Last big purchase of 2018 - a new dishwasher

[leononmaui]

Kirkland Dishwasher tabe

Careful about using the Costco dishwasher tabs. I bought and used only 2 times. The inside of my dishwasher had a white film all over it. I returned them. I also wanted to try Costco laundry pods, but was afraid of what may happen to the inside of my front loader. I know both products got excellent reviews, but not from me.

 

[48bencix]

Condensing Dry System

I believe some if not all Bosch Dishwashers use Condensing Dry, with no added heat. Extra dry uses hotter water. Some reviews state that water remains in the bottom. Should be pumped out after dry cycle. Have you or others had a problem with this? I plan on the lower or lowest cost Bosch. It looks pretty nice to me. Also lower cost units are made here in US.

 

[eurekastar]

Condensing Dry System

Plastic items are the only things that didn't come out thoroughly dry in my Bosch dishwasher.  I've seen some people who complain a lot about that, but it was never a problem for me since I didn't wash a lot of plastic items.  Still, you can't beat a Bosch for it's cleaning ability and quietness.  And I think the machines at the lower price point use the same wash system as the more expensive lines.  They're just not as feature rich or quiet. 

 

[ultralux88]

The only two new dishwashers I ever recommend are the Bosch and Miele. Both are excellent, but I always say you get the most dishwasher for your money with a Bosch!

 

[henene4]

Condensing drying

Yes, all DW sold in the US under the Bosch brand currently use the static condensing drying system.
Final rinse temperatures are usually 160°F, a little less for the Normal&#92Eco cycles and go as low as 140F for the delicate cycley IIRC.

There will always remain some water in any DW sump.
On machines without manual filter, you of course don't see that usually.
When removing the filters for cleaning, the might be about 1/2" of water sitting in the sump, usually no more, but that is true for any other machine as well.
Just before the end of the cycle, the machine always drains for a few seconds.
As long as there is no water visible when the filter is in place, there should be no problem. If there is a bigger amount of water you will have to check the drain system.

Model wise I wouldn't buy below the Series 300.

Machines of the Ascenta line and Series 100 lines are quite "noisy" (believe me, 44dB or 45dB versus 50+dB is such an incredible difference; it's one of these things where you think your DW isn't that loud, then you buy a silent unit and one day visiting somebody you suddenly wonder how loud the dishwasher is, even though its no cheap unit either).

And they have the glued 2-piece tub design with a plastic bottom.
There have been several cases of the previous generation machines and some of the first machines of the current generation as well suffering from leaks along that seal after a few years.
Machines then often randomly trigger the flood protection switch, but seem to work again after a day or two for a few cycles and when checking there is usually only verry little sign of any leak.
Cause of that is the difference in thermal expansion between the plastic bottom and stainless steal upper tub straing the seals and glue.
While there are repair sets for these, repairs caneither not work at all or fail pretty quickly again and are pretty tricky or expensive to get done.

 

[joe_in_philly]

There is no need to add detergent for the prewash. When I got my Bosch...which I have had nearly 14 years...it seemed weird not adding any detergent for the prewash. But after a week or two of clean dishes you won’t even think about it anymore!

As previously mentioned, the “prewash” water may be used for the main wash. Sometimes I would be surprised that it didn’t do a water change before going into the main wash, but I have learned to trust its sensors.

 

[rolls_rapide]

My tuppenceworth concerning Bosch dishwashers...

The diverter valve:

My 2003 model (both baskets and overhead shower) and my mum's 2013 (both baskets, no overhead shower) fill on the prewash, then switch the diverter valve to 'all spray' pattern, with a fairly low spray pressure. This basically soaks everything, and allows the machine to check water level, topping up where necessary.

After a few minutes of wetting out, the wash pump slows down, the diverter valve shifts, and water with a higher pressure is sent to the lower basket. (My machine: 50 seconds. Mum's machine: about 4.5 minutes).

The upper basket and the overhead shower (overhead shower is simply an extension of the upper basket water circuit) gets similar, but at a lower pressure. (My machine 50 seconds, Mum's: 1.5 minutes).

I have noticed that Mum's machine has an even more vigorous spray pressure to the bottom basket during the main wash; the motor speeds up even more. But the upper basket gets a moderate action. Everything comes out clean in that machine.

