steved
Well-known member
I have never heard the complete story about these Westinghouse dishwashers and their nasty habit of burning up. Can anyone shed some light?
POD 4/22/22
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Steve,
Funny that you should post this; I almost started a thread on today's P.O.D. then figured nah. But since you started this one....
My comment has nothing to do with the Westinghouse product and its problems, my comment is about the model. No one smiles like that when doing the tasks she's doing. That girl is either on serious drugs or somebody laced her corset waaay too tight!
lawrence
Funny that you should post this; I almost started a thread on today's P.O.D. then figured nah. But since you started this one....
My comment has nothing to do with the Westinghouse product and its problems, my comment is about the model. No one smiles like that when doing the tasks she's doing. That girl is either on serious drugs or somebody laced her corset waaay too tight!
lawrence
rinso
Well-known member
We had the built-in, roll-out-drawer version of this dishwasher. It was a typical impeller machine with no food particle filter. I could never figure out how a dishwasher with the cheesy Wash-rinse-rinse program, could clean dishes so flawlessly. Sparkling glassware with no etching, and no redeposited pieces of food chunks.
EuGene, the dishwasher you describe sounds like the exact one neighbors across the street had. The house was built somewhere between late fall 1960 to spring 1961. There was a little horizontal red toggle switch on the front of the panel that turned on/off the booster heater. The booster was on for every load. Everything was thoroughly rinsed before being put in the dishwasher. I remember sitting in front of the dishwasher while it was running and it had such a soothing consistent sound. Sometimes I'd put my ear on the front to hear it better. It was replaced with a KDS16 sometime between 1967 and 1969 and that was the only other dishwasher that was in that house through the time the house was sole in 2013 or 2014.
Steve, I think the problem was with iffy electrical components and the flammability of that high-style console, but I'm not 100% knowledgeable about the history.
As I've no doubt repeated ad naseum here, my folks' first dishwasher was a later iteration of these Westinghouse impeller-wash models, the Viking-badged version. I recall that Hot Water Booster sure did it's job - the machine cleaned remarkably well.
As I've no doubt repeated ad naseum here, my folks' first dishwasher was a later iteration of these Westinghouse impeller-wash models, the Viking-badged version. I recall that Hot Water Booster sure did it's job - the machine cleaned remarkably well.
What was that "high style" console made of? I would have expected it to be all metal and glass at that point in time.
The console/backsplash was styrene plastic.
Styrene, huh? Westinghouse must have really cheapened their products in the short time between my '53 range and this DW. The only plastic of any type on the range is the knobs, light switch buttons, and receptacle face. Everything else metal or glass.
Westinghouse major appliance quality
A lot changed at Westinghouse through the 50s, by the early 60s they were pretty much a junk brand.
A lot of other companies cheap in product as well and plastic came into why used during that time period.
The styrene plastic control panel is why these were a fire risk when something went wrong electrically the panel just went up in flames.
My best friend in high school had their house set ablaze by this dishwasher.
A lot changed at Westinghouse through the 50s, by the early 60s they were pretty much a junk brand.
A lot of other companies cheap in product as well and plastic came into why used during that time period.
The styrene plastic control panel is why these were a fire risk when something went wrong electrically the panel just went up in flames.
My best friend in high school had their house set ablaze by this dishwasher.
Thanks for your input, John. It's a shame that a company that had made such a high quality product earlier, lowered their standards so much.
rinso
Well-known member
Bob, our Westinghouse roll-out dishwasher had a wood panel front that matched our kitchen cabinets. I remember the red switch on ours would invoke a heat-boosting wash and rinse delay. There were markings around the timer knob that indicated "Power Soak" during the wash cycle delay and "Power Rinse" during the rinse cycle delay. We followed the manufacturers instructions and used a rubber spatula to scrape the food particles off before loading and we didn't pre-rinse dishes. It did an amazing job on glassware.
neptunebob
Well-known member
Was this a D&M unit?
Also, the top was probably made of Westinghouse Micarta, their version of Formica.
Also, the top was probably made of Westinghouse Micarta, their version of Formica.
steved
Well-known member
Thanks
I guess I never knew the lower plastic housing was so flammable. Maybe that's why this was in the basement of an estate sale I went to...... (disclosure, I redid the "Imperial Roll-about" label). Guess I'll keep this on display away from my flame-throwers!
I guess I never knew the lower plastic housing was so flammable. Maybe that's why this was in the basement of an estate sale I went to...... (disclosure, I redid the "Imperial Roll-about" label). Guess I'll keep this on display away from my flame-throwers!
EuGene, the neighbor's kitchen was the sea foam green Westinghouse color. On this particular dishwasher, I remember the little red light that indicated the heating delay was brighter during the Power Soak than the Power Rinse. In fact during the Power Rinse, that little light just kind of had a subtle, reserved flicker. We went out to see our friends (who had been our neighbors behind us) August 1961. I was mesmerized by the fact the Nutone vent hood, kitchen sink, cook top, and 30" oven were all the same color. We went out so they could demonstrate their garage door opener. You can imagine my excitement when I spied the color-matching TOL Laundromat pair that had been placed in the garage waiting for the builder to collect them. My dad immediately admonished me to not go near them. The Laundromats had been part of the home display during the Parade Of Homes. The cooktop with the Corox elements stayed in service until the late 1990s to early 2000s. So our former behind us neighbors became our across the street neighbors--that was one of the reasons we went out to visit, to see the house across the street still for sale. Their old house had a big late 1940s/early 1950s Chambers gas range. The wife explained to me numerous times over the years that if she had to go with an electric cooktop, that Westinghouse was the only one she approved of.
The house two doors down from them had the same Westinghouse equipped kitchen, except in yellow. I guess that house was built by the same builder. There were no other Westinghouse equipped kitchens on the entire street. Mostly GE, Whirlpool, O'Keefe & Merrit, and Frigidaire.
The house two doors down from them had the same Westinghouse equipped kitchen, except in yellow. I guess that house was built by the same builder. There were no other Westinghouse equipped kitchens on the entire street. Mostly GE, Whirlpool, O'Keefe & Merrit, and Frigidaire.
