Warning to Bob Loaders

[sudsmaster]

"Bob Load" is a honorific given to dishwasher loads that go above and beyond the usual loading of a dishwasher. Every nook and cranny is exploited and more dishes per load are accomodated.

 

Well, I wouldn't claim to be in the Bob Loader league, but I have often managed to load my Bosch 43c to the hilt. Including cat food dishes (bowls, really, of the Corning Corelle persuasion) with dried on remnants of various odiferous feline treats, mainly Friskies canned.

 

Meanwhile I've noticed residual odors in the dishwasher. These became more common when I switched from phosphated powder to the new non-phosphated Finish tabs. For light to medium loads, they seemed to work well enough. Then I started noticing that nastly smell again. It's enough to make drinking a recently dishwashed glass of filtered water unpleasant. Even though the Bosch is set to "Sanitize" every load, the off aromas persisted. I would religiously clean the manual clean filter, but this didn't seem to help.

 

Finally I got a clue. I switched back to powder and loaded the somewhat undersized Bosch detergent compartment fully. So much that extra powder crunched as the lid was slid closed.

 

Since then, no more off odors from the dishwasher. And I figure the bacteria load is lower, as well.

 

So a warning to Bob Loaders. If you have a Euro dishwasher, with a small detergent dispenser, you may need to load it fully before running a load that many would say is an overload. Or a load of stinky pet food bowls.

 

Result: no more stinky loads.  And I have noticed any hazing of glassware, either, which can be a concern.

 

Meanwhile I've discovered I can squeeze two Finish tabs into the detergent compartment. I run the next load like that, complete with stinky cat food bowls, to see if the lack of phosphates isn't the cause of the odors. We'll see!

 

I've noticed that older American design dishwashers seem to have larger detergent compartments, and many older designs have a space for adding pre-wash detergent. The Bosch has no such provision, and the manual advises against adding detergent outside the timed dispenser. Probably because the machine is programmed to do a series of quick hot rinses to flush away food debris before opening up the detergent compartment about 30 minutes into the entire wash cycle (which lasts about an hour and 10 minutes, I think). More modern American dishwashers however may have done away with (dispensed!) with the pre-wash, I don't know.

 

Oh, and the water here is relatively soft (2 to 5 grains, depending on season).

 

[mamapinky]

my dishwasher

I think its 19 years old Frigidaire mdb202rbw0. I changed the hoses last year when it sprung a leak...I can't overload this machine or nothing gets clean even adding STPP. You all know so much about washers/dishwashers tell me my DW is junk and I can convince myself to replace it..lol. no bob loads for me..with a family of 6 I can only wish...

 

[mark_wpduet]

I use Finish Powerball tabs

in my Maytag, but the only thing I notice this with is EGGS! EVEN if I use phosphate powder with bleach (the Cascade institutional) nothing else, including cat food, tuna, etc, leaves that smell at the end. Just eggs. So if I ever use eggs, I make sure and wash most of it off before it goes in the dishwasher.

 

[askolover]

Chlorine

I still keep a bottle of liquid with chlorine bleach in it and every other cycle or so I use it...keeps everything smelling fresh!  Sometimes I add a little extra Clorox to the prewash portion as soon as the water starts filling.  We used chlorinated detergents for many years.

 

[washer111]

We have had trouble with slightly stinky cups on loads where a lot of eggy soils were present. But I haven't noticed anything much lately.

My preference these days, despite the water-heating foibles the cycle presents, is the Heavy or Heavy Eco cycles. The hotter temperatures give a far better guarantee of the machine keeping itself clean, even if lesser cycles will do the job on the dishes.

And as everyone here knows, I do try my best to stack the Drawers to the gills every time.

 

[mamapinky]

I haven't figured out which dw detergent I prefer. ..but I really need to use one that has bleach being an older dw with shorter wash times so I've been using finish gel and stpp. Actually I don't have problems unless its overloaded on the bottom rack which I guess prevents good spray to the top and I can't wash pots in it.with my large family this gets run daily and I'm still at the sink..lol

 

[mamapinky]

Greg

I never thought about adding some clorox bleach to the prewash..how much do you add? Thank you cheryl

 

[appnut]

I don't have any odor issues with loads that have eggs in it--either scrambled or from baking batters. 

 

[sudsmaster]

Old Frigidaire DW

I had a mid-level Frigidaire DW  I bought back around 1998. While one aspect of the design was good - the ball valve that alternated full spray power between lower and upper racks, it had other serious design flaws:

 

1) The upper rack supports were so flimsy the upper rack would fall onto the lower rack if you looked at it wrong.

