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steph2000

New Bosch DWs?

steph2000
10 years ago

It seems Bosch has discontinued some lines of DWers and come out with some new ones. I've searched around here to find links, but it doesn't seem the board has discussed it.

Anyone have feedback or impressions about these changes and recommended DW'ers?

Comments (24)

  • newkitchen13
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I was told that BOSCH is no longer manufactured in Germany but in South Carolina, which i would think is great, except that apparently they have reduced the plant tremendously and somehow they are getting returns right and left (seems the main problem is coming from the pump). The show room I go to told me they took all their models out because of the amount of complaints... MIELE is probably slightly more expensive but definitely a better brand.

  • xedos
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Ditto what jakvis said. Nk13 - your source is not to be trusted.

    I do agree with you about Miele being a better brand in general, but they are definitely more expensive. When looked at for value though....one starts to question Bosch's proposition. Miele dw's are a couple of hundred dollars more compared apples to apples, yet Miele's cost reflects German labor rates along with EU costs, + export costs and transportation to the U.S. + import fees and taxes and the overhead of the U.S. operation.

  • berner43
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I live in the town where the BSH (Bosch) dishwasher plant is located in NC. They just completed a 50 million dollar upgrade on the plant here and just started rolling them out in May. I don't work for Bosch but have had several german friends whose husbands work for BSH over the years. BSH brings people over from Germany to work in most of the high level management positions and other positions. Due to visa restrictions they are usually here for a few years and then change out. It's not like Bosch just opened a plant, turned everything over to the US workers, and then bailed back to Germany. If you go on the bosch website you can see what the new upgrades are. I have had 2 bosch dishwashers (in 2 different houses). The one I have now is about 7 years old and is not top of line. It does an excellent job of cleaning and I've never had a problem with it. I will be upgrading later this year to another bosch because we are remodeling our kitchen. My mother has an 800 plus that she was able to purchase through a friends and family sale at BSH(for a disgustingly low, I wish I could get that now, price!!). I have to walk up to it to actually hear that it's on. She loves hers as well. I am hopefully attaching a link to an article that was in our paper.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Bosch NC plant upgrade

  • inga239
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I just purchased a Bosch SHEPT55UC. which I believe is in the 800 series I was told it just came out and they had only had it in the showroom for a week or two. I have owned it a couple of weeks so I'm still learning how best to use it.

    I find the interior arrangement to be superior to my ASKO. It holds a lot of dishes and I like the adjustable rack and the parts that fold down if you need more space. I do think 2.5 hour NORMAL wash and dry cycle to be a bit much. This is the one recommended for majority of loads. Now I'm experimenting with EXPRESS wash which is a 60 min cycle and so far everything comes out spotless. It was made in the US and I think that's great.
    I have noticed moisture on the interior of the door regardless of the cycle I've used. Not sure if that is normal or that it matters. I am using a rinse agent.

    I did want a quiet dishwasher as I have an open arrangement and frequently wash dishes during a dinner party. This dishwasher is "annoyingly quiet" I have to keep checking to see if it is actually running. I'm certain once I feel comfortable with all of the buttons, I won't be checking on it anymore.
    The dishwasher has three shelves and the top shelf is very shallow and is meant to hold silverware and large items such as serving spoons. I prefer the standard silverware holders of which there are 2 but like this shelf for spatulas and things like that. It also will hold very small bowls without having them be knocked around.

    I haven't figured out what the large protuding spike is for on the bottom shelf. Kind of reminds me of a beer chicken
    roasting piece. The operating instructions have much to be desired.

    I hope that helps

  • inga239
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    PS

    I forgot to mention that it has a water softening system built in. I have decided to forgo putting salt into the dishwasher as we are on city RO water which has absolutely 0 minerals.
    For those who are on well water or have mineral build up issues, I would think this feature to be great.
    inga

  • whirlpool_trainee
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    The large spike is probably a bottle holder. Just put a bottle (or vase etc.) over it and it holds it securely without falling over.

    Alex

  • homebuyer23
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Inga239 - How is your new Bosch drying your dishes? I am on the fence, really want to buy a Bosch to get the rebate (i'm getting Bosch cooktop & oven) but I have read so much about Bosch DWs not drying which would drive me mad, and my SIL has an older model and hates it says it doesn't clean well. However then I've read tons of great reviews for Bosch and lots of bad reviews for other brands, so...

