Old Hotpoint Dishwasher - Can It Be Removed?

[sdelpaine]

We have a very old Hotpoint dishwasher (ca. 1950's, I think) in our house. It no longer runs and we would like to remove it, but it appears to be immovable. We had a plumber come to get the task underway and he basically ran screaming from our house. He said we needed to call the utility company because it was too dangerous to work with a gas line (I thought plumbers did work with gas lines??). Also, was unaware it even had a gas line.

Any tips on what we should do here? Where do I go??

 

[ultralux88]

Well, if someone installed the damn thing it can most certainly be removed! I’m not familiar with this machine, but I can say I think you got a useless plumber, might be good to call around and see about finding someone more knowledgeable with plumbing.

 

[DADoES]

 
There was a dishwasher (Preway brand) that had a gas burner for water heating but I haven't heard that vintage Hotpoints involve a gas supply.  The plumber-dude may be mistaking a copper water supply line for gas.

 

[lowefficiency]

There easily could be an active or abandoned gas line behind the dishwasher that is in the way of the removal. Old kitchens are full of surprises like that. It may have no connection at all to the dishwasher.

Some plumbers are trained for working with gas lines, others are not... But one thing is for sure- the LAST thing you want to do is convince a person who isn't comfortable with the task to take it on! If they bail, no harm no foul, just find another person who is comfortable with the job.

 

[bigalsf]

No Gas Connection

Hi,  this dishwasher does not have a gas connection, but it may have a gravity drain instead of a pump drain.  Many early dishwashers were installed with a gravity drain (similar to you bathroom sink drain set-up) which includes a trap.   This will have to be disconnected to remove the dishwasher.    If this model has a pump drain than it will be easier to remove; there will be a drain hose connected to your sink trap, or a floor drain. 

 

Contact another plumber (one who has been established in your community for some time) and they will be able to remove it.  Make sure the electricity to the unit is turned off (either through a circuit breaker, or removal of the fuse).  

 

The unit is somewhat heavy, so exercise caution.   Good luck.  

 

[launderess]

Inside door or somewhere near

There will be a rating/information plate. Give us the model number and other information found therein and someone likely can give a better idea on how machine was installed.

Unless cabinet was built around the thing, it likely was slid into place. However who knows what previous owners did after the DW was installed.

Like others highly doubt that DW heated with gas, but there *might* be a gas line near or around which of course would require caution.

As for your "plumber", many tradesmen and others either don't know about vintage appliances,and or don't want to bother. Their first response is to toss off vague (and often incorrect) information to get out of dealing with the job.

 

[gansky1]

There is a service manual that covers installation of these units, 2 actually, in the ephemera library.  That should help whomever you find to help with the removal.

https://www.automatice.org/cgi-bin/index.cgi?showdoc~1071~Hotpoint~

 

[tomturbomatic]

If this model is the gravity drain there will be a solenoid that lifts a fork that holds a corrugated drain hose. The hose is lifted to hold water and is lowered to drain water. Many older dishwashers were installed with not only permanent connections to water supply lines, but also with permanent connections, with a trap, into a drain line, not the modern air gap installation.  A younger plumber might not have ever seen this.

 

[chachp]

Pictures

 

<span style="font-family: 'courier new', courier;">Sarah, any chance he left the front of the machine in a state where you could easily remove it and snap some pictures underneath the machine?  That would help all these folks better assess what you're dealing with.  If you can somehow snap a picture of the entire underneath that would help.  There is more than one way this machine could have been installed and a picture is sure worth a thousand words.</span>

 

[vacbear58]

Aside from all the comments above the obvious thing to me would be to pull out your range so you can get access to the side of it. As others have said above there maybe be permament water & waste connections which may need to be cut to get it out.

Whoever removes it will need to be careful of your floor covering as it probably does not extend under the dishwasher.

Good luck with your project.