Late 1980's Kitchen Aid All Pushbutton Washer and Dryer Set...

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programcomputer

programcomputer

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 20, 2003
Messages
409
Location
Ann Arbor Michigan, USA
Hi Everyone,

wanted to share this new set of mine for a few weeks now. I recently acquired a nice rental home (after YEARS of apartment living), and needed a W&D set. I scrounged around every craigslist city for 200 miles of me and had little, no or "too-late" isues with any respectable vintage set.

Now, had I wanted a new bland Whirlpool or Kenmore, I had so many options that I could puke. But nothing really motivated me to buy. I did have my heart set on a later model Amana Distinctions pair (pre-Whirlpool built), but they were far more than this, and I was VERY leery of the main seal leak I've seen on here that can happen to those old Alliance built machines.

That said, the weekend we moved, I still had NO set, and was starting to panic. My roomate, ever the levelheaded woman said..lets check out some appliance stores. Which I agreed to. Well, about five miles from home there is a County Re-Store. We decided to stop there after a recommendation from the local appliance store, who sells them parts as they go thru their machines pre-sale.

So we pull up, and go into this place Ive never set FOOT into in the 9 years i've lived down here...and as we round the corner to the appliance area....these beautiful, perfect, low use babies were smiling at me.

I actually squeed as I ran toward them. Like loudly, alerted the country folk that I was a "strange duck" kinda squeed. And with a whip out of the Am-Ex. They were MINE....

Here they are....

programcomputer++4-19-2013-10-13-51.jpg
 
Push-Button KA Pair

Chad you did very well, these are a true modern classic that will truly beat out any Maytag pair ever built in the performance and capacity area. We have a pair of these for our museum project here and I have stripped a few pairs of these so I do have some extra electrical parts if you ever need anything.

 

My brother has the Westinghouse Wash N Dry combo that you are using in your profile, thanks to Robert our Webmaster.
 
What a great story and a great catch to start the weekend. "Pushbutton goodness," indeed.

And a hold button just like on the conventional timers. Love that.

These machines are like Maytags: they work forever and they never break! We had 2 KA's in the family for 20 some years, both sorely missed and passed on for silly reasons.

If there are any cycle surprises on the Short & PP settings, please let us know, and post the cycle chart if you can.

Thanks, and good luck on the rest of your lifetime with trouble free monster washing. I have Big Blue in my Whirlpool; in turnover, Big Blue has no equal.

mickeyd++4-19-2013-12-33-1.jpg
 
We have a 93' electronic no button WP set and these look pretty much the same as far as the controls go. It looks like the cap on your agitator has a little rust on it.
Take an SOS pad to it to make it sparkle again.

I remember your set because a set in almond just like it was in our local appliance store. These were not cheap machines, BTW. They probably cost was a high level FL machine would cost today. Our WP set was $1800 when new in 93' this set probably sold for at least $2000, partially because of the KitchenAid name. Plus it had lighted controls! But by the time we were ready to buy our W/D set KitchenAid only had manual control washers available, no more electronic controls.

These will last you for years and years if you take care of them. And they will clean your clothes using plenty of water. Congratulatons!
 
A few thoughts...

Thank you everyone for the nice replies. It's nice to have a washer and dryer with such a high reputation.

Couple of things:

I expect that these machines are NOT truly "electronic", but are of the old "electro-mechanical" school, yes?? When you punch start on either one, you can hear the the timer motor whir it thru the cycles until it comes to the correct setting. I liken the sound to the sound of a lift on an old roller coaster..lots and lots of clicking until its where it needs to go.

Just to be safe, when we are done with laundry for the week or bi-weekly etc., we unplug them both to prevent any voltage spikes etc. And I we had one of those new gas valves installed that prevents leaks or a blowout. If it senses too much gas going out It shuts itself off. So anyway, when they are plugged in I pretty much monitor them the whole time. That way they don't get damaged electrically anyway...

I apologize for the pic quality. My camera phone is kinda gunky, albeit being brand new.... But the chrome on the agi-cap is pretty shiny. I will keep the steel wool idea in mind too. There are actually a few very tiny spots on the dryer vent door...Ill look to lightly use that to see if they will disappear.

When I got them home both of them were given baths and a polish. However, I noticed that the fascias are VERY prone to electro-static issues, hence all the dust that CLINGS to the panels. Its very noticeable in the up close pics. Any thoughts to how to remedy that?? Or is it just a " ya gotta live with it guy" kinda thing"?

John L. That was a most kind offer to parts needed in the future. I plant to keep these as long as the gods let me. My only concerns as of this point is the electrical system-timers, as they someday will become NLA, and made only out of unobtanium. Its comforting to know that there are people willing to help IF and when that day ever comes. So far from what you all wrote, these are a pretty durable product, so I think ill be good to go for a LONG time.

Water concern was an issue of my best-friend, and room-mate, the level-headed touchstone that she is. Until I calmly pointed out to her that we are on our own private well. We live on one of the LARGEST fresh watersheds in our county. We have far more than enough for our needs...LOL IT's filtered and softened to a awesome level, so I do not have to worry about tub-rust. And It appears that it's a porcelain tub too?...

It's pretty obvious, that the previous owners used these VERY little. IN fact the guy who sold us the set said that he remembers that the gentleman who dropped them off said that they were in his folks estate at their vacation home that was used year round, but only when they chose to BE here. So that kinda makes sense as to why they are in such perfect shape.

Now for all of you who would be so kind to respond, is there ANYTHING else that I can do to make these things last as long as possible? Anything to look out for as time goes on??

Thanks Again for the comments.... I feel pretty blessed to have these honestly..

Chad

Now, just to find an old wringer too. Then my thought of a cool small laundry will be complete!!! :-)
[this post was last edited: 4/19/2013-16:59]
 

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