Spy photo

[combo52]

Late 60s D& M dishwasher

This would be the second generation do you have dishwasher with the four charm and rotor rack. The first generations of these came out about 1964 like Roberts.

These certainly were better built than the later D&M designs D&M steadily got worse and quality no doubt about that. This was the first machine where they made the tub a little bigger than Roberts it's an early tall tub designs so to speak. These did still use a cast-iron porcelain enamel covered drain pump housing.

D&M dishwashers were probably the best cleaning dishwashers of machines that did not have a filter during this time period.

They were below average and durability during this time. Westinghouse hot point and even whirlpool dishwashers were not all that great and durability either.The problem with D&M was that they continued to get worse while other brands like whirlpool GE and hot point got much better throughout the 70s and 80s.

But it certainly a great find and save Nate and a great example of one of these dishwashers you'll have fun using it if you need any parts call we are boxes of them that I've been throwing out actually have a good holiday everyone.

 

[roto204]

Bob--yes, you have great eyes!  I was hoping you'd spot the teaser rack.  ;-)

 

Greg--Oh, you know me.  I'm itching to put it through its paces.  We've been a little spoiled with a Maytag JetClean (non-reverse rack, ultra-generic model), so this might be a little bit of a culture shock to use. 

 

Ralph--LOL  No, no Monkey business.  ;-)  It's quiet-ish; about average, and has that classic cavitation/gronking noise when draining that all D&Ms seem to possess.  I'll let you know how quiet it is when it's full of dishes.  I'm going to have to go to remediation classes for how to load the Roto-Rack--it's been several years.

 

Eddie--hear, hear!  That's a good point, and I never thought of that, but the drama at the tips of the wash arm would likely be far more intense.

 

Delaney--that's great to know!  And yes, it's nice--after having a couple of misbehavers--to have something waltz in that only needs a pinch and a poke to get it going again. 

 

Jon--I can't wait to dive in and run some test loads.  The coffee mugs will be blissfully free of water--finally, a dishwasher that gives your wares a final spin! 

 

John--thanks for the great info!  That's good to know, and makes sense--you're right, there was no climb in quality for D&M whatsoever.   Such a shame, since they definitely cornered the market on pretty machines.  I'd definitely be interested in parts--I'll message you on here shortly.

 

We took the vacuum to it because it was full of debris--not dishwasher-related debris; instead, stuff like threads, hair, bits of cardboard, and whatnot.  I think it was used as a chip-storage device/breadbox for years.  It certainly had not been doing any dishwashing.

 

No broken glass, though, thank goodness.  Nice that we dodged that bullet.

 

Here's a question for y'all--what's up with the plastic shield over the sump?  I noticed these earlier machines had them, and always wondered why.  Were they trying to deflect items away from the pump intake?  Trying to prevent you from seeing that ring of rust forming?    Or maybe hiding the residual water-pool?

 

I went ahead and put this one back on after cleaning, since it, well, adds to the authenticity, I suppose. 

[this post was last edited: 12/20/2015-12:18]

 

[jamiel]

That was the first d/w my parents bought---they'd been gifted a James (cool that it had my name on it) from my great grandmother who used it for 10 years or so. They used it in the rental house, but when we bought the house across the street they bought this dishwasher from Sears Crestwood Plaza in about 1968 or so. My dad converted it into a permanent installation soon afterward (I remember stretching the hoses across to the sink and plugging it into the stove next to it before that--I think I recall staining a piece of plywood for the top) and it was there in the house when we moved in 1978. I remember replacing the upper impeller/macerator once with my dad, and I could take it apart myself when it (inevitably) seemed to get a milk cap lodged in there. The cycle pushbutton also split, so had to order the buttons from Sears Parts. I don't recall the pilot lights on ours, though...but they could have been there. The new house had a 30" Youngstown, which wasn't even as good as this and lasted all of 30 days before my mom had had it.

 

[moparwash]

Roto-Rack memories...

The first dishwasher I remember growing up in the early 70's...ours was a notch or two down from this model...though it was noisy the Roto-rack was fun to spin around!

 

[combo52]

Black Plastic Shield Around The Pump Diffuser

Was used for a number of years to shield your eyes from the water that normally sat there and to try to hide the rust stains till the machine was out of warranty or at least paid for LOL.

 

Bad thing about this silly plastic shield was you didn't see all the foreign objects lying in the sump and often they would work themselves into the grinder blade and do all kinds of damage the the pump etc, so it was great for service calls. Every servicer I knew would just throw the stupid thing away when repairing these DWs, if your DW still has one you can probably assume it was never worked on or used much.

 

John L.

 

[oldskool]

Congratulations on your great find!

So happy for your recent find. It reminds me of the one I found some time ago, possibly of a similar year. Older DM units seemed to clean much better than those of later years. Hope you'll have many great loads with your new find.

Picture below is of mine, that also is a portable unit, and yes, my coupler is also not functional at this time, another one of of those someday projects....

