This is such a wonderful machine. I was replacing a Frigidaire that cleaned very well, but it had outdated styling, noisy, plastic interior and no upper spray arm.. The old Frigidaire had no casing and only a thin sheet of plastic enclosed fiberglass for insulation. It was actually a big pain to take out. Contrast to this new Bosch. The Bosch had an open top with insulation but all the sides were fully enclosed. If you put a top on it, it could stand alone and look beautiful. Most new appliances make you buy the electrical plug. The Bosch not only came with the electric plug, but it came with a junction box so that if you wanted to hardwire it, you'd just open the junction box and remove the short 110V plug and wire into the junction box. There were two very nicely housed hoses. One inlet and one outlet.. These were a breeze to connect. The Bosch came with an adaptor for different water connections. The only thing that was mildly difficult was the three piece kick panel. there is a rubber apron that hangs and goes between the kick plates. As I was installing this myself, the apron was hard to hold out of the way and also hold the screw driver and screw.. If you have someone to hold the apron, you're in great shape. (Tape doesn't stick by the way). You need to program your initial salt and rinse aid dispensing levels. The instructions are a tiny user unfriendly here.. They say Press the A button, and the C button at the same time, then press the B button. You need to refer to a pictogram to see that the A button is the NORMAL wash button, etc. But, after that's done, it's set. It comes with a small stick to dip in your tap water to tell you the hardness so you know your initial settings. Once I turned it on, I truly thought something was wrong. I couldn't hear anything. The first thing it does is turn on the drain, to pump out any remaining water. Completely silent. Then the water will start to fill. I only knew this was happening because I had the cabinet door open and saw the water hose jiggle tiny bit. After a short while, I finally could hear water swooshing around, but you really had to be there with your ear at the machine. You could watch TV sitting a foot away and not be disturbed. It's that quiet. So, the big test first load of dishes.. They came out awesome. Even better than the previous machine that I thought worked well. Load time took a bit more than two hours.
When our family consisted of four people, we had a 24" dishwasher. That seemed more of a burden than a good tool. It took forever to fill up and I found myself constantly needing some spatula or serving implement that was sitting in the big dishwasher waiting to be cleaned. Now there are just two of us and we recently moved into a house that didn't have a dishwasher---but did have an 18" cabinet right next to the sink, with a wall cabinet over it, and a cabinet with a drawer on the other side of it: a PERFECT location and situation for the Bosch 18" dishwasher! Any dishwasher should be:
(1) adjacent to the sink
(2) have a wall cabinet above it for the dishes
(3) have a drawer for the tableware right beside it.
If you follow those three suggestions, loading AND unloading the dishwasher will be easy and efficient.
While I did not purchase this Bosch SPX68U55UC model through Amazon, I have been so entirely pleased with the machine I thought it would be a good deed to review it here.
Size matters. Contrary to arguments about size that have nothing to do with dishwashers... size really does matter when it comes to a machine that will take on the chore of washing dishes. And let's face it washing dishes by hand is just as much a chore as washing clothes by hand ----and I've done both!!! (Unfortunately in the latter instance--at a time when there were diapers to launder.) If I may be so bold: unless you have a VERY large family or feed an army at every meal, a 24" dishwasher is simply TOO BIG. An 18" dishwasher holds all the pots, tableware, food preparation pieces and a whole lot of dishes too. You can still throw a really big party and invite all your friends... and an 18" dishwasher will clean up the entire mess in one load! For the life of me, I do not understand why 18" model dishwashers aren't the "normal" size, and the 24" models considered the oversize models that have to be specially ordered!
Having just put in a two year stint of washing dishes by hand with just a little bit of dish washing liquid, I was more than a little reluctant to go for the Bosch dishwasher which not only called for the expected dishwasher detergent, but also called for a special rinse agent, and even some special salt. Being quite frugal, I was concerned that the supplies would be very expensive. I'm the sort of person who does not mind spending a lot of money up front for a clearly superior product, but I hate the thought of constantly getting nickel and dimed for pricey supplies. But it worked out far better than I could even dream. Here's how it works: there are special dispensers for the rinse agent and for the dishwasher salt. You fill these up. THEN... there are buttons to press (the Owners Manual explains just which combination of buttons to press) that serve to program the AMOUNT of rinse agent and salt that will be used. You tell the machine how much of these to use! Of course, I told the machine to use the LEAST amount of rinse agent and the LEAST amount of salt. Now, guess what? All the dishes and glasses come out completely spotless and shining. (Emphasis on the SHINING!) I've been running this machine for months now and have yet to refill either the rinse agent or the salt dispensers. A special light would come on to tell you if either of those needed to be re-filled. I use Finish liquid rinse agent---not the cheapest stuff, but the machine is extremely frugal with it. I use Whirlpool dishwasher salt---because it is priced lower and yet is still the same consistency granules preferred by Bosch AND it does the job even when using so little of it. My water is extremely hard; I've never seen even one spot on any glass or dish! I use Finish POWDER dishwasher detergent... because it is the best... and because using powder is very economical in that you can judge HOW MUCH of it each load of dishes requires. Quite honestly, I have not yet figured out how LITTLE of it I can use and still get clean spotless dishes. I have yet to see anything come out of that machine that isn't totally clean.