 

2) The primary screen filter was made of a white plastic that easily warped and allowed food debris to contaminate the dishes. I tried a lot of things to try to get that filter to sit flat and do its job, but nothing worked.

 

I think I wound up replacing one of the pumps myself (can't remember if it was a drain pump or the recirculating pump) but finally gave up on the thing and got a Bosch instead. The Bosch has done pretty good. Its pump got noisy after about 10 years and I replaced it myself. Since then no problems other than the occasional stinky load. Hopefully those are history as well.

 

I have a collection of older KA dishwashers waiting in the wings when the Bosch finally dies... or if the stinky loads return ;-)

 

I should add that Appnut is the Bob behind every Bob Load.

 

 

 

[sudsmaster]

I suspect the problem is that the Bosch engineers never met Appnut... ;-)

 

 

[whirlcool]

It could be that food debris is getting stuck under the motor cover at the bottom of the machine. It's not making it into the chopper/disposal area. Or the manual filter may need cleaning.

 

[cleanteamofny]

One to two ounces placed on the door is all you need. You can turn off the sanitize button when LCB is used.
I've done this and posted this a little under two years ago since these new machine does 2 short pre-washes before the main wash on the Normal Cycle!

Pay attention to tab scents, the bleach may alter this but will dissipate when taken out of the dishwasher.

http://www.automaticwasher.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?38869

 

[askolover]

Mamapinky

 I just pour a little in when the water starts...never measured it. 

 

[foraloysius]

I had a smell coming from the dishwasher too when I changed detergent (Lidl's W5). As soon as I switched back to Somat the smell was gone again, no matter what load. So my thought is the detergent might be more important than the size of the load.

 

[mark_wpduet]

I think it depends on the amount

of eggs for me. How much is on a dish, etc,. It's weird that I don't always notice it. I don't use eggs a lot, but say I use a bowl and beat 2 eggs in it, then dump the beaten eggs out of that bowl, and don't rinse that bowl and put it directly in the dishwasher, then the spatula with eggs on it, then the plate that eggs were on, and then, perhaps 2 days later, run the dishwasher, I can smell that residual smell in glasses....If it's just a little egg, like a rinsed bowl or scraped off spatula, with traces of egg on it, then I can't. I've noticed this for YEARS though with eggs and the dishwasher. This is nothing new.

It's funny though, if it's batter that had eggs in it, I don't notice it! Weird!

But it's no big deal for me because I rarely use eggs, and if I do, that's the only thing that gets rinsed before going in the dishwasher, cuz I never rinse anything - just scrape off.

 

[polkanut]

<span style="font-family: terminal, monaco; font-size: 12pt;">I mix 2 cups of Hytron and 2 cups of Cascade w/ Dawn w/ 6.4% phosphates, and use this mixture in nearly every load. I also add 1 level tsp of STPP to the detergent cup along with the detergent. Never a problem with odors, hazing, or residues of any sort.</span>

http://www.stearnspkg.com/hfa/h-hytron-chlorinated-automatic-dishwasher-detergent.html

 

[angus]

Well, here is my take on the egg smell issue. Also one of the reason I don't particularly like eating in diners - more often than not, I notice that smell especially on glasses or flatware. Having a sensitive nose is a curse. This also applies to working with raw chicken (separate from the bacteria issue) even with careful washing in hot water and detergent. There is no way you are going to avoid that egg or raw chicken smell if you put the dishes where you used raw eggs or chicken right into the dishwasher without rinsing. In fact, experience and my mother have taught me the following:]

- anything that raw egg or chicken has touched should be rinsed first with cold water and a small amount of chlorine bleach. The cold water removes the egg residue - if you rinse in hot water, that will almost congeal the egg protein and make it more difficult to remove.
- the bleach will deodorize

So whenever i work with raw egg or chicken, i keep a large bowl of cold water with a small amount of bleach for rinsing. First I wipe out all the residue with paper towels and discard, then rinse and into the dishwasher. No more residual odors.

Sounds like a lot of steps but really isn't.

 

[logixx]

I also pack my Bosch to the max. When I use powder, I put half of it in the dispenser and half of it somewhere on the door - one tablespoon in total. I recently switched over to tabs because I noticed the powder dropping in performance (and because I wanted to try another detergent). I still put one teaspoon of the powder that I have left over on the door for the prewash. No smells.

 

[user 3941]

What is a Bob Load? :-/

 

[logixx]

If you stuff an appliance all the way full (and then add some more) and still get flawless results.