Congratulations,
John

 

[washerlover]

Nate, that's one purrty machine! Excellent shape and love that it's a BOL, yet it still has class! Great find.

 

[delaneymeegan]

"Was used for a number of years to shield your eyes from the water that normally sat there and to try to hide the rust stains till the machine was out of warranty or at least paid for LOL."     ROFL

 

I found they were usually so brittle they easily broke in pieces, and one could throw out the pieces.  I think they stopped using those mid 70s.  In the early 80s, when I was picking up dishwashers, KMs were my fav. and that shield was the first thing to go.  It wasn't rare to find chicken bones, broken glass pieces, a clothes pin, money, pieces of plastic, or even a paper clip down.

 

[roto204]

D&M joy

Jamie -- I love that story. Those Youngstown Kitchens 30" units are fascinating, but I gather there's a reason why they didn't prevail design-wise--well, aside from standard-sized dishwasher enclosures. Yes, if you haven't had a D&M apart to fish objects out of the pump, or to replace the impellers and seal, you just haven't bonded with it yet.

Jerry--they are fun! I just did a mega-load in it last night, and was surprised that I was able to get a couple of my largest mixing bowls in the top rack. I'm impressed so far. It is only really noisy when the bottom panel resonates against the hooks that hold the top portion of it, so I may stick some weatherstripping in there to try and quiet that.

John L. -- Ha! I wondered. I couldn't figure out any other rational reason for that. I also wonder why they even bothered to put those random holes through it, when I would assume the water would just run off the top. Maybe to make it look more official?

John -- Yours is BEAUTIFUL! I love the translucent buttons, how pretty! It's a handsome control panel. I saved the unicouple from the last D&M I had, which is identical in length, and also has the improved, shrouded drain port that doesn't allow the water to shoot out in a solid stream, blasting the sink surface and bathing the entire countertop and the wall with overspray. If you use the old unicouple, stick a coffee mug underneath, for sure.

David and I talked about it, and the chance for the coupler falling apart is just too great to bother with keeping the old one on there. That, and the hoses are pretty stiff.

Todd--thank you! It is a cutie, isn't it?

Delaney--Oh, yeah. Usually when I find D&Ms, I take the wash arms out and shake them, to see how many glass chunks and other bits of detritus I can recover. It's incredible what gets shot through the pump and right into the wash-arms. If it was particularly abused, sometimes I'll find shorn-off vanes from the drain impeller in there, too. Then I know it's time for an impeller/seal kit.

 

[moparwash]

Its the one

Nate...yours is the one we had way back when...it was the one just above BOL as I remember from reading the owners manual!

 

[rp2813]

Hey -- Wait a second!

What's become of the Kenmore dryer?  Looks to me like a Frigidaire has taken up residence in its former spot.

 

[kenmoreguy64]

AWOL Kenmore dryer...

Ralph, that was my question too. Then again, we know Nate, yes? I just assumed it got uprooted for the next machine to bat it's pretty eyes...

Gordon

 

[lordkenmore]

We had a Sears DW like the one in reply #25 when I was growing up. No idea how well it worked...I can only remember it being used ONCE. I have no idea all the whys and wherefores. It was left behind in our house by the previous occupant. I know my mother had a belief that dishwashers broke dishes, and I have a feeling that one might have broken something when she tried it out. Plus she might have felt it wasn't worth running after each meal for a small family, or worth the hassle rolling back and forth. Whatever. It wasn't used except for that one time, which was to wash a huge pile of "better than daily but not fine china" dishes before relatives came for a visit. But during the visit, it was back to hand washing.

The manual for that dishwasher was lying around, and it seems to me there were 4 profiled. That one was one step down from the Lady Kenmore. I can't remember if the next step down was the one featured in this thread, or if it even was one with a Roto Rack. The BOL certainly had a conventional rack.

 

[roto204]

the next machine to bat its pretty eyes

Oh, like you guys have never done that. Pffft.

 

[roto204]

Dryer

It's a BOL 1-18 dryer, because Scott said I needed one to go with the washer.

Ironically, shortly after acquiring it, the 1-18 washer's timer croaked anyway, and I haven't gotten around to replacing the faulty gear, so the dryer is just dealing with pretty average-sized loads from the '64 Maytag and the '63 Westinghouse at the moment.

The Kenmore proved untenable for the 1-18's larger loads--items were forever wrinkled and/or under-dried. David grew tired of it, and we have a standing agreement that the daily driver of any position (washer, dryer, dishwasher) has to perform well; no trying to use a Tappan Dual-Drench as the household dishwasher, as it were.

Under-dryness is a problem with all of our dryers; since our laundry gear is outside, if it's a cold day, you'd be better off line-drying. Frosty intake air makes for so-so warm air in the dryer when heated. Where's that Filtrator when I need it?

 

[rp2813]

Nate

That's OK, and certainly understandable.

 

I know you had quieted the Kenmore down, but I can still be reminded of it any time I visit my friend Fred.  When I hear his KA dryer make that same hopped-up barking seal sound I'm transported to your back porch.