Bosch DW FInd! Need some reviews!

[stevet]

I picked this unit up last week at John's Appliance store in New Smyrna Beach. Looked in good condition and just felt like tinkering with it.

Model is SMU4052US/9. Has 4 cycles,econowash,pot/pans,normal and rinse and hold.

I couldn't imagine why someone would toss it but found out why when I hooked it up that it didn't fill. Turned out to be a totally clogged up fill valve strainer and piping. All granules of lime stuck in it. I cleaned it out and then the water just dribbled in. Took the valve apart and it was not totally serviceable so I have to get a new valve and install it. I feel the machine will run just fine then. The pump and drain motors are quiet though the machine with water added by hand is not as quiet as I would have expected.

Does anyone know anything about this model series? Maybe an owners manual? Bosch's website doesnt offer one for this model, nor do they provide a means to contact them.

Your input would be appreciated. Especially when it comes to service and performance history.

 

[stevet]

next shot

Here is a picture of the front of the machine. Sorry about the quality. Taken with my phone camera.

 

[magic clean]

Steve

your machine dates back to the early-mid 1990's. It was made in Germany and is the standard tub design. Also, it does have the exposed sump heater, that boosts the wash temperatures to different set points depending on the cycle. 120, 140 & 160f.

The tech sheet maybe in the console or underneath in the pump motor area. From a performance perspective, they wash very well but need liquid rinse aid to dry acceptably.

 

[stevet]

Thanks!

Thank you, Leslie for the info on it. I knew it wasn't that new but it seems to have been treated fairly well. Not much debris in the sump screens. I ordered the new fill valve today from Marcone and I should have the machine running this weekend.

It isn't a true tall tub, but it is taller than my 21 series Kitchen Aid.But shorter than the standard tall tub.
It looks like it will clean well and I like how it angles the dishes back in the bottom rack. Do you have any idea if it does a heated dry at all or just lets the water condense onto the tank sides?
I will look for the tech sheets too.
Thanks again
Steve

 

[appnut]

Steve, it's a condensor dry, not heat drying.

 

[stevet]

Thanks again!

Bob, do you have any idea what the operating temps are for the specific cycles on this unit? I assume the econo wash would be at 120 so the drying would be marginal at best. How about the normal and Pots and Pans cycles?

An operators manual would be great.

 

[appnut]

Just as Leslie stated: Normal would be 140 main wash and final rinse temp could be 155. PnP, the prewash could be heated to 125 or 130, main wash 155 or 161 and final rinse 161. Up until 2 years ago with their latest series, the prewash was heated to about 120 or 125 on PnP (kinda like Pour Scour on the older Whirlpool Powercleans having a heated prewash).

 

[appnut]

Steve, there are 5 buttons and 4 cycles, what's the 5th button for-Power Switch or top rack only?)

 

[stevet]

nothing so special!

It is the On/Off button!

 

[wiljan]

Wow, easy on the temperatures *lol*

If this machine operates in the exact same way as the European version of it, it's about like this.

All pre rinses are with tap cold water!

Also, the main rinse is at either 50°C(122°F) or 65°C(149°F), depending on the setting. If you push a program button and a red "indicator" is shown (you can see that at one of the pictures), it means that the main rinse is at 65°C. If the screen becomes green, it means that the main rinse is at 50°C.

The final rinse is always with a high temperature (65°C), to make sure that the dishes dry nicely. Be sure to add liquid rinse aid, as Bob said, because that really helps a lot.

I'm not really sure of the difference between the pots&pans-cycle and the normal cycle, but I thought that the main rinse is a bit longer and that there's an extra cold intermittent rinse (2 instead of 1).

But it's a lovely machine!

Wiljan

Ps. you don't really need the pots&pans-cycle! At my uncles' place (he has almost the exact same machine), even pots and pans come out beautifully at the eco cycle!

 

[aquarius1984]

I will second the Economy Wash on these Boschs being VERY effective.

My 7 year old Hotpoint (Bosch) gives excellent results on the 50degrees Economy Wash cycle in 1hr 38.

Must get a decent pic of it but you can juat make it out at the end of the washers.

Rob

 

[animasinsulinpu]

Bosch DW

I bought my Bosch 4 yrs. ago from BeLowes and it is hooked up to the cold water line. One half an hour later, if you open it it will burn your face off. It has also made my coffee caraf bare naked!!! No markings on it whatsoever. I will make sure I don't put my new Blendtec blender in it. But I do love the Bosch DW. It cleans great......Bill in Az....

 

[stevet]

Update time!

First, I want to thank you all for your help. I got around to hooking the dishwasher up in the garage and to make a long story short, it needed a fill valve as the original was totally filled with lime deposits and the valve cannot be totally taken apart. I purchased one from Marcone and was shocked when I checked the price of it online and with them. This valve has a built in pressure switch to monitor the water level in the tank so I figured it would be well over 100 bucks. To my surprise, it was less than 40! Brand new! Cheaper than ebay!

Well, I installed it and gave it a test run with a load of plastic containers and a few dishes from the kitchen machine that I stole for the test.

