WP Dishwasher questions

[akronman]

wow

This has been one of the easiest repair jobs ever, thanks John for the idea of the entire pump/motor assembly. Not a drop of water on the floor, 2 loads done, very clean dishes, medium quiet machine. Upper racks have dials to move up and down, bottom rack has a foldable rear set of times. Silverware baskets are removable for easy unloading. All I ran so far is the Super WAsh B, no extra heating, and air dry, all good. WASH rinse rinse WAsh rinse rinse dry, whereas Super Scrub A does extra heating in the first wash and the final rinse, unnecessary so far. My godson's water heater tank is miles from his kitchen, I might tell him just leave the A button pressed all the time.
Highly impressed, and also believing that this 1973 machine got darn little use.

 

[combo52]

Whirlpool dishwasher motor replacement

Yay Mark glad you got it working, these were really one of the best designed dishwashers ever we never charged more than 15 minutes of labor to change the pumps in these.

The relay isn’t really needed but if you changed it that’s OK they included a relay because they had an earlier design in the early 70s that could cause the motor to fail so they started including relays at one point.

As Melvin said in his post above the dishwasher was actually built in very late 78 so it’s really a 79 machine.

This machine should be good for a long time yet, they improve the impeller and seal design so this replacement pump shouldn’t fail the next 20 years or more.

John

 

[mickeyd]

Knew you'd love it~

I remember you loved sudssavers, and wonder if you recycle DW water. Even though mine is built-in now, the plumbing is not, so I have a ball with the expelled liquors depending on what I'm up to, either the boil wash or the boiling last rinse or both get saved to wash the floor soak a pot, accumulating dishes, a lot of variety here.

Also, Mark, the buttons and dials allow for a lot of cycle mods. My favorite is to press the A button, let the those babies boil, then move the dial to last click on the wash cycle for the drain, and rinses. When the second rinse water is steaming, I press D, and the heated rinse stops and proceeds to drain and dry. It's a pretty green cycle. Lots of possibilities, including shortening the fill(s) which are so generous. Your nephew will be very happy.

A nothing burger.... but the dial hits a hard stop between wash and rinse, right after the D marking on the cycle plate. Wondering if you or John, etc. know why that is.

 

[mickeyd]

-

 

[tomturbomatic]

When we had our portable dishwashers, my mom would let the water drain into a cast iron skillet in the sink for a quick wash.

 

[combo52]

60s and 70s Whirlpool DWs

Hi Mark, glad you got this working.

 

Hi Michael, I always hearing your appliance thoughts and energy saving tips.

 

WP designed the mechanical stop point into the timer at the short cycle starting point so it was easy to precisely start the cycle with go guess work such as turning the dial a little too far and missing the fill period etc.

 

All you had to do to start a full cycle was to pull out the timer knob, if you wanted the short cycle you just turned the timer knob till it stopped and then pulled it out, this was also done so sight impaired people could use the DW easily, I always thought it was a very clever design that worked well.

 

John L.

 

[akronman]

yes

Yes I let the drain water run over the worst or biggest pans, it helps.
And I think the door open handle is disconnected from shutting off the timer, you really have to push in the timer before openong the door?

 

[appnut]

Mark, that similar thing happened to our 1960/1961 Waste King. Somewhere along the line of about 5-6 years of usage, that began happening. Boy did my mom get a surprise the first time that happened to her when she went to add something to the load.

 

[bigalsf]

Sorry, a little late to this thread.

No, you do not have to push in the timer before opening the door. There is a door interlock switch that interrupts all power when the door release is pushed up. When you shut the door again and it latches the machine will resume where it left off. Whirlpool always recommended when closing the door in the middle of a cycle to hold the latch up for five seconds before latching. This allowed he air to heat up a bit preventing a rush of air out of the vent when restarting.

This is a great dishwasher with a couple of features over the built in model (the cutlery basket and adjustable upper rack). Those did not come on the built in model. I'm sure your son will enjoy it.

 

[tomturbomatic]

I think this dishwasher also has the air vent that fills with water to prevent steam from escaping during the washing and rinsing. After the last drain the water completely drains out of it to allow steam to escape during the dry cycle. All of that is a way to let you know that if you interrupt the cycle in mid flight, you should not let the door open down fully immediately or you will have a puddle of water on the floor in front of the dishwasher so hold it closed for a few seconds after pressing on the door latch to give the water a chance to drain out of the vent or hold it in a semi-open position for the same reason if you just need to add an item to the top rack.I hope your family gets lots of pleasure from this excellent dishwasher.

