I find that for most items, the condensation drying works fine. Plastic tend to come a bit wet but I don’t have a lot of plastic going in the diswasher and a quick towel wipe takes care of it.
Well, folks, I went ahead and ordered the Bosch 300 Series with the recessed panel on the outside, in white. Stainless steel tub and all that. It’s basically a alternate of the Wirecutter-recommended model. It’s coming not next Monday but the one after. Really looking forward to it.
This time I’m going to pay attention and see if there’s a dedicated outlet for it or if it’s hardwired via a junction box, which I failed to do twenty years ago or so when I replaced the one that came with my house (which turned out to be essentially a non-built-in converted to a built-in which tracks with the generally crappy remodel they did of the kitchen after a fire they had in '91-- I bought in 97-- the house had enough good points–newer plumbing, 3 prong grounded outlets all over, pretty much every 6 feet, no plaster and lathe bullshit to deal with–that I bought it anyway, and good thing I did given what happened in the 2000’s).
Yeah that’s the one downside of ours too. You’ve GOT to empty the washer soon after the cycle ends, otherwise your dried dished will be wet (again) from condensation.
Having suffered through the destructive tendencies of our previous Whirlpool with a heating element, which liked to melt anything plastic and try to scorch anything else, I’m fine with the Bosch air-dry approach.
My experience is that heat drying, from a heating element, works a bit better if you open the dishwasher door a crack. It allows the moisture to escape and not condense back on the dishes. YMMV
We just have a basic Kenmore and tend to leave the clean dishes sitting in there a while before unloading (overnight until the next morning or early afternoon even). It does a pretty good job drying anyway, other than expected stuff like little pools in the upturned bottoms of coffee mugs, but the longer we wait to unload the better that stuff evaporates without even cracking the door.
If we have to unload immediately after the dry cycle ends, then we usually have to wipe off a few water drops on some dishes/utensils. We just don’t put any plastic items at all on the bottom rack, and that takes care of any heating element worries.
Having just had to engage my homeowner’s insurance this summer due to a dishwasher leak ruining a six-foot area of hardwood floors, I will also suggest investing $25-50 on a good leak sensor and putting it under the dishwasher when you install it.
On the bright side, got my floors refinished, a new sink (on my own dime, but since the old one was ripped out anyway during the repairs…) and new counters. But had to stay in a hotel for a week, no kitchen sink for over a month, etc. and would not recommend the experience. :)
Thanks. I’m almost certain that the Bosch model I ordered comes with something like that IIRC.
So I’ve had the new machine (a Bosch 300 Series) for a few weeks, and while it’s wonderful to have a dishwasher again, I’m trying to figure out its quirks.
Do you all bother with the “rinse agent” stuff? I bought some of the recommended brand and added it as instructed to the reservoir for it a couple nights ago, but the damn thing starts leaking out (despite not “filling the oval” per the instructions) and makes a mess! What am I supposed to do, put it in a teaspoon at a time? Sheesh.
Also, I’m wondering what’s going on because sometimes the dishes come out with the dreaded “wet dog” smell. Either the old powdered detergent I had had lost its effectiveness, or I was using too much (we have soft water in Portland). Anyway I bought some new liquid stuff of the recommended brand and we’ll see how that goes. Not putting in a whole bunch of detergent either.
Oh, and the things on the side of the top rack that let you adjust the height are neat and all, but putting glasses or mugs right up against the edge where the adjusting mechanism is means that the outside of the glasses/mugs doesn’t get rinsed properly.
I use white vinegar as the rinse agent. Not only does it help with spotting, but it kills any odors. As well, it’s recommended that you put a glass measuring cup with vinegar in by itself and do a full wash. It cleans out various sprayers and drains.
Thanks for the white vinegar recommendation. It’s cheap and I can pick it up at Costco, which I’ll do next time I go.
I never use it without the Finish drying agent. In fact, it gives an error message if the reservoir isn’t filled sufficiently, at least, on my model it does. And I’ve never had it leak or smell like a wet dog. But I only use the tablets, not powder stuff.
It should not be doing that. It’s under warranty I assume.,
I have a Bosch and use the rinse agent. You get a message that more rinse agent is needed, but the dishwashre will operate without it however the estimated time to run the cycle goes up 16 minutes to account for a longer drying time without the rinseaid.
It is under warranty. Next time the light comes on I’m going to be extra careful but I was pretty sure I was being careful last time. I didn’t come close to filling the thing to the brim as it shows in the videos from the manufacturer so I don’t know what gives.
Speaking of drying with regard to your other post, when the “clean” light comes on, is that supposed to indicate that the drying cycle is done as well?
The thing I don’t like about using tablets is that you can’t control the amount of detergent you’re using, right? Our water in Portland is soft so I feel like why pay for more than I need.
Yes, it means the dishwasher is done, but there is dry cycle per se as Bosch uses condensation drying. I usually wait a bit because the plates are really hot.
Yeah, I just hate error messages flashing.
Could be. We have a well and have no clue as to what the effect is on dishwasher detergent. I just go to Costco and buy big cheap vats of tablets.
Ditto here. It works just as well as any of the name brand tablets I’ve tried. And also too many oopsies with powder in the past.
I keep a gallon of white vinegar in the house all the time, and use it to clean the dishwasher, run washing machine cycles with it to clean that up, and also use it as a general cleaning agent.