KitchenAid Superba vs Bosch Ascenta

[reliable_or_new]

A friend is doing a total reno and has offered us her 'old' appliances. They are upgrades for us.

My KitchenAid Superba circa 1986? has a Rinse/Hold, Adjustable upper Level Tines, an overflow protection float (per the online manual) and works great for me since I pre-rinse everything.

But doesn't wash un-rinsed dishes perfectly clean, so my husband doesn't think it washes well enough, though he concedes that most new dishwashers are terrible at drying.

The Bosch Amana, later remodelled and renamed the 100 series can wash half loads. the interior is mostly stainless steel, so that should help with drying, yet Bosch goes up to 800 with crystal dry and somewhere in there it will automatically pop open to release the steam. Does that give it away? (No Rinse/Hold, significantly longer Wash times, significantly less water)

Opinions. Old reliable imperfection, which could fail at any time, or new-er matching appliance colour scheme, that could also fail at any time.

Other considerations, I hate rinse aid and refuse to use it. Also I'd rather not get that 'I told you so' look from my husband.

Bosch SHX5AL05UC. https://www.manualowl.com/m/Bosch/SHX5AL05UC/Manual/260024

https://ecommcdnprod.azureedge.net/manuals/Use%20and%20Care%20Guide%20-%209740137.pdf

 

[DADoES]

 
I used a Bosch SHS843AF5N/01 (does not have Crystal Dry or an auto-open door) several times five months ago when helping a friend move to a house that has said dishwasher.  Mostly freshening packed/unpacked dishware, although some normal-dirty items were involved.  It washes very well.  Glass/crockery/metallic items were dried but plastic was not.

The tub interior was always noticeably wet.  I didn't let the loads sit overnight to evaporate residual moisture before unloading because they needed to be immediately unloaded and put away to run the next batch.  Leaving the door ajar overnight after unloading did not fully dry the interior by the next morning.  I imagine leaving the warm dishes to cool overnight with the door ajar would give better results.

Regards to your aversion to rinse aid ... it's prit'much required with Bosch.  They do not have a drying heater.  Drying is the condensation method via dishware (glass/metal/crockery) retaining heat from the heated final rinse.  Contrary to the belief that the stainless steel tub retains heat, the premise of condensation drying is that the tub cools faster than the dishware which entices residual moisture to evaporate off the dishware and condense onto the tub surface.

Bosch will compensate for an empty or disabled rinse aid dispenser by increasing cycle time for additional heating of the rinse water.  The user manual warns that the increased heating of course increases energy consumption, and can also cause damage (etching) to china and glassware.  Rinse aid dispensing has seven settings, 0 (off) and 1 (lowest) to 6 (maximum) dosage levels.  Factory default is 5.

Aside:  I never prerinsed dishes with either of the two vintage KitchenAids (1975 and 1992 models) that I've had, and they washed nicely.  Your linked KA user manual is a 22 series KUDA220T so it's early 1990s, not 1986.  My 1992 KitchenAid was a KUDS220T4 ... same as yours but not the Architech (KUDA) version with a control panel to match the height of a standard kitchen drawer face.

 

[reliable_or_new]

We are keeping the Superba, how to improve upper rinse?

I just needed to mention the lack of float sensor to my husband. I found a bunch of reports of people who gave up their old KitchenAid dishwashers, and are disappointed with the new machines, which reminded him of his best friend's complaints about his dishwasher. Yay, we get to keep the 'workhorse'. Fingers crossed

I found a piece of gunk lodged in the underside of the bottom spray arm that was supposed to be rinsing the filter.

The inside of my superba is ceramic?

It has 8 buttons to the right of the handle, no spacing between buttons. It looks almost exactly like this one, except the last button only says Cancel, not Cancel/Drain.

A post about not enough water going to the upper wash arm during the rinse has me wondering....

How would one clear the intake valve without taking it apart and risking the fussiness of re-assembly ?

(I am not sure if I understand all the parts/names. I am a total Newbie)

https://us-browse.startpage.com/av/anon-image?piurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.automaticwasher.org%2FTD%2FJPEG%2FVINTAGE%2F2014%2Fctv%2B%2B1-12-2014-18-27-5.jpg&sp=1647363190T87a9c85c89dd42ed400ecce7f884d57994e713ddbaa14015ba14bddaa9aab2e3

 

[appnut]

The interior is porcelain not ceramaic.

 

[awooff]

Upper rack feed tube.

Either pits (holes) have formed on the feed tube to the upper rack wash arm or a new fill valve should be easily installed, maybe both!

Old fill valves calcify up limiting full water fills for proper wash power. Cheap diy fix on either issue. Keep that ka and if those 2 fixes still cause issues then switch to a loose powder detergent filling both cups.

No prerinsing should still produce spotless results otherwise there is an issue.