    I finally saw one of the new DWs in a showroom. I saw model SHX68T5. I can tell you it definitely has a larger tub than the older models. I wouldn't consider Bosch DWs before bc they seemed so small to me but this new one definitely seemed more comparable in size to the kitchenaids I've been wanting. I measured though & the Bosch lower rack is still about 3/4" shorter than the KA.

    I like the looks, the top rack, roominess, and the price, but I'm just really scared to order it. I Wish I wanted a Miele, I know everyone on here swears by them, but looking inside those I think I'd hate loading it they just seem too small for my needs plus expensive.

    The reviews whirlpool-trainee posted above are helpful. though they seem to be for the lowest end model & the top of the line, model. Wish I could find some good feedback about this midgrade one I'm considering.

    Steph, good luck with your decision, keep us posted what you decide, I will too, I really have to nail down appliances soon, Im sick of thinking about it!

  • MizLizzie
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I'm with inga239. We just installed our second American-made Bosch, this one a SHV55R53UC panel-ready. It was discontinued shortly after we purchased it. We loved our old Bosch, and having learned how to tweak the new one, I think we will love it equally well. Cleans marvelously. So quiet. And it has that red light that shines on the floor to show you it is running.

    But that ginormous prong? What is it? Looks like half a coat hanger protruding from the bottom. Also, the silverware caddy doesn't allow front placement anymore. We've split ours in half and stored one half under the sink to see if we can get by. Still, for all the oddities, I can't imagine buying anything but Bosch. Our appliance dealer say they are always their top recommendation, even though he sells Meile and Asko.

  • jakvis
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    The "prong" is removable and is a tall item holder for a vase, flask, caraffe, etc.

    If you are not using it just remove it.

  • inga239
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    homebuyer,

    My dishes are dry. The inside of the door has quite a bit of moisture but it does not seem to affect the contents. I am going to call and see if that is normal or if I am doing something or there is something wrong with the DW. There is a sanitize button and that supposedly helps drying. I stopped using it as the dishes are so hot you can't handle them for a long time.
    And thanks for the hint on the "chicken" holder. How cleaver to have that for a large vase or bottle.
    Today I am trying to put the silverware up on the very top shelf and lay everything down between the little spaces. I didn't think I liked that but decided I should try it before I decide not to use it.

    inga

  • jakvis
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Your Bosch DW uses condensation drying which means the walls and the door cool more rapidly than the dishes and the moisture is attracted to the cooler surfaces and draws the water away from the dishes.
    It works quite well and has been the mainstay of european build dishwashers for many years.

  • MizLizzie
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Thanks, jakvis, for the tip re my coat hanger. ;-) It popped right out.

    inga239, yes, that is exactly how a Bosch should be. When I got my first Bosch, it seemed odd but I quickly learned to love it. My dishes have always been spotless.

  • lombardguy
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hello,

    I purchased the 800 series in the re-design and so far I am less than impressed with its cleaning ability. I have tried cascade platinum, bubble bandit and cascade industrial. The last two have phosphate. The dishwasher seems to handle everyday dishes okay but if I add a casserole dish or anything baked on or worse yet a little bit burnt on it does not make a dent in it.

    I attribute this to less and less water being used. The same with front load washers... sooner or later the increasing energy standards are going to render these appliances useless.
    By the way as I sit here my neighbors sprinkler system is blasting away... something seems slightly out of whack here... water can be wasted on lawns but dishes and clothes have to be the victims of decreased water usage. Sorry I am off topic :)

  • homebuyer23
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Lombardguy, thanks for your review...oh my, I am so torn!
    Sounds exactly like what my SIL says about hers, she strongly suspects the low water usage makes her Bosch just useless on the really dirty stuff.

    Can you tell me the exact model you got? The link way up on this thread reviews 2 of the new models, and says the top of the line model performs great even on really bad casseroles, etc. But the lower end model performed poorly on that type of mess.

    I'm looking at a middle of the road model, retail price around $1000 but with rebates etc can be had for $850. Shx68t

    If that's yours, maybe I should buck up for the top of the line?
    Or maybe go back to the kitchen aid or kenmore ones I saw that look more like what I'm used to, have heated drying, and those power scrub blaster
    things in the back.

