reactor
Well-known member
For those who missed my previous post in Shopper's Square, a 1975 Westinghouse dishwasher was listed for sale. This was the last year Westinghouse produced appliance before selling their appliance division to White Consolidated Industries in December, 1975.
The dishwasher did not sell, so the seller, Lori, kindly gave it to me. She indicated it "smoked" when she turned it on and turned it off immediately to prevent further damage.
The dishwasher shows no rust whatsoever, on neither the tub nor the racks. (By the way, he pictures turned out with a yellowish cast, in the close up of the rack. that is not their actual color, which is white.)
The design was a new one for Westinghouse, sporting a horizontal motor with pump and fan in a combo unit.
The fan provides forced air to dry the dishes, meaning the main pump motor runs for the entire duration of the dry cycle. You can see the flat ventilation tube, in picture number 10, running from the motor unit to the side of the tub. It draws hot. moist air off the top of the tub through a vent on the inside.
In picture 3, you see the air exhaust from the drying fan, with a funky looking foam rubber boot, which is the orange oddly shaped object you see. It acts as a plenum and extends to the vent under the underside of lower access panel, to expel the moist air from the tub during the drying cycle.
In pictures 7 and 8, you can see the drain solenoid with the heat sink surrounding the coil. Another unusual feature is this coil is energized at all times, EXCEPT
during the drain component of the cycle.
As you can see, Westinghouse is using a tower wash system. The tower (photo 6) is installed in the middle of the tube/sleeve (photo 5) which is mounted on the center of the rack.
You can see the bottom of the tower has a rubber seal surrounded by little plastic protrusions. On the lower wash arm (no pictures, sorry) a little tiny white plastic tube, I call it a nub, with a beveled edge, rises up about and inch and a half. The nub is guided to the center hole in the seal by the protrusions, making a sealed delivery system of water from the lower wash arm to the tower's spray head (Westinghouse calls this spray head the "distributor.")
Notice, the tower has a threaded end where the sprayer/head is supposed to be. As it is, with the head missing, water would just shoot straight up without being distributed evenly to the upper rack.
Sadly, even if the dishwasher is repaired, I cannot use it without a distributor on the spray delivery tube.
Questions for everyone: Does anyone have a spare wash tube with spray head attached or the just head/distributor itself? I will gladly purchase it from you.
Secondly, the drain solenoid's plunger is in the out position, which would indicate that it is currently in the drain position, as it is un-energized. It is attached, by a spring, to the drain valve actuator (the actuator looks similar to GE's).
The problem, this valve will not rotate in the direction toward the solenoid. That means the solenoid cannot pull the actuator toward it, to stop the draining, when it is energized. Oddly, the plastic actuator will rotate easily in the other direction. This does not make any sense.
I may be looking at it wrongly but can see no way the plunger can make any movement on the actuator when it is pulled in. The plunger moves into the coil easily when I push it in with my finger, but only stretches the spring out that connects it to the plastic actuator. HELP!!
Thirdly, does anyone have the repair manual for the 1975 model (SU500) year? I will you pay for a copy of yours. Ephemera has a 1974 manual, but I threw away $13.00 downloading it, as it is for the vertical pump Westinghouse dishwashers. Evidently, Westinghouse had just gone to this design for the 1975 year.
Any help is appreciated!
Barry
[this post was last edited: 9/3/2023-18:58]
The dishwasher did not sell, so the seller, Lori, kindly gave it to me. She indicated it "smoked" when she turned it on and turned it off immediately to prevent further damage.
The dishwasher shows no rust whatsoever, on neither the tub nor the racks. (By the way, he pictures turned out with a yellowish cast, in the close up of the rack. that is not their actual color, which is white.)
The design was a new one for Westinghouse, sporting a horizontal motor with pump and fan in a combo unit.
The fan provides forced air to dry the dishes, meaning the main pump motor runs for the entire duration of the dry cycle. You can see the flat ventilation tube, in picture number 10, running from the motor unit to the side of the tub. It draws hot. moist air off the top of the tub through a vent on the inside.
In picture 3, you see the air exhaust from the drying fan, with a funky looking foam rubber boot, which is the orange oddly shaped object you see. It acts as a plenum and extends to the vent under the underside of lower access panel, to expel the moist air from the tub during the drying cycle.
In pictures 7 and 8, you can see the drain solenoid with the heat sink surrounding the coil. Another unusual feature is this coil is energized at all times, EXCEPT
during the drain component of the cycle.
As you can see, Westinghouse is using a tower wash system. The tower (photo 6) is installed in the middle of the tube/sleeve (photo 5) which is mounted on the center of the rack.
You can see the bottom of the tower has a rubber seal surrounded by little plastic protrusions. On the lower wash arm (no pictures, sorry) a little tiny white plastic tube, I call it a nub, with a beveled edge, rises up about and inch and a half. The nub is guided to the center hole in the seal by the protrusions, making a sealed delivery system of water from the lower wash arm to the tower's spray head (Westinghouse calls this spray head the "distributor.")
Notice, the tower has a threaded end where the sprayer/head is supposed to be. As it is, with the head missing, water would just shoot straight up without being distributed evenly to the upper rack.
Sadly, even if the dishwasher is repaired, I cannot use it without a distributor on the spray delivery tube.
Questions for everyone: Does anyone have a spare wash tube with spray head attached or the just head/distributor itself? I will gladly purchase it from you.
Secondly, the drain solenoid's plunger is in the out position, which would indicate that it is currently in the drain position, as it is un-energized. It is attached, by a spring, to the drain valve actuator (the actuator looks similar to GE's).
The problem, this valve will not rotate in the direction toward the solenoid. That means the solenoid cannot pull the actuator toward it, to stop the draining, when it is energized. Oddly, the plastic actuator will rotate easily in the other direction. This does not make any sense.
I may be looking at it wrongly but can see no way the plunger can make any movement on the actuator when it is pulled in. The plunger moves into the coil easily when I push it in with my finger, but only stretches the spring out that connects it to the plastic actuator. HELP!!
Thirdly, does anyone have the repair manual for the 1975 model (SU500) year? I will you pay for a copy of yours. Ephemera has a 1974 manual, but I threw away $13.00 downloading it, as it is for the vertical pump Westinghouse dishwashers. Evidently, Westinghouse had just gone to this design for the 1975 year.
Any help is appreciated!
Barry
[this post was last edited: 9/3/2023-18:58]
For those who have/had the Westinghouse front loading washer with the solenoid that clamped the pulley on the spin belt, know what I mean. It could be heard throughout the house when it kicked in.)
