kitchenaid question-kd-16 model

[soberleaf]

maybe someone can share some info here. i bought a kdi-16 off e bay last week for 15 bucks and it arrived today. it looks great! i was told some kd-16's have a water heater, some don't. this one does have the calrod in the sump like my kd-17 models do but it is a much small diam. calrod unit than those i am used to on kitchenaids. and there is no thermostat in the sump to signal a 180 degree temp for timer advance. i am assuming this calrod merely helps maintain water temp or am i wrong? were the kds-17's the first to use the bigger 1400 watt calrod? this one is rated at about 1200 watts. any info you have would be appreciated!!!!!!!!!

 

[stevet]

Yes. They did!

There were some Imperial 16 series machines with sump heaters but I don't think they were 1200 watts. Maybe more like 700?
My Aunt bought one once many years ago from the "Buy-Lines" which was a classified ad paper up in the NY area selling just about anything. It had the smaller diameter heater just like yours. She wanted to get rid of her KDS15 but didn't realize it was lacking in all the features of the 15. So I took her 16 Imperial apart and put all the 15 workings into it except that the elements were not interchangeable. It worked perfectly just as the 15 was designed to do but it took much longer to heat the water during the sani heat portion of the sani cycle.
But it did eventually get there.
She gained a new set of racks as well as the constant rinse sprayer up top in the swap. So she was happy.

So to answer your main question, the element was there to just boost the water temp while washing and not much more. I never saw any mention of it in any literature nor in any parts books.
You have yourself a rare find,but it won't ever get to 180 degrees like the Superba models.
The 15 series had the dual element 1400 watt heater and thus began that tradition. It was basically the same element thru the 17's and then the 18 and up with the sump heaters had a slightly different shaped one and there was always the "exposed" element in the lower model lines starting with the 21 series. Some of the 23's had the same one and the solid state 23's seem to have gone over to a 900 watt single element type.

 

[soberleaf]

thanks!!!

thanks for the info, i did check again and i was wrong, the heater IS a 700 watt. i read the label wrong, it says 1200 watts "other wattage" which i would guess includes this water heater and the dryer unit. it is a beautiful machine and i remember that style control panel from when i was a teenager. it is going in my kitchen along with the other 5 i already have there. i had been told 16 models were hard to find and i found it last week by crusing e bay!!!!! and 15 bucks can't be beat, even if it did cost 100 to get shipped.!!!!!!!!!!!!