    But then there's all those bad kitchenaid reviews...... :-(

  • lombardguy
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hello again,

    My specific model # is SHE68T55UC. If I was not planning on moving out of this house in the spring I would have exchanged this unit for a Miele like I had in my previous house. It cleaned everything beautifully. I had a 5 year old Jenn air (whirlpool) that performed much better than this unit but suffered from rusting racks and motor problems.

    My suggestion would be to move up the line and get the 800 plus if that is supposed to clean better or look at other manufacturers. I thought for sure I would be golden with the plain 800 series as its not their bottom of the line model. No such luck for me. As a side note I have very good water that is low in minerals and is relatively soft.

  • cbr1000
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I purchased one of the new models. In general I wait to purchase second generation to avoid potential unknown problems. With Bosch I wasn't too concerned with having problems, and I wanted the larger interior on the new model. I ended up getting the 65T55. I purchased from Lowes because Bosch had a free install rebate the first week of July, and Sears had it listed for less than Lowes so in the end I got it at a great price with Lowes matching +10% off + install rebate of $120.
    When it arrived it was DOA... would not power up. Looked great, but no power. I'm still waiting for the replacement to come in, should be here this Friday. I'm going to stick with the Bosch, but wanted to share that I had a no power problem so if others have the same problem we can see a trend. I'm not too worried about it, you can buy anything no matter the quality and have a dud. Plus Lowes gave me a $100 gift card for the inconvienence...

  • whirlpool_trainee
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Bosch started rolling out these dishwasher six or so years ago in Europe. Mine's from 2010. It does a great job cleaning and dries okay. Thin plastic items and teflon-coated pots tend to remain wet after a short drying cycle. Longer drying cycles help. As does opening the door for some minutes to let items cool off and dry.

    Here're two videos that also show how dry things were at the end of the cycle.

    Heavy Soil
    finish Quantum

    Alex

  • Cavimum
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    @lombardguy - Have you tried Finish brand DW detergent? Bosch only recommends Finish for their DWs. Cascade caused a froth of suds and suds left behind, in our new Bosch 800Plus DW. Finish leaves no suds behind, makes no suds, and cleans superbly. Doesn't matter if I use the powder, tabs, or Quantum tabs.

    Which cycle are you using? The "Normal" on ours is a joke. (you can equate it to "Normal" on 'he' FL washing machines) I tried it once and was terribly disappointed in the outcome.

    We have an 800Plus model. 99% of the time we use "Auto" . When really cruddy casseroles dishes have been added, we use "Heavy" or the DW is packed to the gills. "Auto" and "Heavy" cycles use much hotter water, too. This makes a difference. "Heavy" water is hotter than "Auto." It's all charted out in my DW owners manual.

    I no longer have to hand-wash pots & casserole dishes anymore, with our new Bosch. A quick soak, scrape, and pop it in.

    Also, check your filter. It can become clogged even after one month, depending on the water quality and remains left on dishes & bowls. I check & clean ours monthly. For so little water used, ours does a bang-up job of cleaning. LOTS better than our previous Kenmore Elite DW, that was pathetic on any kind of casserole dish.

    * * *

    "By the way as I sit here my neighbors sprinkler system is blasting away... something seems slightly out of whack here... water can be wasted on lawns but dishes and clothes have to be the victims of decreased water usage."

    Yes, OT, but I see the irony of it in our area that has LOTS of irrigation and pools.
    My sanity saver is knowing that one day all the irrigation and swimming pools will stop when water becomes the most precious commodity on our continent. It is easier (and cheaper on consumers) to ban use of those immediately, than have all of the U.S. to change/replace their water-using appliances and faucets overnight, because that just is not feasible and isn't going to happen.

  • MizLizzie
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Cavimum, this has been my experience, too. Been experimenting with the new DW for the last three weeks. I have learned those two settings make a lot of difference in both cleaning and drying. Last night I ran my first load with Finish-Q instead of the old Cascade I'd been polishing off. It cleaned a nasty meatloaf pan that was really baked on. I was impressed.

