My first vintage dishwasher!

[therhett17]

Got my first vintage dishwasher over the weekend from my grandparents old house! It's a 1994 KitchenAid, model KUDD230Y2. I would love to have an old Hobart model eventually, but you can't beat free It wasn't used too much when new, and has only been turned on a couple times in the past 20 years. Currently have it hooked up on the back patio for testing. The timer runs through all the cycles and the pump and blower kicks on, but for some reason it's not filling with water. It actually did on my second try, but nothing since. I suspect the water inlet valve is bad. Checked the overflow switch and it seems to be functioning correctly. Have an inlet valve on the way, hoping it is the solution!

 

[cam2s]

Welcome to the wonderful world of vintage dishwashing! These still have a lot of Hobart left in them and as you mentioned you can’t go wrong with free. Hopefully the inlet valve solves your problem! Make to post your maiden Wash with it!

 

[rp2813]

The 23 series is the first to have Whirlpool's power module system, which was a big improvement over Hobart's design, but other than that, this series retains a lot of Hobart's influence. 

 

I don't see any particular designation on your machine such as "Custom," "Imperial" or "Superba," and the cycle and button options are unusual.  I think it's what is commonly referred to as a "builder's" model.  It's a simple, no frills machine and will do the same job on a "Normal" wash cycle as any other model in the 23 series.  For free and having seen little use, this machine was an excellent score and will serve you for a long time.

 

[therhett17]

Thanks for the info and replies! Is there anything maintenance-wise I need to do to it or common failures to watch out for?

 

[rp2813]

The first thing I would do is dump hot water (but not boiling) into the tub and let it sit in the sump well for at least several hours.  This will soften up the gaskets/seals since the machine has sat idle most of the time for the past 30 or so years.

 

The other thing to check is the cone-shaped float inside the tub at left front.  Gently push downward on the cone and listen for a faint click.  It should click again when you allow the float to spring back up.

 

Give both wash arms a spin to make sure they move freely and don't skitter their way around.

 

The "Energy Saver" buttons are something I'm not sure about.  I assume that they prevent the heating element from operating during wash and dry if selected.  Personally I'd probably never use either button.  That's just based on my affinity for automatic assistance when it comes to washing and drying dishes.

 

[combo52]

KUDD23 KA DW

This was a popular DW model lots were sold at retail as it is all most DW users wanted.

 

Hi Ralph in your reply #4 you got the float operation reversed, if you lift the float you will hear a faint click otherwise the float switch is always down and closed, the only time you would be able to push down on it and hear a click is if the floor of the DW has around 3+ gallons in it and the float has floated up to cut of power to the inlet valve.

 

John

 

[rp2813]

Thanks John -- right you are!  I don't know what I was thinking.  Maybe I was only on my first mug of coffee.