KDSS-20 Drain valve solenoid?

[katiemac]

WE have a KDSS-20 dishwasher that up until recently has worked very well. It's always been noisy, but does a wonderful job cleaning dishes. My husband determined that the drain valve solenoid has gone bad but has not been able to locate a replacement.

After looking at new dishwashers, I'm very dismayed at how cheaply they are built... flimsy plastics on $500 to $1500 dishwashers. Makes me want to salvage our old Hobart / Kitchen Aid.

Does anyone have advice for a replacement drain valve solenoid for this machine? Thanks in advance!

Kathleen

 

[combo52]

DRAIN VALVE AND SOLENOID ASSEMBLE

These can be interchanged from the 15 series through the 20 series machines. I have lots of used or new ones around if you can't find one locally, E mail me. Or if you need other advice Email me your Ph#, John.

 

[combo52]

ALL ELECTRONICALLY CONTROLLED KA DW

I almost forgot to add that your machine is a very rare model. Yours is the first KA DW with fully electronic control. I have the same one in my kitchen and until today I thought I had the only remaining one that still worked. I you should ever want to give up on this DW please offer it to someone on this site as it may be worth saving. But for me one is enough.

 

[katiemac]

Thank you John. I will e-mail you with my phone number. We never realized that this was a rare machine, other than the fact that it's simply older than most anything you find today. We upgraded part of our kitchen years ago, except for the DW, oven and trash compactor. The DW has always been on the noisy side but cleans incredibly well so we've never been anxious to replace it. I've considered putting stainless panels on the front of it to spruce it up a bit... until the drain solenoid went bad recently. We've purchased a few DW's for a couple of rental houses we have, but never shopped for one for our own kitchen until recently. I could not believe how flimsy the new DW's seem to be, regardless of price.

We just spent the holidays at a 2nd home in FL. The WP Gold DW (only 7 years old) failed while we were there and no one was available for a repair visit prior to our departure and renters coming in. Wound up buying a used DW off CL to get a working machine in there before returning home. Brought the WP up here (stainless) with the thought of fixing it (probably electronic control panel) and installing it in our kitchen, but having a hard time moving away from our workhorse KA DW. A little research yesterday led me to this website. I love to see that there are others out there who appreciate these machines.

Here is a pic of our DW. Very good condition except for a light scratch that appeared rather recently.
Kathleen

 

[rp2813]

Sears parts still has the stainless panels for your machine.  A friend of mine has your same model and it's still going strong.

 

[stevet]

Sad News!

Kathleen, I too have a stash of valves for this machine as well as lots of panel kits but no stainless panels and I am sorry that you had to toss the WP Gold machine after 7 years. I sure hope that your Florida place is not too close to me in Palm Coast as I would have been happy to check it out for you before you tossed it. It may have been something simple. But regardless, you are on here, now so always give a shout when you need some help.

 

[rollermatic]

there is a drain

valve for a kitchenaid on e bay right now. i saw it a couple days ago. look under kitchenaid dishwasher parts.

 

[katiemac]

SteveT, thank you. The place in FL is in Punta Gorda, so a bit of distance from you. The good news is that we didn't toss it. We squeezed out enough room in the van to bring it home (to Georgia) with us. I was thinking that we may fix it and replace the KA KDSS-20, but I'm having a hard time giving up the KA that has worked like such a champ and was built so well. So now the Whirlpool is in the garage awaiting repair, along with the KA that's still in the house.

Everyone here has been so helpful. I can see that this will be a great place to go for well informed input when considering a new major appliance. Roller matic: we'll check e-bay. Thanks for the tip.

Kathleen