Vintage Dishwasher Question

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retromania

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Joined
Feb 17, 2011
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1,140
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Anderson, South Carolina
When I was a kid I had a friend that would come down from Connecticut to stay severla weeks with his elderly grandparents that lived in front of us in a huge old Victorian home. Mark and I would play all day long. Mark's grndma bought him a Honda P-50 and we rode that thing all over everywhere. I bet some of you remember those. Mark's grandpa was bed-ridden with MS. Marks grnadma had to steialize everything that the old guy used because his immune system was compromised. AND I'M GETTING TO THE POINT I PROMISE: In the kitchen was this really really old vintage diswasher that was a part of the sink. It was so cool. It sort of resembled some of those really old vintage dishwashers some of you have in your collections in that is was very simple looking and you lifted a lid to access the wash chamber. Me with my eye for detail, I can't believe I didn't make a mental note of the brand name, but you know what, I don't think there was a brand name visible. It was all one unit and the sink had cabinets under it. Everything was steel and white enamel. I remember asking why she didn't use it. I was dying to watch and hear it run! She said it worked, but there was a little part that kept breaking or somehing and she hadn't had time to call the plumber to come out because she stayed so busy caring for her husband.

Ok. After that mini novel, can anyone give me any info sink/dishwasher combo?
 
I think I have one of those.

Just had one installed in my kitchen remodel. Although I have found a few different brands, mine is a Kohler Electric Sink, circa 1926. It's missing the dishwasher and I would be very happy if someone out there knew where I could get the parts to reinstall the dishwasher.

I've attached a link to some additional information and am going to try to upload a photo of mine. The remodel was not (and still is not) finished when this photo was taken so you will see some green masking tape left by the painter.

http://kohlertalk.wordpress.com/201...ic-sink-the-dishwasher-from-1926/#comment-270
cathleengoode++3-5-2011-07-23-0.jpg
 
I have certainly been out of the loop for a while.



My thanks to Mark (acronman) because I just have not been paying as much attention to the forums like I should. Thanks for adding the links containing my dishwasher/sink combos.

Andy (retromania): If I understand correctly, what your friends Grandmother had was a GE Electric Sink (I have 6 GE Sink combos). Below is the video compilation that I put together of one of my GE machines so that you can see the action going on inside.

Cathleen: Oh, My God! What a find you have in your new kitchen remodel, even if the dishwasher itself is missing. Who even knew that one of these 1926 Kohler sinks even still existed. Thanks for sharing your story. Most likely, you will not find any parts to restore the dishwasher. Good Luck. Keep us updated.

Mike
 
Mark's grandmother's kitchen.....

didn't have any built-in cabinets. She had a walk-in pantry that was a good-sized room where most all the dishes, etc were stored so I guess that's why the kitchen area was bare looking. The year was 1971 and the same summer I discovered the dishwasher/sink combo. Thinking back about all of that, there were other vintage items in the kitchen. A refrigerator with freezer on the bottom and the foot pedal for that. A GE Americana range with double ovens - remember those? She had a good bit of Pyrex Flameware. I remember she did boil in a bag corn and stuff a lot. That wasa new concept for me. My mother being old south would never have bought anything that you boiled in a bag!!!?! But like I said the old woman was so busy trying to take care of husband, her time was probably at a premium and it was nice of her to prepare use such a nice lunch. She could have made us a p & J sandwich and told us to get lost!!! ALSO, on their back porch was a HUGE HUGE deep freezer freezer. It was the size of a coffin and it freaked me out! Mark's grandfather had been a doctor before he got MS and had to retire on SSA and I just knew there were bodies in that freezer. It had rust growing on it and when I touched the handle it shocked me. Not bad, but it had a little short in it or wasn't grounded or whatever.

Mark, see if you can find the video link for the sink/dishwasher combo.

Thanks,
Andy
 
Andy, Sorry, in my excitement to reply to your post, I forgot to go get the code and paste it into the reply. You can see my other dishwasher videos at www.Youtube.com/dishwashercrazy

And Yes, the old portion of my Avitar photo was taken in about 1967 to 1968 at about age 14-15 I think. We do not know exactly. I was loading our relatives dishwasher, just exactly like the ones I have in my collection today.


<iframe title=YouTube video player width=480 height=390 src= frameborder=0 allowfullscreen></iframe>

View attachment dishwashercrazy++3-6-2011-08-46-28.jpg
 
What is that little chrome thing mounted to the top of the washer that looks like some sort of flue? I saw water going through it. Is that the water supply for the washer. If so, wonder why the water is visible?

Please explain.

Thanks.
 
So this model came out in the late 40's. So it would have been 20+ years old by the time I was a kid over at their house in 1971. Assuming the washer was used on a regular basis it was probably just worn out, except the design seemed to be fairly simple. No water pump. No drying element. When she said there was a part that kept breaking on it what would you guess it was?