 

[mickeyd]

As will surprise no one here, I open the door repeatedly during cycles, always eyeing the fills to see the minimal amount required to get the top "Propeller"(laughs), whirling, among other interests. Sometimes, as Bob and Mark noted, the machine does NOT stop upon opening the door, but that is not normal. This is an occasional malfunction owing to the DW's age, perhaps, because as Al pointed out, the release of the latch stops the show.

Maybe Al and John have a better understanding of what is causing the random door-latch error. Thanks so much John for the explanation of the full stop. How cool of Whirlpool to do that. Had no clue; makes perfect sense.

Fun to learn of Tom and Mark's conservation of water. Not always but sometimes, after employing the protocol I mentioned using three drained Liquors, the large sink is full, and I simply throw dishes into the sink through out the day and evening. When morning comes, the sink-full of dishes is pre-washed, and the subsequent water discharges are pretty damn clean.

When I wrote about the fragrant hot steam warming the kitchen, this happens during the DRY cycle and during my investigative door openings ;'D, but I haven't noticed steam during the wash and rinses Tom so you may be right. You've given me more to study, but I haven't noticed any water pooling on the floor.

As Mark likes to say, it all, FUN FUN FUN, and it never goes away!

 

[DADoES]

 
There's a switch and actuator-lever in the door latch mechanism ... one or the other (or maybe both) are functioning erratically ... sticking or whatever ... when the latch is opened.  As I recall, a faint click is normally heard as the switch triggers when latch is raised or lowered.

 

[bradfordwhite]

Looks like there is kitchen carpeting in this pantry. If there's a door on that and with the carpeting it should keep it quiet when running.

 

[combo52]

Late 70s whirlpool portable dishwasher

Hi Michael, you probably have a sticking door switch machine should stop when you open the door, like you I often open the door many times during a cycle to add something etc.

Whirlpool recommends as with any dishwasher closing the door and not making it start for a few moments Because there is the possibility of a slight leak when the air expands and throws water out through a vent or under the door.

I do not do this I just close the door even when it’s steaming hot I’ve yet to ever have it leak but it is a possibility. If it leaks it’ll be right at the front and you will know it and you can act accordingly in the future.

John

 

[tomturbomatic]

Decades ago, I had my KDS14 on the same wall as my Frigidaire washer and the Bendix Duomatic. All of them drained into a standpipe. I would lift the hose for the KDS14 out of the standpipe and fill the Frigidaire washer pr the Duomatic with the hot water from the 3 rinses and use that for wash water for a load of whites. I had an electric water heater and conserved in any way that I could.

 

[mickeyd]

When the rich Northeast Winter settles in earnest, and kitchen washer play takes full hold, I amuse myself with multiple ways to recycle water. A favorite is to use the Frigidaire Spin-Tube wet bar installation to fill the Easy washtub and/or spin rinse with the hot discharge. That way the extravagant, three full-minute tub flushes do not go to waste.

Thanks Glenn and John for the diagnosis. When the latch malfunctions I get a nice face wash.

 

[maytaga806]

Would love to hear a video of this running!! I’m sure the interior looks beautiful now that it’s been cleaned and used a bit. Bleach is not a good idea in dishwashers due to the over sudsing especially in these very powerful older machines even regular cascade platinum pacs oversuds mine here and there. Was that the original pump and motor replacement or was that a slightly newer pump for it? So glad you got it up and running that is a true vintage Whirlpool portable! I bought a 2005 portable Powerclean two years ago, never have I had a problem other than the main detergent cup not opening during wash, needed a new wax motor and works perfectly now, machine was clearly never used very much it was in mint condition and I redid the exterior paint with my own colors and took advantage of the color reversible panel. Love these machines, it’ll definitely last another good while for you. I will never get rid of mine it’s staying with me for the rest of my life. These are dishwashing icons that should never see the dump for any reason! Happy powercleaning!!

 

[DADoES]

 
Regular liquid chlorine bleach does not (should not) cause sudsing.  The scented and/or splashless formulations that are labeled for whitening instead of specifically for sanitizing may cause sudsing.

 

[akronman]

Working Perfectly

I got the door limit switch installed, this portable works perfectly. My godson is remodeling and bought some new stainless steel DW, so this late 70's machine is now mine. My 82 Kitchen Aid 19 series is a built-in but its second set of racks is near death, so I'll soon install this WP as a built-in instead. Anyone know of problems in advance to convert this?

 

[combo52]

Installing a 70s whirlpool convertible dishwasher

It’s pretty straightforward but you leave the cabinet on the machine. you remove the top and the wheels as usual then you end up drilling holes through the sides of the cabinet to run water, lines, electric, etc. in most cases

Leaving the cabinet on actually makes it a little bit bigger machine, so if the spaces tight for your existing built-in, it may not fit check it out carefully.

John