Homart Electric Sink Dishwasher Full Operation

[dishwashercrazy]

I am so excited to be able to share this latest video of the Homart Electric Sink Dishwasher. The only component that wasn't working was the water valve, and that has now been cleaned and is working fine. This dishwasher has never leaked a drop of water, which is so amazing for a machine that is around 60 years old. So again, my compliments to Sears and whoever built this great dishwasher.

I have fitted a piece of Plexiglas so that the water action can be seen. I took two videos of the wash action, one with dishes and one without. Then I have merged the two together in this movie, with added shots of the drain solenoid, timer and impeller.

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[soberleaf]

your video

is great and the dishwasher is beautiful! glad it works for you, and that plexiglass top is perfect for viewing it.

how thick is it mike? the plexiglass that is, i want to make a plexiglass door for my modern maid impeller dishwasher and am wondering what to use.

beautiful video

pete

 

[whirlcool]

I really liked how you added text to let the viewer know what was going on as the cycle progressed. Nice touch!

 

[dishwashercrazy]

Thanks

Pete, The Plexiglas is 1/4" thick.

Allen, Thanks for the comments.

 

[turquoisedude]

WOW!

Very impressive! You have a very special dishwasher there! Congratulations!!!

 

[maytagbear]

Thank you for posting

Have you done a cleaning test of this machine?

Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

[spiceman1957]

Great presentation

and what a nice machine. As far as the flatwear goes, could you either move the basket toward the side, or rig up a mesh basket with lid. I think KA offered something like this a while back where you could wash small items. Most likely, you would probably had to pre rinse every piece of tablewear/flatwear when this machine was built. However with the advance of better cleaning agents (Finish, etc) that may do the trick.

 

[dishwashercrazy]

Thanks

Paul, Thanks.

Lawrence, In the video, the dishes I had in the machine were dirty, but I forgot to put Cascade in the detergent cup/tray. The dishes were clean, and no foreign material was sitting on top of the glasses or behind the plates. I specifically put some food on the back of the cup saucers in the top rack. Everything was clean, except for the silverwear. Read on......

John, I suspect that you are right - all flatwear must be pre-washer or wiped off. I also had a metal spatula in the silverwear basket, handle up, which had some cheese on it. That didn't even budge. Simply, almost no water goes straight up through the middle. Now this might be a function of the chip at the top of the one impeller vane. Plus, as I mentioned above, I forgot to put Cascade in, which may or may not have made a difference.

 

[frontaloadotmy]

Mike

I bet a perfect impeller would make a considerable difference
in the cleaning of the utensils, not to mention the addition
of some Cascade Complete! Do the gray knobs on your plexiglas
effect a locking mechanism or are they just for handling?
Your Homart appears to be in very good condition for its age.

 

[customline]

Well......

How did you get your DW so clean? It looks brand new. Very nice.

 

[peteski50]

Dishwasher!

Mike thanks for a real great video. Real awsome dishwasher for it's time. It sounds somewhat like a hobart kitchenaid.
Peter

 

[magic clean]

Mike

this dishwasher-sink was most likely made by 'American' kitchens from Connorsville IN. This is the same company that later became Design & Manufacturing (D&M). Does the machine have a model-serial tag?

The 587 model prefix will confirm.

L.P.

 

[gansky1]

That's just too fun for words! Congrats on a successful test and a very good job on the video.

That's too bad on the silverware cleaning but as with any of our vintage treasures, allowances for these shortcomings are part of the fun. I'm sure you have another dishwasher (or two) that washes flatware and a great excuse to use two machines everyday!

 

[dishwashercrazy]

Thanks again

Darrel (frontaloadotmy): Yes, I'm hoping to find a better impeller to replace the current chipped one. The knobs at the 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock positions serve no other purpose except to press the Plexiglas lid into place and lift it back out again. I'm using window glass glazing grommet as a seal, but not too effectively - will have to keep trying to find a more effective way of sealing the Plexiglas against the tub seal. Anybody have any ideas that work for you?

Kevin (customline): How did I get the dishwasher so clean? Actually the condition is not showing up on the video as well as it looks like here in person. The sink bowl has been painted with an off-white color paint - likely with an oil-base paint. The front of the cabinet has also been painted the same off-white. Fortunately, the rest of the sink top and the dishwasher tub has NOT been painted. There are some superficial rust spots present, and some chips in the porcelain that have been touched up sometime in the past. The dishwasher tub also has a fairly heavy coating of lime scale. The only cleaning that I've done to the dw tub is to scrub it with BarKeepers Friend - it didn't budge the scale.

PLUS, the floor of the sink base is horribly rusted (see attached photo). I'm not certain how I'm going to handle this yet. I have purchased a gallon of "The World's SafestRustRemover" product that was brought to our attention here on aw.org about a month or so ago. But it requires a continuous dipping or showering process to remove the rust. I'm not set up here at my house to tackle such a big rust removal process. Again, not sure what I will do, short of giving it a good wire brushing and spray with Rustoleum (sp?).

Peter (peteski50): Thanks. You are correct - the older Hobart KitchenAid dishwashers like my KD-11P and KD-12 both have loud drain solenoids, and they sound very much like the Homart.

Leslie (Magic Clean): Thanks for the input into the manufacturer of the Homart Electric Sink. I don't believe that I had previously heard of the association between 'American' and 'D&M'. The Model Number is 787.48 and the Serial Number is 16908. There is a Sears Craftsman Motor installed.