Sounds good so far? Wait... it gets better. Bosch advertises this machine as quiet: 44 decibels. I could not believe how quiet the machine is. It is so quiet, that the Bosch engineers had to put in a little red LED light that shines on the floor----just to let you know that the machine is on! Otherwise---you wouldn't have a clue. It doesn't make a sound---not in filling, running, or draining. OK.... if you put your ear right up against it, you can make out that SOMETHING is going on inside. The old Maytag JetClean machine that we had a number of years ago was at least aptly named; it really did sound like a jet preparing for take-off when it was washing.... and then when draining, it sounded like a jet actually leaving the ground under full power. Wow, I sure don't miss that.... and I sure like this new Bosch. The Bosch has more different cycles than you can shake a stick at: Heavy, Automatic, Economy, Normal, Express, RInse, Half Load, Delicate, Extra Rinse, and for that special germophobe in your household---it even has a Sanitize cycle which completely knocks the stuffing out of even the most determined cooties.
This top of the line model comes with a shallow cutlery drawer at the top which holds each knife, fork and spoon separated. I also put spatulas,etc in it. I even put in my chef's knives (how blasphemous) since they have stainless blades and Fibrox handles. They come out squeaky clean and with no damage or dulling. The machine also comes with a "standard" cutlery basket for the bottom rack---but I took it out. I love the cutlery drawer. It was a little bonus added to the top model, and was well worth the cost.
I'm a fairly handy person, so I did much of the prep work getting ready for the machine. I had my plumber do most of the under-sink work, and then I did the final leveling and finish work around the machine---which really helps when you want that custom tailored look. One big reason I went for the Bosch machine is because I could download a complete parts listing for it... AND every single part in the machine is available on the internet from quite a few different parts suppliers at reasonable prices. In other words, you are NOT at the mercy of some dealer that has you all locked up when and if you need a repair. Before I buy ANY piece of equipment, I make sure that the company is not secretive about their parts and that the parts are easily available.
As with any dishwasher, you have to learn where YOUR dishes fit best. In the beginning, sit down with the four or five different size plates you have, and see where each size goes. On this top model, the middle drawer can be adjusted UP or DOWN. I found it best to adjust the height of that drawer so that the largest dinner plate would JUST fit below it. For me, that works out fine... the big blender jars, food processor containers, cookie pans, and all other sorts of flotsam and jetsam fits right in without any further rack adjustments. There is not even a single thing that I own that does not fit into this 18" Bosch dishwasher and then come out sparkling. Well, OK... I haven't tried driving the Honda in there.... yet. The ramps are still on the drawing board.
My house is small and does not have any space for a full size dish washer. This Bosch 18" is quite remarkable. It was easy to install. It actually holds a lot of dishes and there is an additional third rack for utensils.
I do think there are too many buttons.
Easy to install. Very, very quiet! Works great.
I recently bought a house that needed all new kitchen appliances. I picked this dishwasher and it is incredible. I never thought I would be excited by a dishwashers performance but wow. It required salt for the built in water softener which was strange to me, I had never seen such a thing. After running my dishes through this I was amazed, I forgot my dishes could look so good. Even old travel coffee mugs that I use daily and have 2+ year old coffee stains came out looking great, I didn't think it was possible for those set in coffee stains to come out. The dishwasher is quiet and the cycle time is reasonable too. At the end if the day, if you are in the market for a new dishwasher and don't mind spending the extra money, go Bosch! The difference in quality is well worth the price in my opinion.
Feature Product
- Brand New in box. The product ships with all relevant accessories
Description
SPX68U55UC | Bosch 800 Series 18" Dishwasher, ADA Height - 3rd Rack
I didn't want to give up the extra cabinet space. Since I'm single, I don't need to put a dozen cups, bowls and dishes in it every night. I heard the concerns of friends and sales people who warned me that I will pay more for a 18 vs. 24" and that it is not practical to have small dishwasher. Well, I run it just about every two times I make dinner. Can't imagine how long I'd wait to fill it if I had a 24" unit. (I have a friend in a small condo who says his 24" unit is a great storage cabinet...LOL!) WHAT I LIKE: It's compact and quiet. Cleans really well. It is well-built. (Looks nice too.) Has plenty of well thought out tray features inside. WHAT I DON'T LIKE: Some of the dishes I have don't fit in that well. I think that the bottom rack would have been much better if it had straight "pegs" instead of slanted ones. Overall, I'm very satisfied.
Just chiming in with a quick review. Got this as a scratch/dent at a local home improvement store. Wife and I hooked it up ourselves. Runs super quiet. I mean you could install this in a library quiet. Huge difference from my mother's old machine that would clear the kitchen with its train station-like clamor. The loudest it got was about the same as a rotating portable fan about 4 feet away.
Did an excellent job of drying dishes when using the Jetdry (all dishwasher makers recommend using drying agents) and all the dishes were spotless. Obviously, we're in the "honeymoon" period with the dishwasher, but hopefully we'll continue to be satisfied with it. If our opinion changes, I will definitely update this review.
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