friendly_jacek's Full Review: Bosch SHE4AM02UC 24 in. Built-in Dishwasher
Our old DW (whirlpool) was very noisy but reliable. After 12 years of its service we finally found an excuse to replace it: the ”maintenance free” filter required maintenance and seemed to be plugged up with moldy residue. My wife wanted something less noisy. The only logical alternative was Bosch, legendary for its quiet DW.
Not waiting for the upcoming “cash for appliance clunkers” courtesy of our government (sounds like a joke, but it’s not a joke, it will be rolled out in a few months), we marched to local home improvement stores that featured 10-20% off on appliances lately.
We noticed a few Bosch models selling for $500 and under at Lowes and Sears (before the discounts). We ended up with SHE4AM12UC, a close cousin of the SHE4AM02UC. SHE4AM12UC is basically the same thing, but plus half load setting and adjustable upper rack. The other features are the same: record quiet 53 dBa action, energy conserving 300 kWhr/year, stainless steel walls, and German engineering.
I was a bit uneasy about the drying issue, as the salesman warned us that a lot of customers return Bosch DWs due to weak drying. A lot of reviews talk about problems with drying, too. So, I was anxious to try it out. One more thing, some people are also uneasy about the filters that need to be cleaned manually in Bosch vs the “self cleaning” filters in domestic DWs. Well, as our old Whirlpool showed us, the “self cleaning” filters don’t always self clean and can be a major mess. More on that later. First the installation.
This was the first time I installed a DW and I read the instructions, but it was actually not difficult. I reused the water line from the old DW, but had to place a new water drain line as the old one was too big for Bosch. Bosch comes with a standard length drain pipe, but slightly narrower. Now, it is very important to run the drain line up to the top of the cabinets to prevent water backing up from the sink. One thing I noticed during installation, Bosch DW is much lighter compared to the old one, with many plastic parts vs the steel frame.
Before we turned it on first time, I read the manual to figure out the differences between the 4 cycles: power scrub, auto wash, regular wash, and quick wash. The quick wash is well, quick. Only 30 minutes, modest water temp, 3 galons, and for lightly soiled dishes. The power scrub is the longest, hottest, and wettest Bosch can offer (up to 130 mins, 160 F, and 6.8 galons). It took me a while to figure out the difference between the cycles in the middle: auto and regular and it boils down to the sanitizing. The auto is slightly longer and hotter to allow for sanitizing according to the NSF standards. Regular is more energy conserving from these 2, hard to guess from the name. These 2 cycles will take almost 2 hrs each. I guess we will do regular wash regularly. This model has no rinse&hold, but if DW is good, then it needs no rinse&hold to pre-clean the dishes.
Now, my impression after using it for the first time. I was impressed. It’s quiet like we expected. I forgot to measure the sound pressure, but close to the advertised 53 dBa by ear. It cleaned the dishes fine in the 2 hr auto wash cycle. The drying cycle ended with dry dishes, but wet DW walls. This is how the Bosch drying works. I had to remove small amounts of water that pooled on tops of some cups. Normal stuff. Now, I cracked open the door after the drying was over to allow the walls of DW to dry too. I guess, without it, the dishes could turn damp if they cooled off and set in wet DW for hours. Remember, Bosch DW is sealed to keep it quiet. Obviously we used the recommended (and included sample of) Jet Dry. I understand that without it, Bosch would not dry well. There is a setting for extra hot drying (have your manual handy as it’s a bit complicated), but we did not use it yet. The dose for Jet Dry is adjustable (by a weird combo of pressed buttons) as hard water may need more and soft water less. We have it on default medium but will try to dial back as our water is soft.
I checked the filter after the cycle. Very little fine residue after the full load of medium dirty dishes. Cleaning once a week should not be a big deal.
BTW, my wife was impressed by the loading capacity of the baskets. I was a bit surprised as the wires are very close to each other and I thought that out thick stoneware dishes would not fit, but they did. Actually, my wife tried our plates in the showroom to be sure. I'm surprised that some reviewers complain about the design of the racks. They look wery well designed and ergonomic to me and one can pack a lot of dishes. The fact that the door is a very thin construction allowed for more big plates to fit than we thought. The upper basket is very flexible and can take glasses, plates or larger objects (some racks are foldable). Yes, the silverware basket is a bit small, but it has not been a problem yet. Yes, the rack design is different from the traditional way and sounds like many people are taken aback by that and not willing to adjust, but didn't they see that in a showroom?
In summary, we are happy about our new Bosch DW. This or similar model is a must for people hating laud DW. Yes, it works a bit differently compared to the domestic products, so users should be willing to adjust some. The manual doesn't do a great job of explaining these things. I learned the proper operation of Bosh DW by searching the internet. In retrospect, the troubleshooting section in the manual has a few helpful tips, but who reads the manuals, right?
I will keep you posted if the DW desn't perform like it should.
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