My particular (old) machine has always irritated me. Lethargic spray action, dithering during turbidity sensing, and basically the whole machine could have been better designed.

 

[labboy]

Love our Bosch

We have an 800 series...similar but with front controls. It also has the third rack and water softener. Amazingly quiet, great cleaner and uses minimal water. I won't ever get another dishwasher without an internal water softener. (Hard water here and don't want a full house water softener.)

Bob

 

[petek]

I'm looking at getting one myself,, they've so many models it's confusing to figure out their "coding' BTW they do sell machines in the US and Canada with water softeners.. like this one SHXM63WS5N and quite a few others.

 

[lakewebsterkid]

Cycles

I have a very similar 300 series model. Normal rarely does a prewash. Typically main wash, and two rinses. It does quite a good job. Auto is my to go to cycle. It does the prewash, then main wash, then two rinses. I add a bit of cascade complete gel to the bottom of the tub for the prewash to help remove heavier soils and coffee grounds. Heavy is incredible. However, I find that it only runs the bottom rack during the main wash and leaves some items on the top looking a little dull. Otherwise, it is perfect. We don’t use the speed 30 cycle because it doesn’t allow for a long enough wash. Your speed 60 with extra dry on might be a good cycle. However Normal is likely just a bit longer and more effective.

Our machines does perform the sensing operation at the beginning of the cycle. I clean the filter before every cycle to ensure the best performance. Enjoy your machine. We certainly have!

 

[suds]

Miele & Siemens (Bosch equivalent)

RevvinKevin - I reckon we’re onto a winner!

Henene4 - I’ve noticed extra whirring/clicking/fiddling as you state with the “sensing” interesting indeed and quite a delay once one has presses start which is silent so thanks for answering that!- also noticed an “air blowing” sound which continues when opening the door mid wash cycles - is that that the Zeolith system “revving up”?? I still need to check how I can see water consumption after a cycle - need to play with it more.

So have spent the last 3 months without a dishwasher due to renovations and new kitchen extension (nightmare!!). Have elected to pair up my Miele G6512SC with a TOL Siemens IQ700 (basically TOL Bosch but I preferred I it’s slightly “cleaner look” - I’m not sure which US Bosch this equates to ) either side of the sink and raised both circa 20cm’s which has made for much comfier access, have been keen on this for years. Attached are some pics of the computer generated image and then work in progress (sorry for the messy pics!) . Was planning to pair up with another Miele (and almost a Fisher & Paykel Dishdrawer) but as per above comments just could not ignore the Siemens with it’s versatile baskets, tall item spray-head for tall oven trays/racks, Zeolith drying (which seems to work a treat ), quiet operation and sofar gleaming results with general everyday loads - have yet to test it with proper baked on dinner party aftermath....looking forward to it though . I may, in time, upgrade the Miele to the new G7000 auto-dosing series when released but for now still v v happy with Miele however I will be performance testing them against each other

Best of both worlds hopefully

 

[logixx]

Air blowing

To my knowledge, only the TOL Thermador models have the Zeolite. What you hear is pressurized air being released through the vent in the water inlet.

 

[logixx]

Whoops, didn't see that youvwere from the UK. Never mind about the Thermador then. Still, the whistle sound is most likely air being released.

 

[suds]

Siemens - sound

Hi H!

It’s more like a fan that is running in the tub somewhere - definite “blowing” sound

 

[logixx]

See... this is what I get for half-reading comments during my lunch break.

Okay, the sound you hear is with the door open. Yes, that can indeed be the Zeolite fan going. I once opened a higer-end Bosch with Zeolite during the prewash and was surprised to find the Zeolite fan continuing to run with the door open.

 

[suds]

Thx

Hey Logixx!

Ha ha - no probs always appreciative of feedback. Ok that makes sense re: Zeolith Fan - just surprised
That it seems to run throughout the cycle !?

 

[henene4]

The Zeolith mineral is dried by a seperate heater in the Zeolith compartment during the cycle.
When how with which parameters I don't know, but it would make sense that it's running all the time with the Zeolith heater on during all the wash operations and then just turns off once drying.

 

[logixx]

I don't know if it runs the entire (washing) cycle. I don't think so. I know that the steam emitted from the drying of the mineral is to help heat the wash water - so it should switch off once the water heating cycle is over.