always loved the Hobart Kitchenaids but have had and known of issues with the soap dispenser (the earlier white round one) It would need replacing because it would not open for the main wash and the Cascade would clump and not get into the DW to do it's thing. However KA thank God changed the dispenser in the 70's to the aqua marine ovoid design which has worked flawlessly for me. The DW in the main kitchen of our estate is a 1982 Superba KA which has been and still cleans and runs like it was brand new. What year and what series DW's featured the updated detergent dispenser? Sadly Whirlpool in their lack of wisdom replaced the dispenser with their cheap looking and feeling square dispenser which are even on Whirlpool bargain basement builder dishwashers. Why did
Whirlpool do this? I feel Whirlpool should have not touched anything in the basic design when they bought KA. They could have made their cosmetic changes which I still feel cheapen the look. I feel the final Hobart era KA DW's (early to mid 80's) were the best looking machines and gave the most bang for the buck even their entry level Custom. Also if I'm not mistaken KitchenAid still as Hobart came out with a model cheaper in price than their Custom. It still featured the same high quality wash system and retailed for $299 USD which even in late 1984 was super cheap for a KitchenAid Dishwasher builtin. What was the model's name and what were it's features? Didn't KA under Hobart also come out with a fancier model over the Superba called the Selectra? What were it's features and what did it have that the Suburba lacked?

 

[rance]

I couldn't add multiple images so here is the best in my

What I feel is the best dishwasher dispenser, best looking and best design.

 

[rp2813]

The only model I'm aware of that was priced lower than the Custom was the "builder's" model.  I don't remember what it lacked compared to the Custom, but it was the bottom of bottom-of-the-line.  There was a thread about such a model here a while back, and you might be able to find it via the Super Searchalator on the main page of this forum.

 

The Selectra models had electronic controls instead of mechanical buttons like the Superbas.  The Hobart Selectra electronics are notoriously problem prone and replacement parts for the control panel are no longer available, which makes them far less desirable than the more reliable Superbas from the same period.

 

Again, you'll find an abundance of information available on vintage KitchenAid dishwashers by using the Searchalator function.

 

[bogo]

Looks in very nice condition. Other pictures would be appreciated. The porcelain coat inside your DW seems thicker than the one on my 22 series from early '90s.

 

[zippyjet]

Hope this sets you on the right path

Rance:
I can tell you that my cousin's families apartment was built new in 1971 (late)
Their Kitchen Aid DW was the Custom with a copper (dark brown door). It had the updated ovoid aqua dispenser. Now my aunt back in the day replaced her builder's model Hotpoint (1961) which looked like the funky 27" monsters that were produced from Post WWII to 1957. But I learned that '57 was it's last year. Everything was the now standard 24". She replaced it with a Kitchen Aid Custom which retained the round white detergent dispenser. I believe that Custom was around 1969 or 1970 and lasted well into the 80's where it was replaced with a Superba. I'm not sure if this was a Whirlpool or one of the very last of the Hobarts. She now lives in a Hyatt House in Bethesda, Md. So, I'm guessing KA updated the dispenser for their 1971-1972 models across the board.
Jumping ahead to the 80's, That $299 special to the best of my knowledge was at the end of the classic Hobart era. This machine went on the market in late 1984 and like the Selectra were 1 hit wonders. Only thing I can think on the bargain basement KA, it was still Hobart mechanicals but lacked heated drying and probably the fan part of the drying cycle. In the early 80's Maytag also had an entry level bare bones model. Again this was pre-Whirlpool. It too had no drying apparatus meaning you had to jump to the next model to get a heating element. ACtually this was a nice idea by KitchenAid and Maytag. They still retained their quality but no drying heat. For me this would be no problem as, I never use heated drying even on the crappy GE in my apartment. Back in the day the low end models DID NOT have rinse aid dispensers so it was the cylandrical JetDry hang it on the rack for your rinse aid. They were great but were not long lasting. If I used Cascade products, spots and streaks were never an issue.
Builders equipping their houses/apartments for sale that gave you a KitchenAid were
almost as rare as an honest politician. The only one I knew of was the late developer Gordon Sugar who built his homes and apartment units with a KitchenAid custom built in as standard equipment. My cousin's family rented and eventually bought their apartment unit with the standard KitchenAid DW. Their washer and dryer however were the lower to middle end Whirlpool Electrics with the chincey sideways door opening on the dryer. Later my late aunt and uncle moved to a midrise which was built by Sugar in the 89's called Pomona. My uncle is 94 and still lives there and to the best of my knowledge that later Hobart Kitchenaid Custom is still washing the dishes like it did when Ronald Reagan was the POTUS. The washer and dryer were low to middle end GE. I never like GE washers and dryers (top loaders) I
thought the tub opening was ugly. I like a perfectly round opening like the pre Whirlpool Maytags or the pronounced D-shaped opening of Whirlpool and Kenmore top loaders from the 80's and back. That's the stuff of another thread. I keep putting it off but I want to have a thread about Ugly appliances. I know here at automatic washer this will be a slap in the face for some but the truth will set you free.
This will be a time intesive thread as I back up my reasons with pictures of the fuglies. Here's a hint and please forgive me if I'm offending anyone. I never met a Norge washer or dryer I liked in regard to it's looks!