I just bought my first Kitchen Aid!

[potatochips]

I've been trying to find a KA machine for a while now. Today, I walked in to the Habitat for Humanity ReStore and found this, a KDS-21, made in Canada. Overall the machine looks GREAT. The only blemish is in the sump by one of the heater leads. It's not rusty underneath however.

What I find interesting is that Energy Saver/no heat dry resets by opening the door and not the cancel button?!

 

[yogitunes]

nice machine.....

that rust may actually be surface rust, possible from a foreign piece of metal of some sort that rusted and left a stain, try scouring with an SOS or cleanser, it may just buff off.....worth a shot....

 

[funktionalart]

GREAT find. Alot of us are huge fans of and own Monterey 21s. Sort through it when you get it home and enjoy. Love these things. I have spare racks, and other parts as do a few others up here.

 

[DADoES]

 
Raising the door latch engages a physical mechanism that pushes all the buttons out.  Cancel is a timer control function.  It rapid-advances the timer to the last drain period, then to Off (the drying blower may run without heat for one increment before Off).  Cancel remains pressed until the latch is raised.  Cancel will perform that function even if the machine isn't otherwise running ... if it's not running a cycle and Cancel is pressed with the door latched, the timer will rapid-advance as outlined above.

Alternately pressing Cancel and another cycle button (Soak & Scrub works best since that cycle starts at the beginning of the full timer sequence whereas other buttons advance to later starting points) turns rapid-advance on/off, and one can advance the timer to a specific point if done carefully.[this post was last edited: 10/13/2017-16:22]

 

[funktionalart]

Oh, before running it for the 1st time I would make a point of (after checking all your hoses for condition and wires for same) pouring very hot water into the machine and leave it sit awhile.

If machine hasn't been used in some time you *may* have a bit of dryness in the motor/sump seal. It's not hugely common, but does happen. The hot water will allow that seal to soften somewhat and potentially avoid any leak from it. I had one KA which did leak a bit from there in spite of my efforts, but it cleared itself up within a couple of days. Was only a few small drops, though.

 

[Ultramatic]

 

 

Congratulations and welcome the the world of vintage KitchenAid dishwashers. LOVE my KDS-58. Enjoy!

 

[appnut]

Congratulations.  Two different small-items baskets in the upper rack?

 

[peteski50]

Kitchen Aid!

A real keeper - Best Of Luck with this Gem!

 

[potatochips]

Thanks guys! I will post more when I install it later this year. Maybe after Christmas. The reverse rack is currently my daily driver. This would be the last true KA before WP bought them, right? Or was that the 22 series?

Also, interesting to note, its made in Canada.

 

[whirlykenmore78]

Great find!

That is a very good dishwasher. If Hobart made it could have come from the Ontario plant where they make rack conveyor dishwashers for the North American market. I don't know where the Whirlpool made machines for Canada came from.
WK78

 

[hippiedoll]

CONGRATULATIONS!!

What a good find.
I have a portable that has a top rack spray arm but I think it's older than yours. I believe it's a KDS20? This is my first & only dishwasher I've ever owned/used.
D

 

[norgeway]

I use

A portable Custom 21 that I love!

 

[potatochips]

Thanks guys! This will be featured in a review soon enough. Can't wait to use it.

 

[rp2813]

I think Whirlpool was in charge when the 21 series was produced, but no major changes had been made to the Hobart system yet, so what you have is essentially a Hobart machine.   It was the 23 series that began using the Whirlpool power module and had a different look in the sump area.

 

We had a KDI-21 for 18 years and it was a good, reliable performer.  Toward the end (i.e. before we moved and left it behind) the check valve got stuck open and upper rack items weren't receiving proper wash action.  I didn't know then what I know now, thanks to this site, or I would have replaced the valve.

 

[combo52]

KDS-21 KA DW

These were good machines, they were about tops in construction quality, but unfortunately around forth place in terms of overall washing and cleaning performance.

Your MT RR will probably out perform this DW along with higher end GEs anf WP DWs during this time period.

WP did indeed buy KA while the 21s were being built and as a factory WP service company we took quite a few KA DWs back and gave the customer a high end WP DW to solve the customers cleaning and drying complaints with the 21 and 22 KA DWs.

The 21 & 22 machines suffered from poor cycle design, they did not hold the wash or rinse action in any cycle till the water reached a diffident temperature, and there was only one final rinse. Because the final rinse was not heated hot enough and the silly venting of the hot air below the door KAs of this time period did an especially poor job of drying on the energy saver air dry setting unlike GE or WP which really got the dishes dry on ESD.

John L.

 

[pierreandreply4]

congratulation

congratulation potatochips back in 1996 it came close that my mom and i when we move where we live now that we would own such a vintage beauty but my mom said no preferaing to have the dishwasher that we had bough back in 1993