i will never get why my mom decided not to keep this vintage kitchenaid dishwasher?

[pierreandreply4]

hello to all aw members back in 1996 the condo where my mom and i live when purchuse this model dishwasher was supose to be included with the sale of the condo my mom and i live in if i would of know n of aw.org back in 1993 i would of advise my mom to keep that vintage kitchenaid but my mom wanted the appliances purchuse back in 1993 install because there was also suppose to be a vintage almond ge stove and fridge sadly can not go back in time pretty sure that vintage kitchenaid dishwasher would of lasted far longer than any modern dishwashers of today

 

[bradfordwhite]

Ummm, by that point, Whirlpool was getting kind of sloppy with the KAs.

I've found some KA dws like this that leaked pretty bad. Particularly where the upper rack screws through the wall of the tub. Also, the baskets themselves, the finsih it'self not lasting and peeling..... and then the rust that goes along with it. .... and the door seal.

Yeah, I wouldn't mourn your loss too much.

Keep an eye out on Craigslist. You're likely to find similar models for $25 to $50 from people who's ad will state something like: "We've just bought this house and this was here. It works great but.....we're millennials and afraid to touch it...... please come buy it"

 

[firedome]

better yet...

look out for a KA 17 (1 arm) through 19 or 20 true Hobart-built series, many think the KA 18 series are among the best, Personally I like the old one-arm wonders but YMMV.

 

[combo52]

Whirlpool Getting Sloppy Building KA DWs ?

The horse was already out of the barn by the time the KDS-18s came out, The worst models were the 19s, 20s and the 21s really had all kinds of problems, Dart&Kraft ran KA in the early 80s and the quality was much worse than when Hobart fully controlled KA DW production.

In many ways KA DWs got much better in quality after WP took over in 1987, but the fact is even though KA DWs were always well designed and built they were very complicated and they were never the most reliable DW in terms of number of repairs during their life in your kitchen.

In the 80s through the 90s WPs build quality surpassed all other major appliance builders including Maytag, GE and Frigidaire, This was well documented to those of us in the industry by WPs low number of warranty calls.

John L.

 

[norgeway]

John is right

I have a Custom 21 and its NOWHERE near as good as a earlier one Give me a one arm wonder ANYDAY

 

[ultralux88]

I’m going to third the old one arm machines. They really blast the dishes, even the upper rack!

 

[vacman1961]

I grew up with a KDS17A in my house that my parents purchased in 1974, it was a great machine, when I inherited their house the machine was still there, I did a total renovation of the house and kept all my Mom's kitchen appliances which included the KDS17A dishwasher, a GE Americana side by side refrigerator from 1977, a Caloric prestige gas range from 1986 and a Litton Aire over the range microwave from 1982. The appliances were in great condition. My wife and I moved back into the house in 1990 and loved our new kitchen, however, 2 years later the dishwasher started to put rust spots on the silverware. I inspected the machine and found our beloved KitchenAid had cancer around the motor seal under the filter. I ordered a new Kitchen Aid, another Superba, it was a KUDA220T, it was a great dishwasher, the model just before they started to use the Whirlpool power module motor, it still had the lift off wash arm and filter underneath, that machine was great. In 1994 we moved into a new house and swapped dishwashers with the new GE dishwasher from our new house. In 2001, we redid our kitchen, and we wanted to keep the KUDA220 and change the front to stainless to match all our new Kitchen Aid appliances until I discovered that our beloved Architect Superba dishwasher was starting to rust along the tub around the motor seal, Kitchen Aid would not change the tub even though it had a lifetime warranty, but they did allow us 50% off of our new machine. It was OK, but it definitely was not like the one arm wonder or our new Architect model. I would love to come across a KUDA220 in stainless steel and replace it with my current top of the line KitchenAId dishwasher.

 

[agiflow3]

Thanks Tom I didn't thinks so. It's a shame Sears is gone now.The 2 in my area of NJ shut their doors this month. Woodbridge and the old one in New Brunswick. Are any Sears stores still open ?

 

[agiflow3]

Oops wrong post

 

[DADoES]

 
The KDI-17a we had didn't need any repairs for the duration we were in the house (to approx 1980), although the racks were deteriorating a little.  The house we moved to already had a KDI-17a.  We swapped one of the racks, don't recall if upper or lower.  I vaguely recall a wire burned on the detergent dispenser, dad fixed it.  The KA was replaced due to the motor bearings getting bad in late 2002 with a GE dad found on close-out at Lowe's or Home Depot.  No repairs on the GE to-date (17+ years), although they're not any longer heavy DW users.

 

[4bagger]

Bought this KDS-15 for $60 about 6 years ago. Works flawlessly. Wouldn't trade it for the "best" machine available today.