The moment you've all been waiting for...1975 Whirlpool Imperial 540 Automatic Dishwasher!!!

[westytoploader]

Hey everyone,

As many of you have found out, my mom stopped by the antique shop in Sealy today and picked up a "minty" 1975 Whirlpool portable dishwasher for only $25. We looked at it 2 weeks ago, and I was surprised that it showed little use and came with the original papers. Overall, this is the best vintage find in the "Land of Rust" (term coined by Jason) I've seen. I am also amazed at how well it cleaned up!!! This dishwasher has some interesting design features, such as the pull on/push off timer, 2 speeds (anyone know how this is accomplished), and a removeable upper rack, something you don't see on today's portable DW's. How the upper spray arm is driven is also interesting; a high-pressure jet water shoots out the center of the lower spray arm and through a tube on the lower rack. Sort of a takeoff on a spray tower, but definitely less "bulky", IMHO.

Tonight I'm going to soak the pump for a few minutes, run the "short" cycle with some Cascade & Crystal Clear, and if that is relatively painless, I'll try some non-prewashed dishes too and see how it works! And I'll be sure to post "Before & After" pictures!

See for yourselves! And be sure to tell Mom to QUIT PRE-RINSING!!!! ;-)

--Austin

http://automaticwasher.org/cgi-bin/00ShowCollectionGETD.cgi?photoshow=19@I%20wonder%20what%20this%[email protected]&dir=/COLLECTIONS/WESTYTOPLOADER/

 

[bpetersxx]

Minty freshness

With cascade to boot

 

[washendry]

WHAT A GREAT FIND, WILL YOU BE INSTALLING THIS UNIT IN THE BOSCH SPACE?
LOOKING FORWARD TO MANY GREAT STORIES AT THE CONVENTION
BE HAPPY
KIM

 

[rickr]

1975 Classic Dishwasher

Wow Austin! It is as nice as you told me it was!! It looks like it has NEVER been used. Some people didn't use their dishwashers that much. This one looks like it must have been owned by a "light user".

Congrats on your new find.

Rick
ps can't wait to see the new range also

 

[scott55405]

Aus, this is so cool! Enjoy! And an alphabet cycle machine too! When you have company at your house (such as when Company Chicken might be served) ;-) you will have 2 machines to speed cleanup!

A friend of mine in Arizona has a neat KA portable from the 70s that is in almost-new condition, that he is going to give me when I move to California. It is a portable, not a convertible. It is front-loading, but has the traditional KA latch on the door and the controls at the rear, like a washer.

 

[drmitch]

Wow!

Thats a great find Austin! Absolutly mint! Its great you and your mom have similar intrests,I on the other hand have to sneek stuff in when they aren`t home and listen to them fuss when they see it! Ha Ha!

 

[agiflow]

Austin,that is a really nice machine.The racks in my portable are similar to this WP model.

Austin,does the instruction manual say if this dishwasher has the power clean module?Was curious to know if WP was using that system in the mid-seventies.

Should be a really good cleaner,can't wait to hear the full report.

 

[coldspot66]

the Power Clean Module came out in the 80's, as my W/P had it. Always loved the simplicity of a W/P dishwasher. They have used that style motorin austin's d/w since 1959 or so. And there is the famous "silverware in the door". That dishwasher does look "showroom new". Congrats to you both. I think the "china crystal" cycle just was a shortened version of the regular cycle. Early GE models had a china cycle that let air into the pump via an air tube to aerate the water so it had lower velocity.

 

[agiflow]

Thanks coldspot66.I love my portable WP.It still does a great job after 15 yrs of use.I have model DP8700XT,which was one of the last of the porcelain tub models that was purchased in october of 1990.

Just the sound of the spray when it starts filling tells you this machine don't play around,WHOOOOSH.Yeah i really dig my WP

 

[pulsator-power]

She's gettin' good!
Jerry

 

[agiflow]

Does anyone know if the very first WP dishwashers used impellers or spray arms?

 

[westytoploader]

I'm testing it now (in fact it's washing away as we speak, no dishes yet). How does this machine drain? I don't see a solenoid-operated drain valve like we had on the Hotpoint, so I'm assuming the motor simply reverses. There's no trace of water leakage, although it is dripping a little bit from the bottom on the test run. I did wet the impeller shaft seal for a few minutes with hot water before firing it up.

One thing for sure, it sounds like the BEAST it is! Bigger and louder than the Bosch and previous Hotpoint, and it takes up the whole center of the kitchen! You can really hear the water blasting around the tub, and when I opened the door I got a faceful! It's also a HUGE water hog, which is good in my book ;-)

Here's shot #1; will post more pictures!

--Austin

 

[agiflow]

I notice too that WP was using a ten hole pattern in the lower spray arm just like they still do today.Cool.
I know what you mean Austin about loud water action.
The motor on mine is relatively quiet,but that spray is very prominent.It is quieter when the machine is fully loaded though.Enjoy your "new" classic.

 

[mrcleanjeans]

the wonderful world of whirlpool

this machine does not have the power module as john stated,but rather, a full-time filtering system,sans disposer,which was a semi-course plastic screen at tub bottom to trap recirculating foo-foos.It consumed 13.9 gallons of water on the normal wash,which isn't all that high compared to today's machines, having sensors ,which tend to err on the higher end of water usage,tilting towards more than necessary on scuzzy loads .Thus, today's fuzzy logic machines , on scanky loads ,use between 11-13 gallons.The average water use of a machine then was 15 GALS. on normal cycle. The highest EVER?for norm.cycle?The GE Potscrubber II @18 gals.normal cycle and the early 70s Westinghouses also @ 18 gals norm. cycle.The KA KD-17A was the very top slurper for any cycle @19.2 gal.SOAK cycle,which sprayed. paused to let the moist dishes sit,sprayed again.Thus,the "soak".By the way , what are all those suds in the WP from?Congrats on one of the best machines of the 70s.

 

[kenmore1978]

So does it use the same type faucet adapter as the GE portable washer?

And I noticed the silverware basket has an extra section on top that my '88 WP machine doesn't have.

Your right, the motor on my '88 is relatively quiet, but you really hear the whooshing sound of the spray arms going around.

Yes, the motor simply reverses to drain.

 

[kenmore1978]

differences

I see it has the adjustable upper rack using levers, then they went to a knob system.

They still use a screen like that even on the newer Power Module models, but the holes are MUCH bigger. I wonder what the purpose of the little square section of filter with the raised walls is?

 

[foraloysius]

Congratulations, that's a nice dishwasher and the condition is amazing for an appliance from that age. I have a question, how is the upper spray arm fed?

 

[kenmore1978]

'75 WP upper spray arm feed

There's a hole inthe center of the lower spray arm. A stream of water is shot through this hole, through a little tower mounted in the bottom rack, which directs the water stream into a hole in the bottom of the upper spray arm, which is mounted to the bottom of the upper rack.

 

[agiflow]

Even though i thought the water feed to the top spray was a little crude at first,it certainly proved itself to be an effective design over the years.Cost cutting and clean dishes all at the same time YAY!!!