Thank you for sharing that video. Most interesting!

Andy
 
Andy,

Thank you. I am happy that you enjoyed the video. The Chrome spout mounted on the sink top, is the Air Gap for the Water Inlet. A prominent Air Gap was common on the post-WWII GE Dishwashers. Air Gaps of some kind were, I believe, always and still are, used on all dishwashers - with most of them out of sight. The Air gaps on the GE machines were moved inside the machine cabinet by 1950 on some models and by 1951 on other models.

GE introduced the Calrod Heating element on their 1950 model year dishwashers. Therefore, there is no Calrod on my 1948, and 1949 GE Electric Sink/Dishwashers. But the 1950, 1951, and later GE Dishwashers that I have, all have the Calrod for drying. At the end of the Wash/Rinse portion of the cycle, the motor continues to run, spinning the impeller for the duration of the drying period to aid in the drying process. This is also true for the Hotpoint, American Kitchens, and likely other manufactures which used the impeller technology on their dishwasher. However, by the time that the Bow-Tie style impeller was introduced on the GE dishwashers (mid-1950's), the motor/impeller does not turn during the drying portion of the cycle. [Somebody correct me if I am wrong here.]

Gravity Drain vs Pump Drain. I believe that GE introduced a pump option in 1950 or 1951. The 1951 GE Product Man Book (Compilation of monthly GE service magazines) even shows a Pump Retrofit Kit that could be installed on the various models of Dishwashers to convert from Gravity Drain. The drain hose either was taken to a stand pipe, or hooked with a gooseneck over the side of the sink, or to an outlet spigot that mounted in the extra hole drilled in the sink top (Electric Sink models) where the sprayer would have been mounted.

Huh, a part that kept breaking, you say? Well, I wonder if small items or silverwear kept slipping through the bottom rack, and was damaging the impeller? GE had a full wire mesh attached to the bottom rack just for the purpose of catching stray items from falling down anywhere near the impeller. I have had small plastic lids slip down there and the impeller rips them to shreds. Fortunately the plastic gives before the Bakelite. Unfortunately, the Bakelite fins on the impeller will break if something hard like a spoon hits it. Replacement impellers would cost in the range of $10 to $20 each. I cannot think of any other component that would break easily and repeatedly.

I hope some of this help. Got more questions? I have tried to figure most of this all out on my own.

Mike
 
That was a big help! Very simple technology. I wish my dishwasher had just one wash and two rinses period. I am so in the habit of rinsing the dishes before I load them in the washer that a good scalding a tad o soap is all they need!

Good pictures of you also!

Andy
 
I wish my dishwasher had just one wash and two rinses period

Andy, depending upon what dishwasher you have, that oculd be pretty easily attainable. 
 
Most of the early dishwashers only had one wash and two rinses. Even the earliest KitchenAid Dishwasher models KD-10 and KD-11 had only a wash and 2 rinses.

The 1949 Round GE Portable Dishwasher Instructions suggested the same. First, here are photos of that machine. And the next Reply has the step by step instuctions for operating this totally manually operated dishwasher.

Mike

The hose hooks up to the sink faucet. The drain hose is connected to the fill hose with a strap and hangs inside the sink. The On/Off Switch is on top of the hinge assembly (10 o'clock position in photo showing the top). The lid has a reservoir which measures out and holds the proper amount of water used for the wash or rinse. The detergent cup slips out of it's position in the lid. The slide toggle switch in the handle portion of the lid (4 o'clock position in photo showing the top) is moved from the Wash/Rinse position to the Fill/Drain position. There is no lid lock, so be sure the kiddies don't raise the lid to see the wash action, else they will get a face full of hot scalding water.

dishwashercrazy++3-6-2011-17-33-20.jpg
 
Is that neat or what?! In the washer I see some Fire King Lustreware and it looks like some vintage Pyrex and some color banded drink glasses reminiscent of the 50's and early 60's!!!
 
Andy, my basic suggestion is to use your Low Energy or light/china cycles.  they both have a wash, a purge, and a rinse.  The light/china may possibly be a bit shorter.  the only "gotcha" is the possible automatic temp control pausing the advance of time during the main wash to heat the water to 120 degrees and the final rinse.  Make sure you run the hot water to the sink until it's hot and hten start the machine. the light-china SHOULD have a slightly lower set point for the final rinse than the low-energy cycle. Make sure you use absolutely minimal detergent or else you're gonna eat the seals and eat at the dish racks and then you'll incurr the wrath of combo52 & myself for abusing your dishwasher with no food soil and too much detergent. 
 
Yes & Yes! I always run the hot tap at the sink before cranking up the washer because I don't believe this particular model has a temp boost feature. My old Maytag did and I wish I had it back! I use a minimum of detergent anyway because I rinse my dishes before I load them in. I never fill both detergent cups. Also they're not that dirty.

Thanks for the advice about the china cycle.
 

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