When and why did whirlpool stop installing the sound tuned absorbers in the Powerclean series?

[maytaga806]

Hi everyone. All this time I thought my whirlpool portable from 2006 had a sound tuned absorber which came out in 1998 I believe, only to realize mine doesn’t have one just recently while I was checking on things underneath. The 2003 model I got for parts had one though, and to me, it didn’t seem to really do much as it still vibrated during the drain cycle just before the pump would cavitate. Were the absorbers just non effective which is why whirlpool decided to stop installing them in the machines somewhere in the 2000s? I watched several repair videos of other newer powercleans after this finding that mine didn’t have one, and in the videos they all had absent absorbers.

I had to clean so much dust out of the underside of the motor. Since this is a portable it’s gotten quite dirty under there and I managed to clean all of it out but whirlpool was not very intelligent when making these portables in the way they didn’t even install a shield under the unit to prevent this from happening, it should be completely covered on the underside instead of being totally exposed and it would certainly help with noise reduction too. I just added some extra insulation to the lower panel while I was at it and it helped a bit with the noise as this is a loud machine which I don’t mind too much but would like it to be a little quieter. I roll it over a thin rug while it’s in use in front of my sink and that helps a lot too.

 

[johnb300m]

I remember the Whirlpool display case our Sears had as a kid. They had PC motors in a clear box. One had a tuned absorber. One didn’t. The one without the absorber had a loud low tone drone. The tuned motor did not have the drone. But it’s not what I’d call quiet either. So it was a noticeable improvement.
The KUD23 I have, has the threaded hole on the motor even though it’s a “gold seal” motor. I got an absorber for it on eBay. It’s still loud but the low tone drone is diminished.
I think they just cost cut them away when they were moved to the Voyager system to eventually take over.

 

[Chetlaham]

Whoa that picture makes me tear up so bad. How beautiful and how my heart aches for these Power Cleans.

 

 

 

 

[combo52]

Power clean motor tuning weights

Were eliminated after the tall tub point voyager series machine started to take over, they were costly to install, but they did make a major noticeable difference in Reducing the humming sound from the Motors.

Whirlpool kept the power clean system in production for a decade after the point Voyagers started to take over and they reduced cost in a number of ways on the later machines.

That portable dishwasher should not be covered on the bottom if the motor got extremely dirty. You have a very dirty house. But the motor needs ventilation to cool. I don’t recall any vintage dishwasher ever having a complete bottom on it. Yes it would reduce noise some and putting it on a rug when you operate it is a good idea if the noise bothers you.

I have added these tuning weights from whirlpool power clean dishwasher motors to other motors in appliances. I’ve rebuilt I put one on my Frigidaire one to 18 washer that we insulated and turned into a super silent machine. It really does reduce the 60 cycle. How you get out of a split phase motor, it was a very clever idea.

John L

 

[maytaga806]

Lol excuse you John I don’t have a dirty home. I purchased this dishwasher used just before 2021, and recently was the first time I had actually flipped the machine on its side to inspect the motor in more detail from that angle. that was several years of caked dust. I spend hours cleaning my home every week due to having a husky, can’t live in a gross home anyway I was raised much better than that. The homes it was in before I bought it was where that dust accumulated from. When I first got it I only looked thru the access panel so I wasn’t able to see the bottom of the motor.

I saved the absorber from the dishwasher I got as parts unfortunately this motor on mine doesn’t have threads to install one because it was never supposed to have one. I would have loved to know what it would sound like with it on though.

 

[gelaundry4ever]

low drone

I remember hearing a Whirlpool do that as it was filling. It would do that as it picked up pressure.