Neighbors new Bosch DW

[petek]

My next door neighbors KA crapped out and was leaking for the 2nd time within 6 months. It was the same model I had all the problems with and about the same age. Being as she has family visiting from the UK she wanted a new machine toute suite and so I accompanied her to Lowes to check out their wares. As you may recall I recently bought a Bosch Ascenta and I'm quite happy with it. She wanted the 3rd rack which meant moving up the ladder to the 300 series. When I looked inside it I noticed it had a removable cover for a salt dispenser and asked the clerk if it had one and they said it looks like it does. I never double checked. Regardless she wanted the machine asap but it wasn't in stock either so we had to wait a couple of days.. It arrived yesterday and I figured piece of cake, it'll be just like mine, a snap being as I'd already one one. LOL.

I haul out the crap Kitchenaid and remove the drain hose and disconnect the wiring. Outta the house it goes with the help of her dad.

We unfrock the new Bosch from its packaging and wait a minute, this thing has a 3 prong plug avec a boxyish electronic water shutoff valve on the end of the cord..dammit now I have to cut the hole between the cabinet bigger to get it to pass thru. Plus another trip to Lowes to buy an outlet box. Cutting the cord and wiring it directly was not an option seeing as this water intake hose has power running thru it to that darned electronic valve shutoff.

Oh and of course my saw broke cutting that hole bigger and the wiring was all behind the garbage disposal, and my back was already sore but I managed.

So we fire it it up.. the machine claims 46dB Silence but it's no quieter than my 50dB Ascenta which was about $300 cheaper. I'm looking through the operating instruction booklet to see about the salt to use and lo and behold there is no mention of it having a water softner built in. Sort of a bummer, I guess they just use the same tub and fittings in this one as they use in the more expensive ones that do have the softeners mechanism installed.

I figured it might have been noisy on that initial run because we were running it empty, but when I asked her today, having now run a full load, she says that it sounds about the same, not as quiet as her (or my old) Kitchenaid..

When I say it's noisier than the kitchen aid was and about the same as my Ascenta. It isn't really noisy or even obtrusive at all, it's just that you can hear a bit of water action, it's just not silent. That prize actually went to our old Miele which was dead silent.

Anyways, that's my story and I'm sticking to it,, until I find out I erred in something LOL.

model is SHEM53Z35C

 

[petek]

THe other thing lacking I hadn't noticed is that it doesn't have the 30 min or 60 min express wash cycle.. it only has what they call a half load option which cuts the cyce time down to an hour and something. They state this should be used with loads that are only about half full.. It doesn't seem to have a top load only cycle either whereas my Ascenta has both. odd.

 

[lowefficiency]

>> So we fire it it up.. the machine claims 46dB Silence but it's no quieter than my 50dB Ascenta which was about $300 cheaper.
>>... she says that it sounds about the same, not as quiet as her (or my old) Kitchenaid.

On the first comparison, it's possible that other factors, such as the design, layout, and structure/construction of your two houses/kitchens plays a role. The "quieter" machine may have its sound amplified by the space, for example, or have vibrations that cause adjacent cabinets or structures to resonate. And the two machines could produce their peak sound outputs at different frequencies, which are more or less noticeable to you.

On the second, vs the Kitchenaid in the same location, it could be some of the same - that some factor of the install is causing a contact vibration or resonance, or that the two machines are producing sounds at different frequencies. Or it could just be that they had mentally "tuned out" the old machine's sounds after years of hearing it, but now that something is "new", they are more aware of it, even if it is in fact as quiet or quieter.

The perception of sound & noise is a complicated subject...

 

[DADoES]

 
Installation is a large part of quiet operation.  Any gap between the machine and surrounding cabinetry will allow "leakage" of operational noises.  I added some adhesive closed-cell foam around mine to fill the gap more completely, noticeably quieter.

 

[iiijohnnymaciii]

That’s Normal.

My Bosch 500 series was louder than my 2015/16 Kitchenaid as well. Not as loud as my PowerClean though, haha.

 

[petek]

Being as the Bosch's are smaller sized in comparison

Yes it's possible the additional space around the machines as compared to the more tight fitting Kitchenaids in both our houses is what is amplifying the sound. Had I the opportunity for a re-do I'd have taken the white material that was surrounding her KA and stuck it to the sides of the Bosch, same with mine. But who knew. It's not that significant to warrant re doing thoug.. Any normal person, not people here who would instantly look at someones dishwasher, probably wouldn't even hear them running if they happened to walk into the kitchen.