I think I'm going to like this dishwasher

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I guess this machine is from 1993 which makes it a 20 year-old dishwasher. According to the seller he used it "a couple of times" but when I opened it up, it looks brand new:

[this post was last edited: 12/8/2012-08:35]

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I've never seen an appliance come with more literature than this one. Also, the guy was nice enough to remember to give me the fiberglass insulation "coat" that he had removed to store it, the auxiliary front panels and the hardware for the panel installation.

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I was surprised to find out that the little small items basket actually belongs to this machine. I guess the KitchenAid purchase had already happened when this machine was offered. The mechanicals look untouched as well:

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I'm going to finish installing it today, that is if the C*nt Goddess of Do-It-Yourselfers doesn't mess me up too much (she is such a bitch). I can't wait to run that first cycle. Thanks for all the encouragement.

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Congratulations!

Yours is newer than mine. My model still has the porcelain tank and the detergent cups are on the left side, rather than the right side. They both have the same number of cycle & option buttons. I really like the WP sequence of a first fill with detergent to help work on proteins & starches before the really hot water hits them and the detergent in the first fill keeps grease from getting deposited in hidden places. It seems to have a slightly smaller capacity than my 18. Part of this is the way WP top racks taper in on the sides more so than the KA upper racks, but it holds what I put in it and washes and dries well.

I know that you will be happy with the performance of this machine. It is a very good dishwasher. I am so happy for you.
 
KM Ultra-Wash 2 DW

Great find Ken and I guarantee that you will love this DW or we will come and pick it up and refund your money LOL. The disposer in this DW is one of the most effective ever used in a DW, even foot long spaghetti noodles will disappear along with other odd slimy things that would be left lying in the bottom of MT, KA and GE dishwashers of this era.

 

We will await the pictures and results of the first Bob Loads.
 
Great Find.....

and amazing how clean and in great shape that unit is.
You will definitely enjoy this machine and boy, those machines really CLEAN the dishes!!!
 
Great find!

Congrats on your new machine. John (& others) are correct. This is one of the best dishwashers you will ever own. Whirlpool got it right when they designed their power clean pumping system. A fairly simple, but very effective piece of engineering. You will love this machine! Those KA small items baskets pop up in many of the top of the line models all across Whirlpools dishwasher production. I have two in white & one in platinum! Enjoy!
 
The KitchenAid domestic line was purchased from Hobart by Whirlpool at a lunch meeting with a handshake in 1986, as the legend goes.

Those small items baskets are one of the best - small enough to fit almost anywhere in the machine and shaped well. Does it still have the short divider in the center?

I've not seen the blue trim on the panel - makes it look space-age for the new millennium!
 
Nice machine! That one has the same cycle options my parents' old Ultrawash had. Only difference was theirs had electronic buttons and a digital countdown timer. Bought it in '95 so I'm wondering if theirs was the newer version of your model. Nonetheless, it should clean great. Simply scrape the large pieces of food into the trash or disposal, load it, and run normal wash or pots and pans cycle. IIRC correctly, Normal wash lasted about 66 min unless extra water heating was needed. No prewashing or rinsing whatsoever needed!
 
Well, I just ran her through her test run and she hit all the marks; I could hear the detergent dispenser slap itself open and, most importantly, there were no droplets of water visible on all the paper towels I put on the floor underneath it. The damage to the floor you see was months of water leaking through the tiny gasket around the detergent dispenser release tab on the Maytag and dripping down to the subflooring, beneath the tile. I only noticed the damage after the 55 year old vinyl-asbestos tiles began to bubble up and off. I couldn't identify the source until I took the door of the Maytag apart and followed the water damage trail to the detergent dispenser assembly. Somehow, the rubber gasket had started to deteriorate. Must have been something I ate.

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Anyway, now that she's proven herself I'm going to complete the installation, level her and screw the top tabs into the bottom of the counter and call it a day. Nice to have an automatic dishwasher back in service after a month of hand washing. Later on, I'm going to paint a couple of those auxilairy panels to match the cabinetry, go the to supermarket and buy us a half-pint of "Jet Dry" and she will be completely integrated. She is a little noisier than the Maytag, but it doesn't bother me and because there is no drain solenoid, it's just a motor reversal, she's a little quieter during the part that I find the most annoying. It's interesting to me how some dishwashers, like the old GE's kept the motor running pretty much non-stop during the fills and the active parts of the cycles. Then there were the machines like the Jet Cleans that only activated their motors for washing and draining. This one is like the GE's, but thankfully nowhere near as noisy.

Bob-load to come. I'll scan all the literature and send it to Robert for the Ephemera library if it's usable and not copy-written.

I'm such a sucker for blue vinyl.

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That is a fantastic dishwasher! You will not be disappointed. I bought one of that design in 1997 and it's still going strong at my brother's house. I personally have one from 2002 without the center tower in the lower rack and it is also fantastic.

John, have you noticed any discernable difference in the cleaning ability between the ones that shot the water up into the upper rack spray arm through the tower and the later design that sent this water up a tube at th back of the tub? I certainly makes loading the lower rack easier!
 

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