Somebody Help Me...Stinky dishwasher

[mark_wpduet]

Wow!

I just read through this entire post. I'm exhausted.........

I knew it was a long one and as I paged down and it kept getting more mysterious only to find out it was the hot water heater......

WOW.........that's kind of freaky & odd that it only smells in the dishwasher.........I keep mine set at 140

 

[mark_wpduet]

OH - forgot to mention

I can't STAND that smell EGGS cause the dishes to smell like......I always wash anything egg off as much as I can before I load it. You would THINK the chlorine cascade would take care of that, but it doesn't. Taking a drink from a glass and that smell you KNOW is from those eggs. UGH

 

[sngencarelli]

It's going to be time for a new water heater soon, so instead of swapping the anode, I think that I'm just going to try feeding the dishwasher off of the cold water line to see if that makes a difference. I've got a Miele LaPerla, so that will take care of the water heating on it's own.. That should totally eliminate the water heater as a suspect moving forward. I'll let you all know how it goes!

Thanks again!

 

[rustyspaatz]

When you replace the water heater, try going to a tankless. It will be more efficient, only heating water when you need it and they don't have the rod inside.

As for using cold water in a dishwasher- No. The detergent NEEDS hot water to rinse and to wash. With cold water you will get unclean dishes and a slime on both the inside of the dishwasher and the plates.

It would be better to have the smell of rotting crap AND clean dishes than the alternative.

 

[norgeway]

Egg Smell...

I couldnt agree more..I Despise eggs anyhow, it almost gags me to smell them cooking!!YUCK! I can only imagine having to smell this everyday!

 

[washer111]

Cold-Water Connection

I have to rain on the parade yet again with my corrections:

 

As another user pointed out, they will connect their machine to cold water. Miele machines (along with every other European machine) have automatic water heating that can take care of an essentially cold water connection, whereas their American counterparts often don't like being on anything colder than 120F. 

 

Whilst you might get cold fills in the rinses, the Main-Wash and Final-Rinse are heated to ensure proper washing results as well as proper drying results. If you ask any of the Europeans here who own a dishwasher, I'm sure they can tell you that (despite) a cold-water connection, they still have clean and properly rinsed dishes. As did we when our machine was running with a cold-water connection. 

 

As for the Egg smell, we rarely get or had the trouble, even when I was devouring two eggs for breakfast every morning and not bothering to pre-rinse my plates (Punishable by a severe scolding in this household). You must always ensure if you have problems like this that you use enough detergent, a hot enough detergent and ensure your machine's filters (if any) are properly fitted AND clean. 

Even with my machines not-so-self-cleaning filters (with the amount of soil that goes in there), we don't have trouble with odours, excepting those from DIRTY dishes, not clean ones... Or perhaps on the odd occasion the machine sits for several days with the remnants of Salmon in there... 

 

[sngencarelli]

My dishwasher will heat the water up to the correct temp so no worries on that front. In the instructions Miele says to plumb to cold water if you want to be able to keep your water heater at a lower temp and save energy. I just originally plumbed to the hot water side because I figured it would keep the cycles a bit shorter.

I'd love to get a tankless, but I don't have gas (I'm out in the sticks) and the electric tankless models pull a huge amount of amps. I'm actually thinking about going to a heat pump hybrid water heater.. Between the utility rebates and the tax credits, it's almost the same price as a regular electric heater.

 

[mark_wpduet]

Miele dishwashers -

Question:

In America, how would these heat from a cold water fill? I mean, are these 220 V like American dryers instead of 110v?

I just can't imagine any dishwasher connected to 110v heating the water from a COLD fill to the temp it needs to be, unless it runs for 8 hours.

 

[paulg]

Agree with Tomturbomatic

In the lab at work we had a small, electric water heater under the sink that, every couple of years, would eat up its magnesium anode.
The water coming out of the tap would smell like rotten eggs. You couldn't miss it !
Facilities would swap out the heater and the odor would go away.

 

[joe_in_philly]

My US Bosch model is connected to a 120v line, but heats the water rather quickly. Depending on how the dishwasher is loaded, it can heat the water 2-3F a minute. Keep in mind as it is heating the water, it is heating everything in the dishwasher too.

 

[DADoES]

 
<blockquote>I just can't imagine any dishwasher connected to 110v heating the water from a COLD fill to the temp it needs to be, unless it runs for 8 hours.</blockquote> My DishDrawer of course runs on 120v power, and does perfectly fine on a cold connection (it's connected to hot but the result is essentially cold due to the draw distance).  It can raise the temp a little better than 1°F per minute far as I can determine.  The longest cycle's default estimate is 132 mins with 7 water changes, which includes heating the main wash to 150°F and final rinse to 163°F.  It does take a little longer (maybe 15 to 30 mins) in some instances but nowhere near 8 hrs total.

 

[retropia]

If a dishwasher uses only a tiny amount of water per cycle, it probably doesn't take long to heat to 140 degrees, even if only using a 120V electrical connection.

