KitchenAid KDS-21 Buttons

[krycek1138]

Hello all,

I have an old KitchenAid Superba dishwasher that I'm desperate to maintain. It's been working great in the 3 years since I inherited it with my home.

Recently, all the buttons have started to stop working. At first it was intermittent, with a couple of door latching and unlatching attempts getting it going. Now, nothing I do works.

Electricity still appears to be working in the kitchen.

I saw there's a pointed plastic piece that's supposed to hit a metal sensor on the right upper corner of the door. I can confirm that this pointed plastic piece is still present and appears intact. The corresponding metal sensor on the door has a very slight indentation, I guess from all the years of use.

Any help would be appreciated

 

[michaelh]

This sounds to me like you need a new selector.

 

[phillymatt53]

If it's just the buttons, they can be cleaned/serviced, I did mine, cleaned the contacts, etc.
I also took apart the timer mech and cleaned all the contacts, but that's a tough job, even for me, experienced in electronics.

 

[phillymatt53]

Hello all,



I saw there's a pointed plastic piece that's supposed to hit a metal sensor on the right upper corner of the door. I can confirm that this pointed plastic piece is still present and appears intact. The corresponding metal sensor on the door has a very slight indentation, I guess from all the years of use.

That "trigger" plunger operates the main power switch, it kills power if the door is opened or not closed fully.
If you open the door slowly to load dishes, you'll hear a little "click" upon opening or closing the door.
The switch could be bad too.
Same goes for the door handle lock - also a switch there, or a linkage.

 

[qsd-dan]

It was common for the plunger to wear down overtime with lots of use and stop making contact for the door switch on old Hobart KA's. The common hack back then was to substitute a bolt of the correct length.