I have to say that on the normal cycle with wash temps over 150 and rinse temps close to 155-160 degrees, and a no heat dry, the plastic containers came out dryer than my whirlpool or kenmore spares ever dried them even on sani rinse!

Another full(though not a BOB LOAD)load with mashed potatoes still in the pot and no prerinsed dishes, with a full silverware basket and full upper rack of cups, glasses and utensils produced and incredible clean load when it was all done. The last time I tried the mashed potatoe thing in my Whirlpool, it left a residue of potate powder on everything. Needed to wash them all again!

Also, fully loaded, the Bosch is a decently quiet machine and the construction of it seems to really hold in the heat as well. I cannot vouch for how the newer ones are made or how they wash, but this one is a good machine. Far exceeded my expectations.

One other thing though, I don't know if it should be hooked up to a cold water line as that would tend to shock the dishes and glasses causing cracking when going from the main wash to the purge or rinse cycle. This unit has the exposed heating element and not an inline heater like some models from Europe have. So I will assume that like every other machine here on this side, it requires a hot water connection.

I was also surprised at how fast it will heat that tank water up to temperature before advancing the timer. Again, pleasantly surprised.

Now if only I could get a user manual for it.
Does anyone have a number at Bosch that might be able to help?

 

[animasinsulinpu]

Bosch DW

Hi, Steve. The phone number for Bosch is 1-800-944-2904. Last night I took a full load of 1 ga. pickle jars that I use for my kombucha tea that I make. I left the lables on and used the auto wash cycle and 130 minutes later the lables were ALL gone and no residue even the filter, they were in my Waste King disposer. I need to get a digital camera and a life(he,he).....Bill in Az.....

 

[brisnat81]

Hi Steve,

In 240v Land almost everyone now has cold fill dishwashers. Because of the retained heat in the SS, the cold water is warmer than tap cold as it starts to circulate. I've never had a problem with damage to normal glasses etc. If it's really delicate, use the lower temp cycle and there is even less chance of thermal shock then.

The way to see if it will accept cold fill only is to test whether the machine will delay long enough to heat to the desired temps when on cold fill. If it does and the cycle stays under 2 hours, then you should be good to go.

 

[animasinsulinpu]

Re: Bosch DW

Hi, Steve. My Bosch's model # is: she4602uc/33. It had 5 cycles: Top rack only ( the bottom still sprays during the entire cyckle. hmmm?) Power scrub plus (which I have never needed) Auto wash, which uses 2 seperate sensors, Regular wash and Rince and hold. I only use that cycle when I make Indian food so plastics won't stain. There is no control over the water temperture whatsoever. It also uses 2 differant motors, strange to me why? But I love it. It also uses 1.6 gallons per fill......Bill in Az....

 

[stevet]

Cold fill..Easy test!

Hmmm. The cold fill is an easy test as I have the machine hooked up to the slop sink in the garage. I did happen to notice that the initial fill of hot water chills to 70 degrees due to the machine standing in the "cold" for Florida garage all day. The dishwasher simply does its prewash and then goes into the main wash and heats to 150 and the rest is history!

I should see what it does on the cold fill. I just have to select the cold faucet instead of the hot and hit a timer!

Our cold water is usually about 70 degrees anyway so it would be interesting.

Now I just need enough stuff to put in it!

Will let you all know and thanks for the number for Bosch. I may wind up moving this machine to the Kitchen as a daily driver, but it doesn't really hold as much as the KDS21! But sure cleans comparably as well!

Later!
Steve

 

[favorit]

2 motors

Hi Bill,

Euro dishwashers haven't "grinders". So, in order to have self cleaning filters, most of them keep on pumping to spray arms while draining too. There's a vid on youtube about a siemens/bosch dw doin it

Another (...vintage) reason .
As Brisnat81 says, modern dws use so little water @ each fill that the residual heat in the SS tub warms up the new incoming water. Old dws couldn't rely on that cause they used much more water per fill. They made a cool down before the wash drain : partial drain and refill while spraying, spraying, then total drain.

@ Steve about cold fill

Hi Steve,
even our crystal glasses survived on normal cycle ... when we had the DW @ cold fill. We have icy cold water so the first (cold) rinse turned wash greases into a "butter" film over glasses and dishes instead of rinsing them away, not to mention what happened to tupperware and plastics ...
So I connected the machine to the hot water line : no more tomato red plastics .... and shoooooorter electricity bills (thanks to the gas heater)

 

[stevet]

Cold water test wash all done!

Okay, everyone, I just ran the cold water test with the Bosch!
Started it at 7:40 on normal cycle with 68 Degree F. incoming water. The wash just finished at 9:25 and hit a max temp of approx.158 F.
So it took 1 hour and 45 minutes to do the cycle from start to finish. So that is under the 2 hour challenge posted above.

Now I still think that is a long time for a cycle and certainly longer than the hot water cycle. But it IS good to know that it would probably beat any current production machine these days which state that a normal cycle cantake up to 2 to 2.5 hrs to complete and that's based on soil levels and incoming hot water temperature, etc.

I now would have to wonder which method is really more efficient..the cold water method or the hot water method.
I would have to use an electric meter to see just what the consumption is. Maybe the next time I am at home and the wife is out so I can really play uninterrupted.