    Re filters, I rarely needed to clean ours in the old Bosch, so I don't expect much difference here. Our water is excellent. I did have to occasionally disassemble the washer arms in the old one -- someone who shall not be named was putting his tea glasses in with bits of lemon seeds still in them. Those and popcorn shells are the devil. But disassembly was easy once you got the hang of it.

    I have appreciated all the good info in this thread. Thanks.

  • jwvideo
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    This may be slightly off-topic, since I do not have one of the most current Bosch models (bought mine a year ago). But I'll offer some thoughts about the seemingly disparate reports of cleaning and drying results. (This is not intended to explain everything for everybody and not to suggest that the Bosch factories --- or anybody else's factories, --- do not produce some lemons. Nor do I mean to hint at contradicting Cavimum's good suggestions.)

    First, to expand on what jakvis said about condensation drying and cooler tub walls, there is another piece to this. The Bosch DWs (and the Miele DWs, too, I assume) use very hot water. That makes the dishes and etc. hot and the heat drives off the water to condense on the cooler SS walls and door as jakvis explained. The "saniitize" cycle increases the heat or its duration. On my DW, it is automatic, but some Bosch models make it optional. If you have one of those models, read the manual and check your unit to make sure it has not been turned off. (The higher model number versions can be pretty complicated, and it is possible to have something on or off without knowing it.)

    Second, the dishware will affect how well the condensation drying works. My dinnerware is old-style, heavy, commercial Buffalo China. Lots of mass, so it get gets plenty hot in the DW and then holds heat for quite some time. My glassware also tends to be kind of thick and heavy. These dry well in my Bosch. Very thin and light dishware --- something like Corelle, say --- with a lot less mass is not going retain the heat as well or for as long.. So, folks with thin and light or delicate items might not see the same drying I do.

    Third, there may be some differing practices and expectations, here. If your expectation is that the end-of-cycle light or signal means everything is completely dry and everything must be be put away at that very instant, then it seems to me that numbers of people are going to be disappointed.

    My own expectation is that the end-of-cycle light or signal just tells me that the dishwasher has finished running. I usually run the wash overnight and find everything dry when I clear the DW in the morning. But, if I need to get the dishes out right away, I know from experience that the dishes are going to be too hot for me to want to handle them at that moment the countdown timer hits zero (or the end-of-cycle light comes on.) Some of you have asbestos fingers, but not me. I pop the door open to let things cool and vent for around ten minutes. I've been doing this for decades, even back when I had GE DWs with heated dry. If I'm not needing to immediately clear the load ASAP --- as is usually the case for me but YMMV --- then I don't even need to think about popping the door.

    Now, I realize that there will be some railing, wailing, and gnashing of teeth over this. "Any #$@^&*XX DW that isn't absolutely finished when the signal comes on is a XXXXing fraud and nobody should every buy it!" Right?

    Well, the way I look at it is this. When I went DW shopping last summer, most every DW with a heated dry cycle (at least that I saw) was rated to run for 125 to 150 minutes, depending on the model. I fully expected that I would have to do the end-of-cycle-ten-minute-wait on them to have the dishes cool enough for me to want to handle. My new Bosch typically takes between 95 and 105 minutes to reach zero on the "Auto" cycle count-down timer. (Time varies with the condition of the load). Waiting another ten minutes at the end of a Bosch cycle is less time than if I'd had gotten a DW with the faster heated dry cycles (for which I would probably have to do the ten-minute wait, too.) So, no big deal to me but grossly offensive to some.

    This post was edited by JWVideo on Thu, Jul 11, 13 at 13:11

  • Olney
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    The Finish Rinse Aid makes all the difference in whether the dishes are dry or not when we run our 800 series (1 year old).

  • Cavimum
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    FWIW, our dishes and flatware are dry when our 800Plus Bosch DW finishes the cycle. There will be water in the bottoms of coffee mugs and anything else that has a crater shape and put in upside-down. That happened in decades of using various DWs with heated drying cycles, too.

    I rarely used a heated dry on our old DW of the past 10 or 12 years, because it just did not make any difference. With the old Kenmore Elite and our new Bosch, like JWVideo, I open the door and let the steam vapor escape and come back 5 minutes or more later (whether it is the next morning or right after the cycle completes) , mop up the water collected at tops of mug bottoms, etc., and unload.

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