KitchenAid Dishwasher Cycle Sequence

[jakeseacrest]

Ok..I've been on the hunt for a KitchenAid portable dishwasher for some time now but I have one question. As far as post wash rinses go, do the machines go directly from the main wash to the final rinse? Or is there at least a purge in between. It's been awhile since I last used my friends 1990 Custom so I can't recall.

 

[jakeseacrest]

Should have mentioned...I am looking for a portable from the 20 series on.

 

[nmaineman36]

There is a purge where the dishwasher drains after the main wash and refills with just enough water to run thru the module. Then it will drain and refill with a normal charge. In my 23 series Superba I would select the Sani rinse option where it would heat the water. No circulation would happen til the water reached temperature. The final rinse wasnt long..I would say about 5 mins at the most. The machine cleaned well and had plenty of power. Not the quietest machine but it was effective.

 

[nmaineman36]

Oh and since your in Massachusetts did you know that IKEA sells a kit that where you can take a regular undercounter machine and convert it to a portable. They have a cabinet with a countertop and wheels. They also have a kit for the powercord and water and drain unicouple. Something to think about if you cant find a portable KitchenAid to make your own.

 

[jakeseacrest]

Could you send me a link to the kit...I can't find it on Ikea's site.

 

[stevet]

It's About time!

Great to know that Someone thought of making a conversion kit to go the other way from built in to portable. I would like to see that link too if you have it.

 

[rp2813]

Purge

Mike, thanks for advising on that partial fill purge thing. I always thought maybe my '90 KA had a little quirk to it with that partial fill and short run before draining again. I have not been able to find anything in the literature on my machine that speaks to this. Now I know it's a normal function.

 

[nmaineman36]

There is no link for it...its in the store itself...kinda strange I know and thats what I told the guy at IKEA and its not something they sell online.

 

[jakeseacrest]

As luck would have it, my friend is getting a new dishwasher and said he'd give me his 1992 Kitchen Aid KUDC21 I believe. The problem is that he has the hardest water and the inside looks like a horror show. What has the last 16 years of this water done to this machine and what could I use to clean the crud off of the inside?

 

[stevet]

Let Nature take its course

Jake..
Hopefully, all you will find is a thick coating of Lime scale inside the machine and that all the mechanicals are working fine.

Chances are that you may need a washarm support which also contains the soil chamber and fine mesh filter.

As far as the lime is concerned, if you happen to have soft water or a water softening system in your home, you can hook the machine up and the soft water will eventually eat thru and remove the lime scale.

Years ago when we had our KDS15, we live in an area of Queens, NY that had water so hard, you could forget to use pipe joint compound on pipe threads and the lime would seal up any leak in the joint all by itself!

When we washed the dishes in that machine the glasses came out looking like they had milk film on them and they would have to be hand washed and polished if we wanted to take the scale off.

Eventually, the city condemned the water company and began pumping the naturally soft water from the city system thru our pipes and within maybe 2 months, you could see all the lime dissolving off the inside of the dishwasher and off the racks which had "chippable" deposits on them. We did nothing special to the machine except the change in water.

If you don't have soft water, you can use one of the products available in the supermarket where you put this container which looks like a mini milk carton inside the dishwasher and the heat inside will melt a wax seal and dispense the product into the machine. I prefer to get the machine warm and then open the bottle myself and put it into the water of the main wash and on your machine, you can wait til the wash is over and then turn the timer knob around to the wash portion and do it again just for more effective cleaning and then let it rinse out.
The link shows one of the more popular cleaners out there and it does do a good job but won't remove all the scale at once. But like I said, if your water is soft it should be okay.
My water now is about 8 grains hard which is sometimes considered to be soft, and I have absolutely no problem with spotting or lime scale. I also use Cascade powder nearly exclusively and never any liquid gel products.

Hope this helps. Steve

Give this a try and see what happens. Parts for the 21 series should still be readily available should you need any.

http://www.summitbrands.com/brands/Dishwashermagic.aspx

 

[toggleswitch]

~Eventually, the city condemned the water company and began pumping the naturally soft water from the city system.
Was Jamaica Water Supply Co. the pvt. wells with the "bad" water?

That DW kit is VERY intrigueing. (sp?). Portables DW-ers are infinitley more collectible. N'est-ce pas?

 

[jeffg]

A cup of CLR added manually to your longest wash cycle, along with a capful of unscented fabric softener (to cut suds production) works wonders for hard water deposits. Run a complete cycle after cleaning to rinse.

 

[andrewinorlando]

Jeff - is it safe to put a whole cup of CLR into a dishwasher? Isn't that stuff pretty caustic? It does a great job on tile and such, but can that cause damage to the mechanicals of the machine? It also smells!!

 

[jeffg]

CLR is caustic but it dilutes quickly, e.g. for tile you normally have to use it full strength. One cup diluted in a dishwasher cycle and thoroughly rinsed afterward won't do any damage, at least in my experience.