Lost bushing on Lower Arm Support - what to do?

[swestoyz]

It will not.  The sump and wash arm support (plus filter) are unique to the 15 series machines only.  The 16 and 17 share the same basic sump, wash arm support and filter design. 

 

It seems you had an oddball and possibly very early 16 with the 16/17 style wash arm support with the long 15 series shaft on the support/wash arm.  Either way, if you replace the wash arm support with the later style and find yourself a good wash arm, you'll be set.  It has been my experience that after 40 years of use on machine's I've seen, the original wash arms are shot.

 

Ben

 

[leon]

Thank you, Ben for your thoughtful responses! I appreciate your generosity in sharing this hard to find information.

I plan to take your advice to get a new wash arm and I'm happy to spend a modest amount of money to refurbish my machine. To my untrained eye the current wash arm looks good. Out of curiosity, how do wash arms wear out?

 

[stevet]

Wear and tear!

Having worked on hundreds of Hobart commercial units sharing the same parts as the 15 thru 20 series domestic machines, I have seen my share of worn out arms.

Basically, the bushings will wear away inside and the arm will develop a pronounced wobble when you spin it. You won't hear anything when it is running but it will slow down a bit which can affect washing performance. The black plastic of the hub will wear out from rubbing against the top of the support and many times it will become so worn that the bushing will begin to be pushed out of the wash arm hub itself and extend above the top of the wash arm.

Hobart began installing a stainless steel washer over the shaft on the top of the support which really slowed down the wear on the wash arm hub and if you were to find a NIB support for your machine, it will likely have that washer as well as the white plastic top piece instead of the bronze top. But you will still find some of the original style ones out there as well.

I will try to find some of the more worn out arms and take a picture of them to illustrate the wear pattern I mentioned above. I have plenty of used,good condition arms as well as a brand new one if you are interested. The problem is finding a properly sized and not oversized carton to ship them in. Nowadays, shipping can cost more than the item you buy!

 

[leon]

That is very interesting that you seem to recommend the version of the support arm with the plastic top piece instead of the bronze top. I assumed that the plastic was used as a cost-cutting method and that the bronze would have been superior but maybe the bronze induces more wear to the wash arm.

 

[leon]

I realized that my new old stock support is not perfecly flat on the bottom surface which is why it didn't fit as nicely as the original part. I installed it anyway and I'm hoping it is good enough to do the job.

 

[leon]

Gasket?

is there supposed to be any gasket for the underside of the support where it gets screwed to the lower component?

 

[stevet]

No Gasket

was used in this scenario. They should fit flat against each other. Is the bottom part the one that is not flat or square anymore? If not then you should search a new part out as it will allow water to flow past the opening. Not so much that the dishes would not get clean but why not have it working properly.

Surely someone can supply the part number for that lower pump housing. I do not have access to the parts manual at this time. I have seen them on ebay.

 

[leon]

It is the arm support that is not flat and it doesn't perfectly mate up to the pump housing. I guess i will source another one and hope it doesn't happen again.

 

[swestoyz]

A question was asked earlier about the difference between the KD-15 and KD-16/17 wash arm supports.  For archiving purposes, I found a picture of an NOS KD-15 wash arm support on ebay. 

 

The base of the support is designed to fit in the KD-15 sump, only and will not interchange with the KD-16/17 pump.  This would apply to any 15 series KitchenAid (KDS-15, etc.).

 

Ben

 

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