thought i was done collecting until i saw this!!!!!!

[rollermatic]

i've got a lot of dishwashers and i definately don't need more! but i don't have a whirlpool vintage model, until now!

i've got kitchenaids, g.e, hotpoint, sears kenmore, frigidaire, modern maid, kelvinator, montgomery ward, and a maytag.

found this beautiful machine on facebook marketplace and bought it today and will pick it up on monday. i've been keeping my eye open for a whirlpool portable and this one looks great!

coppertone, my most popular color, and like new! says it was used once! they sent me these pics and it will be well worth a 6 hour drive to tenn. to get it.

with all the crap going on in the world now with covid, threats of war with russia and china, mass shootings every week, i'm gonna live my life to the fullest! if getting another dishwasher makes me happy, i'm doin it! whether i really need it or not.

the price was good (100 bucks) and again been wanting to see what older whirlpools were like, never seen one before. might even luck out and find a pump seal for it on ebay if i'm lucky, should it ever need it. since it's basically new i'm guessing it will run like a charm!

the only other brand i still don't have but want is westinghouse, if anyone knows of anything please let me know!

this whirlpool is circa 1973 they say. and it's got an unusual cutting board top, looks like the front is wood, back is something else? guess i'll find out when i get it. will post pics and thanks for looking!

stay safe and enjoy the avacado and coppertone and harvest gold machines that you all have! and we can't forget turquoise and pink and poppy red can we?!!

 

[pulltostart]

Congratulations, Peter!

Enjoy your new-to-you toy.

 

lawrence

 

[appnut]

Oh yeah Peter, definitely worthy of the acquisition!!!

 

[appnut]

I'm wondering if this is one of the portable models that also has a section of the top that's a warming tray.

 

[peteski50]

whirlpool!

Pete thats a great score Best Of Luck!

 

[repairguy]

Congrats and enjoy your collection in good health. I have somewhere in the vicinity of 300 washers and dryers and although most of them need restoration and are not in use I still like bringing new finds home. I don’t know where to put them anymore but I look at it as stress relief therapy. Ha!

 

[justjunque]

Congratulations, Peter!
That's similar to the first dishwasher my parents owned. Theirs was coppertone too, but probably late '70s/early '80s. It had the removable cutting board top too. Just a slightly different design to the control panel. And the detergent dispenser was a little different, if I remember correctly.
I hope you enjoy it! I like your attitude. With the way the world is going, if it makes you happy to bring home another dishwasher, have at it!

Barry

 

[combo52]

WP SAF500 Portable-Convertible DW

Hi Peter We had the BI version of this DW a SAU500, it was a great DW, it was are families 2nd DW after the disastrous 1966 KM D&M machine, Not only did this WP do a much better job cleaning and drying dishes it was never rep[aired once in over 15 years where the D&M was repaired at least 10 times in 11 years before I junked it.

 

Keep us posted about this DW, I have lots of parts still but you are unlikely to need any, or if you want to know anything about this cool DW get in touch with me.

 

Like WP laundry and refrigeration products from the 70s the design of this DW was genius, even the detergent dispenser was about the best DD ever used on a DW, not only did it work but they never leaked or malfunctioned.

 

John L.

 

[rollermatic]

thanks for the comments everyone

i picked up dishwasher yesterday in butler tenn. and it really looks great! well worth a trip to the cherekee national forest to get it!

combo52, i will contact you shortly via e mail as i have a couple questions on it. one of them is i cannot hook it up with either of my faucet adapters, did whirlpool require a special adapter for their brand?

i will put a different drain and fill hose hook up on it for now so i can use it.

appnut, i also thought it might have a warming tray built into top, seem to recall someone having that on their machines back in the day. but this one doesn't, it's a removable top and covers about half of the top area.

and to everyone again, thanks for the words of congrats, and yes, this is stress relief for me! i'm now at the point where i don't care how many more i get if the price is reasonable and the drive not too far!

will post a ton of pics here in a few days!

 

[combo52]

1974 WP Convertible DW

Yay glad you got this Peter, WP did indeed use a different size faucet adapter, this used to cause problems when people had more than one portable appliance that they wanted to at the same faucet.

 

Only the very TOL DWs had the warming top shelf.

John L.

 

[rollermatic]

PICS of the whirlpool from tennessee

thanks john for the info on the faucet adapter and about the warming tray. i thought someone had a warming tray built into the top back in the day!

here's pics of the dishwasher which i might add runs perfectly, leaks not a drop, and kicks up a lot of water inside.

first off, the funky faucet hookup. neither of the 2 style adapters i posted here work, i did see a longer adapter on e bay, i'm guessing it will fit. for now i put a kitchanaid hose hookup on the machine but eventually would like to get it's original hose set back on it.

 

[rollermatic]

this machine also has

a bottom panel that swings up exposing another metal panel that must be removed with 4 screws to service machine. i see it is designed as an anti tipping device to help stabilize dishwasher. never seen that before!

 

[rollermatic]

underside looks great!

 

[rollermatic]

the inside

is like new, no rust at all, just a little dirt.

the spray arm is a really heavy stainless steel, much heavier than other brands used at the time.

was surprised at how easy pump was to get into, simply remove filter screen and then turn top of pump housing and it unlocks and lifts off exposing wash impeller.

silverware rack on the door also has a small item rack above it that i've never seen before.

 

[rollermatic]

it does say 2 speed

on the control panel but as was mentioned here it does not use a 2 speed motor.
the china crystal cycle simply uses a partial fill on all fills.

the super scour cycle has a water heating pause on the first wash and final rinse.

the full cycle has 3 rinses after the second wash which i rarely find.

 

[rollermatic]

this is one of the most

unique and well built dishwashers i have found in awhile. whirlpool really knew how to build them with quality!

and one of the best parts of going to butler tenn. to get it was going thru the cherekee national forest and seeing beautiful lake watauga.

i even found a sinclair gas station, something i have not seen since i was a kid. we had one down at the corner where mom always got her gas!

all in all, not a bad find for the price!

 

[DADoES]

 
The extra basket on the door is for larger cooking utensils ... ladles, spoons, burger flippers, tongs, etc.

 

[askolover]

My neighbor had this same machine in built-in form when I was little.  I don't think they ever had any issues with it.

 

[combo52]

1974 WP Convertible DW

Wow Thanks Pete for all the pictures, We had that exact DW in the BI version and we never had a single problem with it.

 

WP DWs were simple in design and easy to service, when they brought out their first porcelain tub DWs around 1964 they had quite a few durability problems with them that they not iron out till about 1970.

 

Whirlpool Built W&Ds were the undisputed best buys for a combination of great performance at a great price by this time in history with WP Laundry sales getting close to 50 % of total sales in the US But It would take another decade or so till many people realized  what a great buy WP DWs were, in the 970s they were far more reliable than KA, MT, WK, FD, only GE was close in reliability but did not have nearly as good a performing machine.  [ I will not even mention the names D&M and Westinghouse & Tappan when talking about reliability of DWs, ] LOL

 

WP started to build their own faucet coupler around this time, WP was frustrated that the more common type that most other companies used could not be easily repaired, the one you have is easy to take apart and fix.

 

I probably have the adapter for that coupler if you want me to send you one let me know.

 

John L.