Gotta Love those old machines!
It does my heart good to see how well loved these truly Classic, HOBART BUILT machines are. Starting at the last post first, There was always a problem I found with the drain pumps in that the small pin that held the impeller to the shaft was not made of stainless steel. I replaced many a pin in these pumps with a small stainless cotter pin and got many more years out of them. Just a hint if anyone else runs into the same problems.
I have to say I have owned or obtained the following models of these classics myself and can only say that they all got better with age and technology. I had a KD10P Series Portable which had to weigh well over 200 lbs but it did roll around easily.A KDS14P which I kept in our basement for overflow dishes when my mom would entertain during the year.
It wasn't very long when I replaced the KDS14 with a Hobart Commercial machine in the basement..a Model UM4 which did the dishes in 3 minutes. That was a conversation piece for sure! I used the pumped drain from the 14 since it had to pump up to the drain line and not gravity drain.
The Official Kitchen machine, Originally a KDS15 which was actually the only diaheasher purchased by anyone in my immediate family was installed in 1965 then was replaced by a KDSS16 which had the stainless steel tank around 1986 and was so much quieter than the 15. By the way, we had already had the 15 for over 20 years when I found the 16SS sitting at the curb waiting for the garbage men to cart it away.
I sold the 15 to a friend for 100 bucks and she had it another 10 years before she replaced it with a 24 (whirlpool style) Kitchenaid. It was still running when she laid it to rest at her curb in 1996 or 97!
After the 16, I replaced it with a KDC21-D in 1988 which lasted at my Mom's house till 1993, when I switched it out for a KDI-19 which came out of my home on Long Island because we renovated the kitchen and I installed a fully rebuilt KDS18 machine in that kitchen.The 21 was later installed in the basement kitchen when we finished it off. We even had twin KitchenAid Disposers in the two kitchens!
Would you beleieve, I now have that 18 in my kitchen in Florida as well as the 21 in the garage as a spare/overload machine! When we moved from NY to Florida, my wife insisted that we take those two machines with us which we did and the first thing I had to do when the 18 arrived on the moving van was to toss out the GE Profile machine we already had in the house. She refused to use it as she hated the tower in the middle and the lack of capacity in the racks.
She is so devoted to these machines that she won't let me install the brand new KitchenAid machine I have sitting in the box,unopened, in my garage becasue it has the typical racks that load side to side with the dishes facing each other.
So technically, My mom and dad bought only one machine in 1965 and I have been salvaging and lucking out since then with all these different machines..
Oh, by the way, I have also acquired countless 16,17 18,19,20,21,22,and 23 series machines that I have fixed up and given to friends or installed in rental properties I used to have. Even my tenants got the best machines on the market at the time!
Well, I wish all you owners of these vintage machines the best of luck and am sure you will have many more years of good use out of them.
