kitchen aid dishwasher patrician by hobart

[louise2]

I decided to join since I found this both entertaining and hopefully helpful.

We have a 1980's kitchen aid patrician dish washer which runs through cycles fine but lately won;t drain. It happened when the outdoor temp was 2 degrees so maybe something froze? When it warmed up, I tried again. Also, I first noticed it when the "low energy" cycle was used (but I always use that), then worked on "high use" and I think it drained but next time it didn't. Have bailed out all the sitting water and I don't know the names of the parts I see at the bottom of the inside.

Your discussions of how wonderful these old washers are was wonderful. I would prefer to repair it rather than break down and buy a new machine which will maybe last 7 yrs.

Can you advise: 1. what the problem might be and 2. what all the visible parts are called (I know there is the rotating arm but that's about all).

Many thanks for whatever advice you can give us. We are happy to call a repair person but would like a little more knowledge before hand.

 

[rp2813]

Does your Patrician have a timer knob or is the control panel all push buttons?

 

If it's all buttons and one of them is labeled "cancel" have you checked to see if it will drain when that option is selected?

 

[whirlykenmore78]

Not for sure

But it might be a bad drain solenoid.  You should hear a loud click when the machine is entering the drain portion of a cycle.  If not the drain solenoid is not working.  This has a number of causes.  Others here can expand on this.

WK78

 

[combo52]

Non Draining KA DW

We need a model# to give you any good guesses as to what the problem may be, Thanks

John L.

 

[louise2]

kitchen aid dishw. not draining

This is "louise" again (is this how I reply?)

My dishwasher is a Kitchen Aid Patrician by Hobart, model no. KDP-20D from the 1980"s. It stopped draining. I think I tried "cancel cycle" which didn't drain the water. It has buttons that you push, not a dial. Some years ago we did have the solinoid replaced.

 

[louise2]

from louise

I don't quite know how I am supposed to write back to people here who answered my original post.

 

[whirlcool]

You could just add another message to this thread containing your information.

 

[hydralique]

Louise . . .

There is a huge amount of knowledge here about the older Kitchenaid DW models. John (combo52) has worked on pretty much every major appliance professionally and many other members have done their own work, but sometimes you have to be patient and wait a bit for a reply.

 

[combo52]

Non Draining KA DW KDP-20

Hi there are many things any one of which can keep this DW from draining properly, the most common problems in order of occurrence and ease of fixing are.

Clogged air-gap if your DW is connected to an air-gap.

Clogged drain valve.

Bad drain valve.

Broken drain impeller in the main pump assembly.

There are also at least 10 other possibilities, depending on how handy you are and how much you want to try to fix this yourself will determine your next step.

If you can find a good repair person that has at least some gray hair you should be able to get this DW fixed, If you have a parts problem after you or someone checks out the DW post what is needed and either I or someone else will probably be able to find the parts you need, Good Luck.

John L.

 

[louise2]

from louise: not draining

You are all wonderful! Just curious: What are the various parts called that you see in the bottom, for instance:

in the rear right corner there is a silver domed round thing about baseball size. Incidentally, under that I found a crusty, chewed up, half circle, old brown thing that looks like it might have been something that went around the silver domed thing.

in the left front area there is a plastic thing smaller than a baseball that moves up and down. I believe that it has to do with water overflow.

I took out the whirly arm thing in the bottom and also the large round black plastic thing which covers a circle of a black circular rod.

I don't think we can do repairs ourselves but can we ourselves check some of the things you recommend that it could be and see if something is, for instance, clogged or not?

 

[toploader55]

Hi Louise

The shiny round thingy in the back right corner is the Heat Defuser for the Drying Cycle. Hot air from the fan unit under the machine is pumped through there.

The front left plastic thing is the OverFill Protecter. This will stop the fill water if your water pressure is too high.

The Whirly Thing is known properly to KitchenAid machines is the "4 way hydro-sweep" which is the Main Spray Arm in the dishwasher.

The Black Plastic Thing is the Filter to keep the spray arms clean of debris that would be on the plates. The Black rod is the Water Heating element which heats the water in the machine.

John (combo52) has hit it on the head (and is funny) when he said to find a serviceman with some grey hair. You would be better off calling some local repairmen and tell them you have a 30+ year old machine and explain the problem.

I wouldn't call a Authorized Company like Sears, A+E, or KitchenAid dealer as they will tell you to get a New Machine which I don't think you'll be happy with.

Hope this helps, if I were closer, I would be happy to come over and take a look.

 

[rp2813]

I received a free KDS-20 machine some time back and it had the same problem.  On my machine, the timer was suspect.  The machine would drain fine when connected directly to current with the timer bypassed.  I never pursued further repairs, as it wasn't a machine I intended to put in my kitchen.

 

I can't instruct you on how to bypass the timer, as I had an experienced fellow member doing the diagnosis with me.  Should it be the timer at fault, others here may have one you can replace it with.  That job is fairly easy.

 

I agree with others who have advised to find an older, experienced independent repair technician.  If you know anyone who has rental property, see if they have a capable resource for you.  Their handymen/repair men are generally open to fixing rather than replacing.

 

I'm not sure what it was that you found under the heat diffuser, but it wouldn't be the cause of the trouble you're having.

 

Let's see if Steve T the Hobart man chimes in here to provide his expertise.

 

[toploader55]

Steve is working today

Just spoke with him.

I'm sure he'll be around tonight.

 

[rp2813]

He has more than one active "service call" thread circulating here in Imperial currently. 

 

[louise2]

louise2: won't drain

This is all good advice. Our large neighborhood has a list serve reaching 400 households where I can ask for an experienced person who can work to save older machines. Also, I am glad to know the correct name for these parts. Keep the advice coming; it is invaluable. I am already telling people about this valuable site.

Susan

 

[toploader55]

@ Ralph

Hey how wah yah ?

Working on Huge Hobarts today I'm sure.

 

[rp2813]

Hey Eddie,

 

Basking in mid 70s here, getting a taste of what winter is like in L.A. while the whole state turns into a parched wasteland.

 

My KA knowledge base is fairly limited when it comes to involved repairs, and I've gone as far as I can with Louise's and ctv's issues.  It's time to toss it over to Steve and see what he has to say.

 

[louise2]

louise 2 re: dw won't drain

Well, hip, hip, horray! It is fixed! I did inquire on our neighborhood list serve for recommendations of someone "experienced with old dw's" (read: gray-haired, as you advised" and got 3-4 people to choose from.

He came and diagnosed that a line froze in our below zero weather and the drain valve couldn't move up and down (solinoid) and so the valve melted.

"I am probably the only guy in Pittsburgh who has one of these on the truck" as he keeps a plastic bin at home filled with parts for these machines, and quite quickly installed the new one.

It is working fine. He charged $50 to come out, he said the part cost about $70 (who knows) and the total bill was $214. Seemed a little steep but I really wanted to repair this old reliable dw.

We have another freeze coming and he advised that we remove the kick plate at the floor level so some warm air gets in.

So I thank you all for your tips and hints and good advice. I have shared this site with my brother in Denver and he will be posting soon with his questions.

By the way, the repairman unfortunately is suspicious of such sites, blogs. and thinks everybody helping gets some kind of remuineration. That was disappointing; I think you provide a great service.

Thanks again.