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whit461

Whispered that the SS tubs DW smelled moldy

whit461
11 years ago

So I was at my appliance store today trying to get past my "Paralysis by Analysis" with a DW, and another customer seeing my interest in the Bosch lineup whispered, "I have a Bosch which I love, but it can smell moldy, and I find I have to leave the door cracked to let air in to dry it out.

Really? I have searched and searched and don't find that complaint about any DW with a SS tub, like Miele or Bosch.

Anyone care to annonymously comment?

Comments (35)

  • weissman
    11 years ago

    I don't have a Bosch but there have been numerous complaints on this forum about smells in Bosch DWs - not necessarily ones with SS tubs.

  • whit461
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Thanks for confirming the whisper. I kept looking through GW. Maybe I'm not searching right. My Dear Wife brought up this worry a couple of weeks ago. So I need to look into.

  • Cavimum
    11 years ago

    Maybe the moldy DW owner is not cleaning the filter? There just isn't that much in there that can grow mold.

    This post was edited by Cavimum on Thu, Feb 21, 13 at 18:21

  • jwvideo
    11 years ago

    Search a bit more. Lots of things can cause a moldy smell. Also, search chowhound. I recall a very long thread about somebody who had a smell like dead seabirds, and eventually figured out the problem. It isn't unique to Bosch, either.

  • nerdyshopper
    11 years ago

    When I was reading a month or so ago someone said his 800+ series with the built-in water softener smelled bad. Several others spoke up to complain about theirs. I think somone later (possibly a Bosch rep.) had a reasonable explanaion related to operator error I think.

  • idrive65
    11 years ago

    My Bosch (500 series with SS tub) smells is if I neglect the filter or don't run it for a day or two with fish or milk residue on the dishes, but otherwise it's fine. The filter will smell like a dirty disposal if you ignore it long enough.

  • queensinfo
    11 years ago

    my new 500 series smells like petroleum (from around the dishwahser) which bosch explained was related to the insulation and should dissapate over time. This is my second bosch and sometime even the clean dishes can smell a little off (with a clean filter). I have a bosch tech coming to my house next week and if he provides any additional insight i will post it. The dishes have never been cleaner though.

  • whit461
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Smell or no smell, I bought the Bosch today. So relieved. And I have no idea why this was one of the hardest decisions yet in our remodel. Give me a month or so and I will post about any smell due to the appliance or pilot error.

  • jakvis
    11 years ago

    Since the removal of phosphates from the detergent we are seeing odor complaints on all manufactures dishwashers.
    We have been recommending more frequent uses of citric d/w cleaner to get rid of mineral deposits that the old phosphate detergents handled better.

  • breezygirl
    11 years ago

    Jarvis--I've looked and looked in stores for a DW cleaner. Any recommendations for brands or places they are sold?

  • whit461
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    The Bosch paperwork recommended Finish, which seemed to be available at WM.

  • jakvis
    11 years ago

    There are several types of dishwasher cleaner on the market. Glisten, Dishwasher Magic, Finish D/W cleaner, Affresh D/W cleaner so it's shouldn't be hard to find one of these brands on your local store shelves.

    If you haven't run a cleaner before it may take more than one cleanout to completely clean your D/W

  • Cavimum
    11 years ago

    Bosch definitely recommends the Finish brand DW cleaner, but I use Lemi-Shine which is more readily available in our area (on most store shelves). Both products are citric acid. The MSDS sheet for the Finish indicates a surfactant, in addition to the citric acid..

    This post was edited by Cavimum on Fri, Feb 22, 13 at 20:02

  • queensinfo
    11 years ago

    bosch tech today said to use powder and that some of hte off smells could be related to using liqud detergent a couple of times initially. I was also having an issue of all the detergent seemd to be not clearing out (there were bubbles remaining at the end) and when opening the door running a second cycle in a row without additional soap, it looked like you had added plenty. The tech said that an entire finish tab is probably too much detergent. He didn't have any insight into the petroleum smell and i will see if that dissapates over time.

  • D Ahn
    11 years ago

    I'm glad to find out about this issue. We are having 2 Bosch DWs installed and want to avoid issues. We do have a water softener... if this is due to mineral deposits, can anyone else with a water softener and Bosch or other SS interior DW comment on whether the softener prevents the odor?

    Thanks!

  • queensinfo
    11 years ago

    i ran it last night and still having issues with too much soap. i have the techs cell number and will see if i can call and get any insight. ill probably move this to a separate posting.

  • jakvis
    11 years ago

    foaming issues are usually from too much rinse aid. Try moving your rinseaid disp to the lowest setting.

  • queensinfo
    11 years ago

    the instructions show one way is reduce streaks and the other way is to reduce spots. Which way is lower? now that i think of it, i am using the finish tabs with the orange dot in the middle (isnt that dot more rinse aid stuff).
    Thanks Javiks

  • jakvis
    11 years ago

    set the selector to less streaks. on the finish tabs the red ball is the enzymes I don't remember which layer is the rinseaid. Forget what the Bosch tech told you about using powder. You want to use the tabs and Bosch actually teaches this in the trainings. Not sure why this tech didn't know that. My Field Service Manager swears by the Finsh Powerball tabs and says the Quantum is even better.

