Vintage Electrolux Dishmaid 1960

[ricky5050]

Hi there,

A short while ago i bought a Vintage Electrolux Dishmaid from Ebay. This was their first dishwasher and is semi automatic. It was from the south of England where they were initially launched. This area has very hard water and this machine was full of limescale, so much so it smelt like a cement mixer! I started to dimantle it before i took "before" photos so this one is the after one, but i do have befores of the dismantled but not cleaned bits. This machine is an aluminum circular cabinet with a sliding door.
A motor is suspended in the top of the cabinet and by the means of a drive shaft a small pump turns in the sump of the cabinet. The drive shaft also turns a mechanical device to firstly turn a turntable on which a dual layer rack system turns, and because the pump is tiny a hit and miss valve turns as well directing water through one of the 5 tubes that go along the bottom and side of cabinet.The dishes ride around through a wall of water rather than the water washing around the dishes.

A manual fill system from the hot tap (no heater) and manual drain system allows the correct amount of water to enter. A simple on/off switch controls the motor.

Heres the what it looks like

Richard

 

[ricky5050]

Before

The rust dusty dirty cupboard before!

 

[ricky5050]

before

dirty sump!

 

[ricky5050]

before

The mechanical pump that is submursed in the water and sucks up water pumping it though the 5 pipe organ type.

 

[ricky5050]

before

The dirty pump case

 

[ricky5050]

before

The filter screen ! yum imagine your dishes washing in water through that! remember the discussion on whether dishwasher cleaners were needed , well yes in this case!

 

[ricky5050]

after

impellor cleaned

 

[ricky5050]

the spray system

a lot cleaner

PS how embarrassing ! a dressing gown and womens health vitamins!

 

[ricky5050]

after

The rack going through my modern Beko dishwasher to clean it

 

[ricky5050]

after

the rack going through my modern Beko dishwasher to clean it

 

[ricky5050]

after

how it will look with dishes in.

 

[ricky5050]

and again

it hold about 5 place settings

 

[ricky5050]

Now then i need your help!

Well after switching on the machine it all ran well for a moment or two the a huge bang with the sound of electricity and it stopped. I think it is the capacitor that has blown.

Does any one know where to get one , here are the numbers on it i know nothing of these!

Elux
104813
Hunts Capacitor
Terminol Capacitor
2.1uF +/- 10%
380v AC WKG
list no 2G747S
Type I 551/1 WSW

its has 838 on its bottom too.

I have also replaced the drain valve and hose and bung elbows with bathroom fittings, it just need some rubber edging for the doors as this had coroded.

I have the instuction manual and some videos of the spray system working with a cordless drill which i will up load later

Thanks for looking

Richard

 

[gyrafoam]

I hope you are able to get that machine up and running again. Looks very kool.

 

[ricky5050]

1st video

Hi i tried the spray system in the bath with a cordless drill its not as powerfull i think as the motor , you can see the cog rotating which would turn the rack and towards the end you can see water coming out of the pipe set apart from the 4 longer ones

Richard

 

[electron1100]

Motor Capacitor

Hello Ricki

this will do the job for you:

Lovely machine I hope it gets sorted.
I see we both use the same electric kettle

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/CAPACITOR-MOT...al_Components_Supplies_ET&hash=item255b662428

 

[fredriksam]

Oh my godness Ricky5050. I remember our neighbour had one of these until 2003. These machines were extremly popoular in Sweden.

Very easy to use and dished well enough.

It only had one weakness. I try to explain in english as good as i can.

In the motor theres some plastic wheels that runs the rack. These wheels had a reputation of breaking down. When so, it made a horrible noise and the rack stopped turning. Just so you know.

Ohterwise. Really great dishwasher. Take well care of it.

 

[ricky5050]

Thanks

Hi electron i'll look in to that loink thanks, ps there is a facebook fan page of the Russell hobbs kettle if your on FB. Thanks too Fredriksam i'll look out for any problems

Richard

 

[74simon]

Hey Ricky,

What a great find! First time I've seen one outside of a Which? report, it looks fabulous! Has a kind of 'Kitchen of Tomorrow' vibe to it! The viewing window is a nice touch, I suppose it let one check the cleanliness of the wash without having to stop the machine.

What happened to your seventies Bendix, was it sent to the great Rumbelows in the sky?

I've heard of Hunt's Capacitors as regards vintage tellies and radios - they are notorious for failing, and I understand restorers of such things tend to replace them all in one go as failure is always inevitable...

By the way, is it my imagination, or does your K2 have an unusual plug on it?

