New find 1963 RCA Whirlpool portable dishwasher

[classiccaprice]

Hey fellas and ladies,

I went to go see Volvoguy87 and Elginkid this weekend. We are having a great time! Look what I picked up at the local restore... an RCA portable dishwasher model SKP-50-0! Looking online or in the archives it's a 1963. She was marked not working in the store, so we of course tried it when we got it back here!  There suddenly was dark blue water all over the place!  We think it was a sealant used on the gasket and a faulty water valve.  We filled the machine manually and seemed to wash great and drain fine.  A few questions.  What would have gone where the delete areas are in the back of the machine?  Do you agree with our assessment of a faulty water valve?  How rare were the RCA Whirlpool portables?  I only found one similar pictured in the archives. How is the best way to fix the rust spots in the bottom?  Thanks for any info!

[this post was last edited: 1/28/2017-22:36]

 

[classiccaprice]

2012 post by cyclemonitor

http://www.automaticwasher.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?38887

 

[turquoisedude]

Yowza!!!

Great save, Will!  There sure aren't a lot of these early Whirlpools left out there!

It may be that just the washer on the fill hose where it connects to the water valve is shot. It's an easy fix but to get at it, you will have to remove the rear cover panel. Be careful, though - you will have to remove the timer dial and don't bend the timer stem as you remove the cover.  In a worst case scenario and it is the valve, have a look on eBay for replacements.  

From what I have seen in the pictures, I fear you may be missing the fold down shelf for the upper rack.  I have a 1961 model that only has 1 wash arm and the half-rack upper rack so I'm totally envious... LOL 

Have fun with it and keep us posted about the water valve! 

 

[classiccaprice]

Thanks Paul! We'll check that washer. I think we have the same model just a couple of years apart.  Mine has 1 wash arm and the half rack too.

[this post was last edited: 1/29/2017-08:54]

 

[classiccaprice]

Looks to be a faulty hose causing the issue.  Sadly it will have to wait for next trip to fix.

 

[tomturbomatic]

I found one similar to this years ago. It was in the Beltsville Museum last I heard. I think the upper rack had pins on one side so that pans or bowls could be hung over the open area.