  • badgergal
    11 years ago

    I have a one year old Bosch 500 series dishwasher with stainless steel interior. We have never has any smell in our dishwasher (wish I could say that about my LG clothes washer). I always use powdered dishwasher detergent (even local store brands) and finish or jet dry rinse aid. We do have a whole house water softener. I have also not had any issues with excessive suds, streaks or water spots. Didn't even realize until reading these comments that you could change the rinse aid setting so I went and looked and mine is set at 3. I owned Bosch dishwashers in 2 previous kitchens. Each of those were still going strong after 10 years and neither ever never had a service call. I didn't think for a minute about getting any other kind of dishwasher when I remodeled last year.

  • queensinfo
    11 years ago

    javkis thanks again. the tech told me to cut the tabs in half to which i said why pay for tabs. he said we should use powder. i will keep using a full tab and see if reducing the rinsaid as low as possible helps.

    Have you heard of a petroleum like smell coming from the unit? The tech on the phone said it was from the insulation heating up but would dissapate over time (but hasnt yet after about 15 or so washes).

  • sail_away
    11 years ago

    Following the various posts here has led to a question. If you use the Finish tabs, they have a rinse agent already, don't they? So should rinse aid also be put in the dispenser? Doesn't that result in too much rinse aid?

    Right now I have a twenty year-old DW, but it's scheduled to be replaced shortly, so I'd like to get this figured out ahead of time.

  • Cavimum
    11 years ago

    I had some Cascade Complete powder that I used initially, in our new Bosch 800-Plus series DW. For some reason I had abandoned it with our old DW. When I used the Cascade Complete, there was awful sudsing, and even suds left in bottom of tub. When I use the Finish Powerball or Quantum tabs, there is no sudsing at all.

  • elyash
    11 years ago

    There was a similar post about Miele dishwashers by an interior designer who said her firm traced the smell to the time of year and port to which the unit came in and how long the unit was held on the dock. She provided a very detailed solution for getting rid of the odors. If you search miele + odor I assume it will come up. I would think her solution could be applied to Bosch.

  • weissman
    11 years ago

    I use Finish Quantum tabs which has rinse aid and I also use rinse aid in the dispenser. I believe the rinse aid in the tab releases earlier than the rinse aid in the dispenser. I don't know if both are necessary but it doesn't cause any problems.

  • dadoes
    11 years ago

    Rinse aid in detergent tablets is largely a marketing gimmick IMO. The detergent is gone down the drain at end of the wash period, so it's unlikely that any included rinse aid can have an effect in the final rinse (which is when rinse aid is intended to be dispensed).

  • Cavimum
    11 years ago

    Chances are the rinse aid included in DW detergents acts more as a water softener. (Finish rinse aid is citric acid) Our water is moderately hard, more toward the soft end of that spectrum. I have the rinse aid dispenser set to '1' in our Bosch 800-Plus DW. We've had no problems. I suppose one could put white vinegar in there instead of the JetDry..

  • queensinfo
    11 years ago

    just a thought reading this. i used regular jet dry as a rinse aid, could that lead to even more sudsing than using finish rinse aid? i lowered it to 1 and will report back whether that helps.

  • mike_73
    11 years ago

    I was going to get a Bosch DW but the budget didn't quite let me and I would have had to get a lower end Bosch

    I did get a frigidaire gallery it has a filter system and a food grinder. I have had to clean the filter once. Mostly because I had let some food on the dishes and not scrapped them well and let dishes sit a few days several times in a row. It stunk so I took it apart and washed in hot water and soap rinsed and put it back all was fine again.

    I am using finish powerball tabs and jet dry in the dispenser set to a lower setting and mine seems work fine no suds or soap left

  • Cavimum
    11 years ago

    @queenskitchen - Finish and JetDry are the same product.

    Do you know how hard or soft your water is? You can run a test (Home Depot sells the strips) or see if your local utility district has the info online, or via a quick phone call.

    Which detergent are you using? (did I miss this?)

  • sjerin
    11 years ago

    Do you have a high-loop install under the sink?

  • queensinfo
    11 years ago

    local utility district is NYC so not sure how easy it is to get that information. I asked the tech about the drainage and he thought it was sufficient. it does not go all the way up to underneath the countertop but is higher than where it connects to the drain (no disposal unit). I can try looping it higher and see if that helps? i am using the finish tabs.

  • Bunny
    10 years ago

    I got a Bosch a couple of months ago. Initially there was an odd (some say petroleum) smell. It eventually went away. My installer told me I could cut the Quantum tabs in half. Rarely do I have a full load (live alone) and usually get away with the Half Load selection.

    Can anyone say what is the difference between Quantum and Powerball, besides the price?

  • inga239
    10 years ago

    My Asko started smelling very bad after a some years of use. It was a sewage odor every time it drained the water or switched a function. It was as if the dishwasher burped sewage gas. I tried every kind of cleaner to clean up the smell and was close to having the tile floor jack hammered to see if the sewage drain line had enough slope. Then my glasses and dishes started to come out dirty and I couldn't even clean them by hand. I read about a product on line and thought what can I lose...it is a dish detergent with Phosphate. I ordered it and after several washes, the smell went away and my dishes and glasses were clean. I am also using it with my new Bosch. I swear by it.

  • D Ahn
    10 years ago

    Inga, thanks! Good to know. We haven't had that problem yet but have experienced cleaner dishes with phosphate-containing detergents... we try to pick up said detergents when we're out of California and happen to remember. But I didn't know you could get a sewage smell from non-phosphate detergents and that it's easily remedied by phosphate detergent!

    David