 

[user 3941]

Ahhhh gotcha! I was like who is Bob? hahaha

 

[mayguy]

I have issues with cooked on egg yoke, and even when I used to work in a restaurant, the cooked or dried on yoke never came off.. Had to scrub ahead of time.

 

[philr]

who is Bob?

Bob is someone! Look at who posted the reply #7 in this thread!

 

 

[wayupnorth]

I used to load my dishwasher pretty much all the racks and even on top before starting it and then they just seemed to not getting clean. That was when I discovered my old Rain Soft water softener system died and now stuff does not get as clean as I want from straight well water. I got to get a new system so I can have clean dishes, clothes and not have to clean the tub, sinks and toilet all the time but I am not spending a fortune. Lowes best Whirlpool softener is $799 but these water treatment places want thousands for a "complete" system. Come on, I did not come from under a rock. I want a simple system that I can put the iron remover salt pellets in, as I have very hard water and dont drink it, and it does its thing and then I have soft water and we live happier ever after.

 

[mark_wpduet]

I'm trying the bleach thing right now -

pouring a little bleach on the dishwasher door, closing it, and running a cycle. I just want to see if the bleach will cause the finish powerball tab to not work. I just put a little bit, like a cap full of bleach.....hopefully most of that gets rinsed before the main wash starts. It was a huge load of dirty dishes so I guess we will see how it works.

 

[askolover]

Wayupnorth....Rainsoft

"I used to load my dishwasher pretty much all the racks and even on top before starting it and then they just seemed to not getting clean. That was when I discovered my old Rain Soft water softener system died and now stuff does not get as clean as I want from straight well water. I got to get a new system so I can have clean dishes, clothes and not have to clean the tub, sinks and toilet all the time but I am not spending a fortune. Lowes best Whirlpool softener is $799 but these water treatment places want thousands for a "complete" system. Come on, I did not come from under a rock. I want a simple system that I can put the iron remover salt pellets in, as I have very hard water and dont drink it, and it does its thing and then I have soft water and we live happier ever after. "

 

Rainsoft is a ripoff!!!  They suckered me in back in 2000...the system failed 4 years later, valves, timer motors, mechanisms, etc not to mention idiotic "service personnel" who didn't know their butt from a hole in the ground.  I finally got fed up and went to Lowes, got the Whirlpool model and installed it myself.  It worked for 10 years until just recently.  I had kept the Rainsoft system in my shop and found a website telling how to re-furbish it with new reliable Fleck parts and that's just what I did.  Cleaned the tank good with bleach, replaced the resin and put a new valve head on it for less than the Lowes one cost....and the Fleck valves have been around for YEARS and parts are still available AND owner serviceable.  Reinstalled it in its old spot and it works like a charm!!  It was so easy to do!  I new my Lowes system was failing but kept putting it off cause I thought it would be too big of a job but it really wasn't.  I emailed the owner of this website below BEFORE I ever bought from him with all kinds of questions and he gladly answered each one.  That's why I bought from him.  He's on youtube.  

 

OOOOOh, just thinking about that Rainsoft ripoff makes my blood start boiling...I'd better go to bed and hope I don't have nightmares.  

http://www.softenerparts.com/

 

[mark_wpduet]

The bleach

did not cause the finish powerball tab not to work. Everything came clean and the dishwasher has a more sanitized smell to it (if that makes sense), or a really clean smell. Not that it smelled bad before but it's just a cleaner smell I suppose. It's amazing how small amount of bleach goes such a long way. I buy a gallon at a time and it takes me forever to go through a gallon, and the expiration date is always passed before I can use it all, but I use it anyway until it's gone.

 

[wayupnorth]

Thanks for that link, Greg. I had bought my Rain Soft system used nearly 20 years ago and to be honest, I dont want to mess with it anymore. I am a jinx at plumbing, so I leave it up to the experts. If I have to spend some money every 10 years or so on a new system, it would be well worth it.

 

[mamapinky]

I just unloaded my dw I also used about 1& a1/2 tablespoons of clorox bleach in the prewash actually I put it in after it started filling. Mark I know what you mean about the more sanitized smell.this was a BOB load for sure I was just to tired to run it last night and after yesterdays picnic it was loaded. Usually this 1996 Frigidaire doesn't do well loaded but it did this time...bleach, powdered cascade complete, and stpp..does anyone know if its safe on the dw to use bleach everyday? I'm assuming it is as there's bleach in some dw detergent. Thanks a lot cheryl

 

[DADoES]

 
Keep in mind that chlorine bleach deactivates enzymes ... far as I understand, assuming the information is correct.  So, if an enzyme detergent is used, hopefully the bleach is flushed/rinsed away before the main wash period commences.