Greg (Gansky1): Thanks so much. These videos are fun to put together. They are somewhat repetitive of previous videos I've done, but I do try to tell the whole story by editing different shots in. You are right - I will use the G.E. Electric Sink for the Flatware, large bowls and pot & pans, and the tall tumbler glasses. And the Homart can take the rest of the plates, cups, saucers, and short tumbler glasses. What fun that will be!

 

[jetcone]

Fascinating

And a beautiful restoration. I love the styling of the machine!!!

But you can see why the cleaning pattern fails with the silverware. D&M went on to build some great machines for Kenmore, I used one for years as a daily driver!

I always like these top load round dishmachines, but its obvious how a side load tub gives you the opportunity to have mulitlevel wash arms.

Very nicely lit video too! Thanks for sharing!

 

[easyspindry]

Video is wonderful!!!

Thanks for sharing.

Long ago, I used a GE dishwasher, top load, attached to a sink from the early 1950's. The silverware basket was in the center of the bottom rack. I don't remember whether it cleaned the silver well or not. But back then, most people practically washed their dishes before they were put into the dishwasher.

It's a great machine, and your video is fantastic.

Jerry Gay

 

[toploader55]

Beautiful Machine.

Super Video. And Nice details of the cycle Eddie

 

[toploader55]

Interesting.

That the Youngstown (I believe) has The Sileverware Baskets on the side if the tub. You can tell by the video that mostly all the cleaning takes place on the side walls of the tub as that is where most of the spray interaction takes place. Although the Early (50's) HotPoints had the silverware baskets in the center of the lower rack with the same type of Impeller Action. So...I guess the Hotpoints had similar disappointing results with the silverware as well as the Homart ??? Eddie

 

[autowasherfreak]

Great video Mike, and a fascinating machine. By the way how is the Frigidaire 1-18 doing?

Jim

 

[Unimatic1140]

Wow Mike, I'm totally impressed, a beautiful restoration and a wonderful job on the video. Vintage dishwashers are so fun! My Hotpoint has the silverware cup along the side of the lower rack which washers really well from over there.

 

[dishwashercrazy]

Thanks for the comments.

Jon (Jetcone): Thanks for the comments on the video. Yes, this machine does wash well around the side of the tub, but no action at the top in the silverware basket.

Jerry (Easyspindry): Thanks for the comments. I've had good luck with the silverware basket on the G.E. Electric Sink - where it is located on the bottom rack just above the impeller.

Eddie (Toploader55): Thanks for the comments. I now have two Hotpoint frontloading dishwashers (a 1948 and a 1950) neither of which I've hooked up yet. I'm hoping that since the Hotpoint and GE machines were very similar in design, that the water coverage of the silverware basket in the Hotpoint will be as good as the GE's. I can't wait to get them going and have a piece of Plexiglas mounted in such a way as to watch the water action.

Jim (Autowasherfreak): Thanks for the comments. About the Red Frigidaire - I LOVE IT - and I'm using it quite a bit. It's so fun to watch.

Robert (Unimatic1140): Thanks. I wish I could take more credit for a restoration. In reality, I've only cleaned it up inside and underneath the dishwasher. Oh, Yes, I did disassemble the water valve and get it working, if you want to consider that part of the restoration. There still is much to do in the way of a restoration - case in point - the floor panel is horribly rusted. Eventually, I'm going to need some advice from the club about painting the exterior cabinets of my vintage machines. These former owners just had to paint the fronts of their appliances. Wow, what a mess to have to contend with - to get them back to original condition. These videos are fun to make and edit together, and I'm hoping that I can improve upon them as new projects are undertaken. Robert, you have given me the idea of looking into placing a foreign silverware basket along the side of the tub like the Hotpoint.

Again, thanks to all. Mike

 

[panthera]

Before you tackle the rust

You probably ought to consider which level of attack is best for each area.

I'm sure the folks here who do this regularly have better ideas, but this has worked for me over time.

a)Rust like you have it at the bottom of the cabinet is usually not just surface, it's affected the metal all the way through. If the bottom has no special functions (I haven't been able to watch the video through yet), then it might be cheaper and easier to just cut that panel out and replace it. I don't see that as a violation.

b) The brush on enamel repairs for bathtubs and sinks really do work well if the underlying surface is absolutely de-greased and totally dry. I use a separate, hi-temperature enamel repair for highly-flexed/stressed areas like oven doors on early stoves (there's a picture of a chip repair to a 1953 Westinghouse Rainbow kicking around in the Sandbox, after six months of constant use and flexing it is still perfect - built the repair up over 15 coats, following the instructions on time to the letter).

c) Part of what causes the rust to come back is the condensation problem - back when my mom had an all-metal kitchen, my dad put a tiny little vent fan (like was used in early color TV cabinets) under the sink. It stopped both that musty smell and prevented any rust from building.

d) I know single component spray on appliance epoxy is expensive and stinks and does not dry to touch in one hour or one day...but I've used it on similarly high-scratch and scuff areas in wet environments and it really does hold up over time. Worth thinking about, but bite the bullet and practice with it on the back or underside of something first. Not your everyday spray paint. Rust-o-leum sells a good one through Wallmart that isn't too awfully expensive (you only have to rob one bank) and the yield is almost 1/3 what they promise!

Thanks so much for sharing this, I think it is neat!