Hello, I recently purchased a KitchenAid KDS-56 portable dishwasher that is in pristine condition (looks almost new) for my retro kitchen redo. On a test run the dishwasher was working perfectly. Proper fill and drain between cycles until the drying cycle. After a short period on the drying cycle the machine "burped out" about a half gallon of water from the bottom of the front door. After stopping the machine I found that it had not drained prior to the drying cycle. Using the cancel/drain I was able to empty the unit. I was able to refer to a service manual for a KD-18 series (unable to locate one for the KD-16) and do believe it is a timer problem. Any thoughts or guidance on this problem would be greatly appreciated.
Looking for some guidance on a KitchenAid KDS-56
- Thread starter mczwela
- Start date
KitchenAid KDS 16, 1968 through 70 vintage
Hi, this is my favorite vintage KitchenAid model with a single wash arm. I have one as my second dishwasher in my second home so it doesn’t get much use but it’s a neat machine.
The first thing to check [ I assume you’re using this as a portable at the moment ] is to see each time the machine drains as it goes through the cycle is all the water drain draining out if water is still coming out of the drain hose when it stops draining, you may have a problem where there’s a restriction in the drain hose or a line.
Because these are Time fill machines if all the water doesn’t drain each time there’s a drain. It may be leaving some water and that may be building up toward the end of the cycle. You just have to watch the machine go through a cycle and determine if this is what’s happening.
Another possibility is to fill valve is letting water seep in and also building up. You can check that by just stopping the machine at any point and see if water continues to come into the machine or the machine is not operating. [ leave it just sit for 15-30 minutes for this test ]
And the third common problem with these is something clogged in the drain valve or the pump impeller itself might be damaged, which will keep the water from draining completely each time. It goes to drain.
Let us know what you find. This is probably a worthy machine. If you want a vintage machine it is pretty old parts are still readily available for these. They made so many of them. You should be able to keep it working. That’s the neat thing also about finding a portable the thing obviously was never used or almost never used so like you say it’s practically new.
John L
Hi, this is my favorite vintage KitchenAid model with a single wash arm. I have one as my second dishwasher in my second home so it doesn’t get much use but it’s a neat machine.
The first thing to check [ I assume you’re using this as a portable at the moment ] is to see each time the machine drains as it goes through the cycle is all the water drain draining out if water is still coming out of the drain hose when it stops draining, you may have a problem where there’s a restriction in the drain hose or a line.
Because these are Time fill machines if all the water doesn’t drain each time there’s a drain. It may be leaving some water and that may be building up toward the end of the cycle. You just have to watch the machine go through a cycle and determine if this is what’s happening.
Another possibility is to fill valve is letting water seep in and also building up. You can check that by just stopping the machine at any point and see if water continues to come into the machine or the machine is not operating. [ leave it just sit for 15-30 minutes for this test ]
And the third common problem with these is something clogged in the drain valve or the pump impeller itself might be damaged, which will keep the water from draining completely each time. It goes to drain.
Let us know what you find. This is probably a worthy machine. If you want a vintage machine it is pretty old parts are still readily available for these. They made so many of them. You should be able to keep it working. That’s the neat thing also about finding a portable the thing obviously was never used or almost never used so like you say it’s practically new.
John L
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