 

[tomturbomatic]

Yes, since we have traded the washing action of a "Hurricane in a Box" for the daintiness of washing in a mist and rinsing in dew, the amount of water to be heated is significantly reduced.

 

[laundromat]

The only times I ever saw this were from two different causes. When the dishwasher drain hose is connected to the garbage disposer,there's a pipe exiting out on the side to connect the, dishwashers drain hose so the water can drain into it. If it isn't punched out before connecting the drain hose,the dirty water has nowhere to go so,it siphons and backwashes into the tub. Because there's a float, very little 'if any fresh water comes in for rinsing. That water eventually stagnates causing a strong stench. The other cause is connecting the inlet hose to cold water instead of hot water.

 

[sngencarelli]

So yesterday I plumbed up to the cold water line to take the water heater out of the equation. That leaves it up to the dishwasher to heat the water. Did the two loads and so far so good. I'm not overly optimistic, as the problem comes and goes, so we'll see after I get a few loads completed.

I know the usual suspects are drains, filters, etc. I've been through it all trying to get rid of this problem. I've always known it wasnt the drain, as I put in a dedicated line that's not tied into the sink. I even tried a graywater drain - straight to the outdoors.

Its interesting to note, I never really notice that the dishwasher smells.. It only seems to be the dishes once they've cooled.

 

[mich]

I've heard of this "problem"..

In a lot, of, European designed dishwashers. Esp, Miele & Bosch Models...

 

It would seem from my opinion to be from, egg residue, and the like, that the detergent isn't able to dissolve or kill off the protein, or carbohydrate from the soil. 

 

Now, most detergents, contain, "Enzymes" which, generally do a good enough job, and are able to dissolve and keep this under control. But.. there are problems. Sometimes, the enzymes can't act fast enough, and Food residue (I think Egg, but it could be anything) gets stuck on dishwasher components. I think this is really problematic, on Dishwasher filter based machines, or dishwashers without built in Food disposers. 

 

There are ways, to fix the problem. One is to use a Chlorine Laden Detergent, such as Finish or Cascade Gel. The Chlorine Content will off the protein content in food, and take away that awful smell. However, if your one to generally have, stuck on food, and tough to scrub dirty dishes, you may start to notice some things (not all) but some things may not come out as clean as well, or, you may have to use a longer cycle time than before.. 

 

Another idea is, to use a High-Enzyme content, detergent, such as Cascade Complete, or Finish Quantum or Powerball. The Tablets from Finish, and the Gel Packets, from Cascade, both contain enough enzyme content to dissolve through tough food, but they have the addition of Oxygen Bleach, to help control this problem, and help with Coffee & Tea stains. 

 

Thing is, the Oxygen Bleach can only do so much, and I don't think it'll take care of that smell. It'll just help to prevent it from coming back. 

 

I'd run a Dishwasher Cleaner, or Citric Acid Crystal (lemishine) cycle, to help clean it out. Although, the use of a Chlorinated Detergent, would definitely help. 

 

[mark_wpduet]

washing in a mist and rinsing in dew

Ha!!

Hopefully it's not THAT BAD!!

 

[logixx]

Can't complain about my dishwasher, which is similar to this one



If you want more, Miele sells two Pro units that look just like a domestic model (baskets, features, semi- or fully integrated and so forth) but has an 8 kW heater and pumps 50 gallons a minute.

 

[cleanteamofny]

The smell that went away.......

Since we've been forced to use new detergent with enzymes with low water usages, this combo really leaves glasses really funky.
In order to combat this problem is to use 2-3 oz of LCB since most dishwasher prewash and rinse before the main wash.
I've been doing this for a while and my roasting pan comes out cleaner with bleach, than without it and as for the smelly glassware, it is eliminated!

Get it try!

 

[christies47]

Stinky Miele Dishwasher - what you may not know

I realize this is an old thread-- but I wanted to post some information that I learned this past year. We, too had a brand new Miele dishwasher- perfect in every way except for the fishy/stinky smell on the dishes (glasses especially) that was noticeable right after the cleaning cycle ended.

The drain was clean, there was no problem with waste water backing up, no problems with our tap water or tankless water heater, etcetc.

The real problem was this: Miele tests its washers in Germany and then ships them across the ocean- where they can sit in a warehouse for months, in the summer. Since the water from the testing is still in the machine- it goes bad. The rotten smell is from the interior and intake lines -- that's why cleaning the drain, racks, and main cabinet of the dishwasher alone does not do the trick.

I read about this online (an exasperated NYC interior decorator confronted a Miele rep,) and it was finally confirmed for me by a Miele tech who came out to look at the dishwasher. He knew all about the water sitting in the machines, going bad, etc. His attitude was that EVERYONE knows this-- but that's clearly not true. The Miele customer service tech I spoke with on the phone had a million reasons for my bad smelling washer --none of them that the lines inside the machine had been full of rank stinky water due to sitting on a dock somewhere for months in the heat.

The tech who came to the house said I could try running some heavy cycles with bleach - (which would recycle the bleach through the spray arms at least) but that this still might not do the trick and that I may end up having to get a new machine. (Presumably one that was shipped in the winter!)