UPDATE: Just checked the water again. It is now 135F, so I assume that there is an internal heater.

Answers to the other questions on detergent and clean quality still appreciated.

I don't have Bosch, but all DW's are similar in this way: If there is sufficient water in the machine; if the water is of sufficient heat (120+); if the spray arms are going around.....the symptoms you've described will not occur.

I suspect your problem is one of those three. If you say you've measured temperature at 135, then it's one of the other two. Check your water level and pump operation, would be my first impulse.

Yes, your machine has a heater. I would be surprised if liquid didn't work just fine but I very much doubt if detergent type is your problem. Such as you've described sounds like insufficient water level to me.

Fill solenoids are pretty notorious for improper operation even occasionally on brand new machines. Check that fill-level.

Your machine is going to be fine. Whatever the issue is will be something trivial.

Thanks, asolo.

My wife hates the DW and not insists on prewashing everything. She's stubborn. :P

I ran a cycle with no prewash, and 2 of the bowls and one stainless coffee mug came out dirty or filmy. So, according to my wife, this DW sucks and does not clean as well as the old one.

However, to not get into an argument, I held my tongue. I'll wash without prewashing/soaking from now on and live with a few dirty dishes to save on water and have a DW that is super quiet. She can waste her time prewashing.

I'm going to work on her instead of the DW given the small "failure" rate in cleaning. My research has revealed comments on poor cleaning on the EnergyStar models (due to less water or pressure?). This Bosch may not spray as hard to reduce the noise. I've even read where the new KitchenAid's do not clean as well.

BTW, how does one measure the fill level and know what to compare it to?

I had a Bosch DW in my last house and put one in here. I scrape, no rinse. Use about 1 tablespoon of Cascade powder per load. Everything comes clean from fine china to broiler pan. When you put the powder det in the container is the container dry? If it is clumping that could be the problem or possibly it isn't opening at the right time.

I have a Bosch dishwasher, about 6 years old and it cleans just fine.
Occasionally I might have a speck of something that has been sprayed up on one of the glasses.
It has happened when I've put a dish that contained mashed potatoes . I now rinse the mashed potato bowels. Otherwise,I just scrape.
Last week I put a baked on lasagna casserole , used scrub wash and it came out perfectly clean

About 6 months ago, my glasses were coming out with a real film on them. It turned out to be the DW detergent and when I changed it the film disappeared. The detergent was the store brand at WM.
I have occasionally had a very tiny bit of dried on detergent in the container. But never do I have a big clumped mess.

From your amplified description, I'm still thinking low water-level. I have new low-water-use machine (Whirlpool) that works fine....just like yours should.

Water level should cover the bottom of the tub. Not familiar with Bosch but if it has an over-fill float-sensor like most do water level should be up to the bottom of that.

If you can't figure it out, suggest calling Bosch and asking them directly and/or getting an experienced person in there to look at it and tell you.

Repeating previous......if there is enough water; if there is sufficient heat; and if your spray arms are properly pressurized and spraying around in there; and if your detergent dose is correct....it is more-or-less impossible for your dishes not to get clean every time -- without any detergent clumps or residue.

If you say your dishes aren't getting clean, something's wrong. Also seems to me Bosch should be responsive to your concerns. Even from cyber-distance, I have no doubt that your machine is thoroughly capable and that something is being missed in the diagnosis.

I should clarify that I think 95%-99% of the dishes are clean. Just a few times where a couple of dishes/cups come out dirty.

- sticky stuff (eg, duck sauce)
- dried coffee at bottom of cup (maybe relates to sticky stuff)
- crusted plate (might've be blocked from the water?)

My wife just does not seem to accept the fact that 100% of dishes/cups/pots/pans are not clean. As I mentioned, I'll take that over a DW that is so loud one cannot have a telephone (or personal) conversation standing next to it.

I'll try the Cascade powder. I've read that it is the best.
I'll just rinse out sticky stuff. All else will be trial and error.
I'll call Bosch about the water level.

I think that I'm using the correct amount of detergent. I'm making it a point to make sure that the detergent reservoir is dry before I fill it.

Thanks for all the comments.

Actually 100% of your dishes should come out clean 95-99% of the time - i.e. most loads should come out completely clean.

Since they removed phosphates from detergents, lot of people have been having problems. Cascade Complete powder used to be great but not so much since they removed the phosphates.

I'm still using the last of my old batch and am concerned about when I run out. These days, Finish Quantum seems to get the best reviews - or you can add a little STPP (phosphates) to each load.

In any case, your wife SHOULD NOT BE PRE-RINSING THE DISHES. That defeats the enzymes in the detergent and can lead to etching.

I always run the hot at the sink before starting the machine. Since it uses so little, I want what little it uses to be hot at the start, internal heater or not.

Just wanted to provide an update.

Well, I decided to do the following to see if it was my bias or the DW
- put dirty dishes into DW without soaking/scrubbing
- do NOT overfill the DW.
- ensure that the dirty surfaces have face time with the water jets (goes back to not overfilling)
- since water gets into detergent reservoir when loading, (1) close reservoir to keep dry -or- (2) dry with napkin before placing detergent in

Lo and behold, dried on sauces/etc. came off!
Lo and behold, no more clumpy unused detergent!

Been running the DW like this for 1.25 months now, and I must say that I am very happy with it. Part of my and the wife's bias was that we forgot that we used to SOAK all of our dishes with the old DW. Hence, our impressions were that the old DW did a "better" job because we could never remember a dirty dish/flatware coming out of the DW, but that was because they were going in CLEAN in the first place!

But in doing my test a few times and then showing the wife, she now loads without prewashing except for stuff like dried on rice, and greasy stuff! I must say that I enjoy doing dishes now! What used to take 10 min+ is easily half that now since there's no more prewashing/scrubbing. Wife used to say with the old DW that she wished she did not have to pre-wash...now she doesn't! (how soon we forget!)

Still on occasion, we'd get a dirty knife or fork or bowl, but that's easily tolerated for 99% clean. Could have been user error again or really some type of dirty the DW can't handle. No more disappointment that it's not "100%" "like the old DW" (misplaced bias). I should have done this test earlier to learn what it can and can't handle.

Thanks all for your comments and suggestions. (Oh, if I do need to do some rinsing, I'll run the water as warm/hot; helps to prime supply line before running the DW.)