Kitchen Aid KDS-20 help?

[perc-o-prince]

So, we've been using the portable "Power Shower" for dishes for a while, and have decided we need to do something about the KDS-20 sitting there. The problem is it doesn't drain. It makes the noise, IIRC, but doesn't drain. Could the drain valve be stuck closed?

Rich located a service manual here for an older model, but unfortunately that didn't really help. I'm attaching three pictures. If someone might be able to point me in the right direction as to what to remove/clean, it would be greatly appreciated! Not only am I not an appliance repair person, I don't even play one on TV!!

Thanks in advance,
Chuck

 

[perc-o-prince]

pic 2. Is the drain valve/solenoid assembly on the bracket to the right of the fill?

 

[perc-o-prince]

another angle

 

[tomturbomatic]

Correctamundo!

Yes, the drain valve is attached to the solenoid to the right of the fill valve. It's the white thing with black rubber hoses entering from in front of the motor and exiting behind where the large worm gear hose clamp is.

 

[coldspot66]

Hey Guys,

When you press cancel and drain, do you hear the snap of the drain solenoid? If you do, then you might have a clogged/kinked drain line. If you don't hear the snap of the solenoid, then the drain solenoid might be bad, or a timer problem if there is no power to the drain solenoid during drain phases.

 

[rp2813]

Last year I took a KDS-20 from RCD's pile and threw it in the truck along with the '57 GE Combination fridge.  We found it had the same problem as yours.

 

Nate was able to connect the drain solenoid directly to power to see if it worked -- and it did and the tub drained -- so that eliminated the valve or solenoid.  We never bothered to go further with investigating the timer, but it could have just been a connection issue.  The machine had a fairly loud (and presumed tired) motor so we junked it after harvesting the door and gaskets from it to use on my ISE Classic Supreme.

 

You might want to conduct a similar test on your machine to help isolate the source of the trouble.

 

 

[tomturbomatic]

Does the dw drain through a sink deck mounted air gap? They can clog and prevent draining.

 

[perc-o-prince]

Does the dw drain through a sink deck mounted air gap?

Nope. Regular drain hose that ends up in the same drain as the FL washer.

John- we'll have to try it again as neither of us remembers for sure. I think it did, but...........

Ralph- thanks, we'll see!

Chuck

 

[coldspot66]

I wonder if the drain hose is kinked where it enters the standpipe????? Was there an elbow on the drain hose?

 

[stevet]

back to earlier question...

Do you hear the drain valve actuating, the loud click/clunk noise that occurs when it should drain or when you press the cancel/drain button?

If it does click and the actuator moves,then look for a hose problem or the flapper inside the valve could have come loose and jammed in the outlet hole. If you need to drain it if it is not working, you can hit cancel and then carefully pull the plunger linkage manually to open the drain and empty the dishwasher.

Then pull the valve out and replace it.