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/...OPLOADER.jpg&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!

 

[user 12105]

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.

 

[user 12105]

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

 

[user 12105]

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

 

[user 12105]

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.

 

[user 12105]

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!!!

 

[user 12105]

Austin or retromom,is the inner door in this WP plastic or porcelain steel? I think i read on one of the threads that WP had switched to plastic lined doors right around the mid-seventies.
The door in my machine looks almost exactly like this one;that's why i asked.

I hope you guys get many years with that beauty.Nice catch

Pat

 

[peteski50]

1975 Whirlpool Imperial !!

Congrats on this Whirlpool machine. I always felt that the design should have been somewhat different with the upper spray arm design. I never understood why they didn't make a direct feed for the upper rack. I did have a 92 portable whirlpool with the power module and I loved it. Cleaned very well and was easy to load. I liked having the silverware basket on the door. Now I have a GE tall tub and that works very well also. Best of luck.
Peter

 

[retromom]

She is

Thank you all for the kind words. She truly is an "Imperial" find.

Pat: Everything on the interior (including the door) is white porcelain. The only plastic that I see are the racks, dispensers, and float. Say "Yay" for quality. I hate plastic interiors on anything (

Louis: Looks like your question about the upper spray arm was answered. We are thinking about getting a piece of plexiglass for the front so that we can watch (and film) her in action. BTW how would you fasten/seal it (temporarily, of course) so that the entire house wouldn't get sprayed? LOL

Jaune: According to the "Operating Instruction Card", the raised filter is a "pump guard". It states that "the pump guard section of the filter collects items that might clog or damage the pump, and is removable for cleaning."

The back row of prongs on the lower rack also drop down for larger items like pots and pans.

DavidM:

According to the "Consumer Buy Guide" that was attached to the dw, this model uses from 4.6 gallons (rinse-hold mode) to 13.9 gallons (super scour mode), and wash times range from 10 to 60 minutes. This is actually quicker than the Bosch, and holds a heck of a lot more dishes. H-m-m-m-m-m-m do I feel a replacement taking place? ;-)

Now that I am "beyond obsession" for these vintage dishwashers, I am going to "scour" the area for more portables; hopefully a toploader. Then maybe I'll change my name to "Retrotoploader". LOL

 

[frontaloadotmy]

P # 56980

Pat,
In about 1966 or 7 neighbors bought a newer larger house
near the old hood. My recollection is that it was a classic
1950's "Ranch Style" It featured Turquoise Whirlpool "Built
Ins". I can't recall if the timer was positioned lower or upper, like Venus' new portable; the knob was pretty much the same though. It had a "Bow Tie" impeller.

 

[user 12105]

thanks frontaloadotmy

I would love to find a WP dw from the late 50's or early sixties that used this bow-tie impeller.Older WP dishwashers from the sixties seem to be very rare.

 

[gansky1]

This is very nice - another grandma dishwasher for sure. It's amazing that the "Sidewinder" WP dishwash (spraytower BOL) I played with here for a while had nearly the very same racks as this one from the 70's and looking at brochures, the racking was much the same from as far back as the late 60's. I guess WP found a design that was a good balance between performance and production-cost effective and stuck with it for many years.

 

[user 12105]

I always liked the contrast between the light blue racks and the white tub. (i think i need to get out more)

 

[appnut]

Venus, the times given for the cycles, particularly for the superwash and superscour, are probably just estimates. I know SuperScour would have at least two, if not 3 water heat delays. The SuperWash at least the main wash and possibly the final rinse.

 

[user 12105]

Appnut...question,there is no designation for normal or regular wash,would super wash on this machine correspond to what would other wise be the normal cycle?

 

[appnut]

agiflow, you're correct in that assumption.

sequence is pre-wash, rinse, rinse, wash, rinse, rinse, dry.

In these olden days, note cycles D & E started on the 2nd rinse. That's how we used to get short/light washes.

Rinse & hold did the prewash and first rinse and stopped. YOu could either turn the timer around to the beginning to start the full load or simply push A or B cycle to resume.

That * on the last rinse could be for rinse & dry.

Venus, except for the water useage, I'm pea green with envy.

 

[appnut]

The

Hey, does anyone remember some WP models of the 60s or 70s was such that the rows for the top rack were horizonal rather than front to back?

Also, looking at that desppized water funnel in the bottom, as I call it, it just hit me that that type of thing is used in today's DuraWash WP dishwashers.