Simon

 

[a440]

What an awesome looking dishwasher!
Great job getting it all cleaned up!
I hope you can find out what the issues are.
Thanks for the pictures and video.
Brent

 

[ricky5050]

Thanks

Hi thanks Gary i contacted the ebayer and he agrees thats a great match and made by AEG too so maybe a bit more reliable than the Hunts one so its bought and paid for.

Simon Hi yes the Bendix lower wash arm mounting fractured and then the door handle broke so it became a krypton factor to open and use it and keep on gluing it.I bought a BEKO as it was cheap but i have to say its very good , amazing quick 30 min wash that cleans very well., but i look forward to getting the dishmaid up and running for quick loads etc. The plug on the kettle came with it i suspect who ever bought it new probably swapped it from their old kettle , perhaps it being a non automatic one and with some vintage sockets not being switched this plug has a built in switch on the top. Its just a guess but it may be true.

Thanks Brent i will try and get more vids and some scans of the brochure.

Richard

Ps second vid showing basket

 

[ricky5050]

last video

here is my last vid in the bath! the racks stick a bit because its not balanced without being in the cabinet, i hope it will work ok when its up and running again.

Richard

 

[ricky5050]

Electrolux news Spring 1961

front cover showing their latest invention.

Not sure i'll do the skirt and pose tho!

 

[ricky5050]

instruction book

pg 1

 

[appliancelou]

great find

hey ricky what a great dishwasher!! wish you the best of luck with it hope everything works out for you with the parts thanks so much for sharing this with all of us here looking forward to more videos on this !

 

[keymatic]

Hey Richard,
Congrats on the "Dishmaid"...fantastic looking, a friend of mine has one, of which he uses it quite a lot. The cleaning power is ok, but not over great, but still funky unit.

Following your recent posting of the "Electrolux News" does this artical have and reference to a twin tub that Electrolux launched in the early 60's called a "Lec-matic" ???

Cheers Keith

 

[ricky5050]

thanks

Hi Appliance Lou and Keith , thanks i hope it will be up and running soon. The electrolux mag has no reference to washing machines i think certainly no pictures , its mainly about the Electrolux plant in Ireland and the test centre where fridges and vacuums are put through edurance tests.

Richard

 

[chestermikeuk]

LuxMaid

Great find there Richard, never seen them over here, only in the consumer mags!!! Do you have a pic of how big the motor is and where the capacitor sits etc??

How are the seals??, have tried using a smearing of transluscent mastic on some old stuff and it seams to work rather them break up any sooner!! i`m sure there must be a firm that makes all beading seals like this, we just need to find them!!

What is the knob on the bottom for?? Cheers, Mike

 

[ricky5050]

Hi Mike

Hi

I was hoping to up load the instruction book but when i scanned it in it was too big. Its a simple description of how it works.

The rubber seals are fine, The one around its waist is more like a bumper and only covers the join in the cabinet but is not needed for water. The opening edges did have rubber seals but these were well beyond saving but they again are not really needed for water tightness. I will order some replacements from the link below i have had things from them before. they only come in black but it will finish off the edges. The only things that needed replacement was the drain elbow and bung. it was designed so the drain pipe could be to the left or right by swapping a bung for the drain elbow. I used toilet blanking discs and elbows to replace these.

I dont have any photos of the motor but its tiny smaller than a vacuum !

The knob on the bottom slides left or right and opens and closes the drain valve.

You basically connect a hose to the hot tap which goes in to the back of the machine directly into the sump.

To use you turn on the hot tap , switch on the motor and leave the drain open, after a minute the hot water has warmed the dishes and pre rinsed any dirt down the drain. keeping the hot water on you close the drain and when it starts to trickle out of the over flow pipe down the drain you know its at the right level. switch off the tap , sprinkle powder in the opening in the door and let it run for 5 or so minutes. To rinse do the same with the drain open for a minute or 2 and squirt in some rinse aid and run it a minute and switch off machine water and open drain.

Here hoping it will go!

Richard

http://www.sealsdirect.co.uk/bbCMS/shopping.asp?intDepartmentId=4

 

[ricky5050]

Bang!

Well i got the new capacitor today and after fitting it i tried the machine, it ran again for about 10 seconds then ke bang! exactly the same as before.
Do capacitors look damaged if the y have blown up , both the old and new look ok but as it only re started with the new one im guessing the old one was faulty , but now thinking that something in the motor is causing them to blow.

Any ideas guys?

I'm wondering if there is a starter circuit in the motor that is perhaps jamming open, i know little about motors but if anyone in the UK know a good place where i can get motors repaired ill look in to it.

ah well

Richard