My brand new 30 year old KDI-57 Is broken, Need a measurement to repair

[comb0breaker]

Hi all. A few weeks ago I got a brand new vintage dishwasher and it worked great. It even had the original bill of sale and paperwork! It was working great until this week. I found the Lower Wash Arm Support loose and came out of the mount. I think I can epoxy it back in but I need to know how much space to leave in between the mount and housing. Anyone have a unit like this? Need to know what spacing to use.

Thanks!

 

[comb0breaker]

Here are some pictures of the unit.

 

[swestoyz]

Wash Arm Support 4161073

It is common for the shaft to separate from the support on KA's.  I'd suggest a new wash arm support rather than trying to use an epoxy to hold the old shaft in place.  Plus, I've also heard recommendations from others on this board that the plastic bearings tend to wear better on the wash arm than the original bronze bearing units.

 

Great save, BTW!  Love the original literature and sales receipt!

 

Pardon Our Interruption...

 

[barcoboy]

Silly question, but if this dishwasher was never used, how is the wash arm support in it different than a NOS wash arm support? I'm considering getting a new wash arm support for my KDS-58, but I'm afraid that the one I get won't be any better than the one I have now.

 

[combo52]

Fixing a KA Wash Arm Support

You can differently epoxy the SS shaft back in place, I have done this many times over the years on KA WASs.

 

There should be 3/8" space from the Bakelite top of the WAS to the bottom of the bronze support, I measured a new one that I have on hand.

 

[chachp]

I have repaired two of them..

<span style="font-family: 'courier new', courier;">Both my 15 and my 20 came to me in a "rode hard and put away wet" condition. Needless to say the Wash Arm Supports were really shot so I did repairs on both and used them while waiting for a new one to appear on eBay or through one of the generous folks on this site. </span>

<span style="font-family: 'courier new', courier;">In both cases I used a Marine Grade Epoxy based on SteveT's recommendation. I'm not sure it would be a solution for a machine I'd use every day but certainly worked well as a temporary solution. </span>

<span style="font-family: 'courier new', courier;">I used a broken popsicle stick to hold it in place while the epoxy cured.  Not very pretty but it worked.  There were cracks on the WAS for the 15 so I put a little glue on those too.</span>

 

[comb0breaker]

Great info!

Thanks for all the great info. The unit was apparently in storage for over 40 years and never actually used. I did epoxy the original shaft back it and it's woking great. I am amazed how well this unit works compared with 2 modern Kenmore and Whirlpool units I have used.

 

[bajaespuma]

Kingston, NY

My Father used to take me to Miron Lumber in Kingston(we might have been there on the day that invoice was written up); while he bought wood and nails for his never ending projects, I got to spend time in their appliance department looking at Hotpoint washers and KitchenAid dishwashers. Great place, great town.