Um, AFAIK, "top rack only" is for dishwashers with a heating element in the bottom of the washing compartment. Bosch DWs use inline water heaters and condensation drying, and so do not have a heating element like that.

In the past, there were some Bosch models (Shu 66 series?) that had a half-load wash where the DW only used the upper spray arm and upper rack, but I do not think that is the case with the current line up. I've got an SHE55 and cna put plastic on the top or bottom racks.

The rap on condenstation drying in the Bosch is that plastic items are not always completely dry at the end of a cycle.

This post was edited by JWVideo on Sun, Feb 24, 13 at 21:57

Thanks for your response, jwvideo!
I realize about teh heating element. I was more interested in the top rack wash cycle EXACTLY as you described for the previous models... so I didnt dream it up.
Rather than a half load cycle where the water jets go everywhere (less water than a full load), I was looking for a cycle which concentrated all its efforts in 1 place!
You answered my question, though, so thank you!

The Bosch in our rental has that feature, we installed it about 4 years ago, believe it is a 500 series. AFAIK we haven't used the feature though, honestly the DW does most of the loading and running but if I use it I just do an auto mode.

I think top rack only went away a few years ago. It was on a few euro models including bosch and miele.

Current models have gone away from that to a "sensor" wash that adjusts the water level to meet the dirt demand. So you can place the dishes anywhere and still get the economy of using less soap and water.

Aah, that makes a ton of sense. I'm glad that they came up with a good alternative to that. Thank you, xedos :)
I'm new to the world of high-end DWs!!

I'm not following the concept of soil sensors adjusting the actual water level in the tub per load size. A specific amount of water is required to keep the pump primed and provide proper recirculation/spray pressure through the arms, and I doubt there's much leeway on increasing/decreasing the effective level.

There's a given amount of water that physically adheres to the items (a small load / fewer items thus "capturing" less water than a large load / more items and perhaps needing a bit less fill volume accordingly) but I imagine it's an insignificant difference.

What soil sensors typically do is adjust the number of water changes during course of the cycle per how much soil needs to be flushed away. A small load, few items, light soil, the sensor doesn't read much debris or cloudiness in the water, so a prewash may segue directly to become the main wash without a water change. Or a large load, heavy soil, the sensor reads a lot of debris so the prewash (or main wash) may do a partial drain to flush accumulated soil, refill to the target level and continue washing.

Some units that use so little water that the pump can't supply both an upper and lower arm at the same time, they have a valve that diverts the pump flow to one arm or the other, alternating every few minutes throughout the wash and rinse periods. An upper-only or lower-only option can eliminate the valve switching and keep the spray on a given arm for the duration, thus resulting in a shorter cycle, and possibly a bit less water usage.

Yes?

I'm not sure what a 'half-load' would mean. Would that be the left-half or the right-half?

dadoes - I'm not going to argue the physics or the engineering with you. But, of course a washer takes a minimum vol. of water in order to run .

I'm simply saying that top load only units don't exist anymore to my knowledge and the sensor wash program has in essence replaced it.

Do the new sensor models take longer ? - I have no idea, but I'm sure I can devise a comparison btwn two models that shows it going either way.

Same with the water usage.

If you're concerned about using the least amount of water, soap and energy the sensor program is going to be the way to go in today's market. Load the dishes anyplace you like.

I have a one year old 500 series Bosch dishwasher and it has the half load setting. According to the manuel this setting is for smaller loads and uses 30% less water without sacrificing any of the performance. I have used this setting fairly often- most of those times because the top rack is full and there are only one or two items on the bottom. It cleans the top rack items just fine.

My Whirlpool Gold Series has a top rack only option - one of the reasons we got it.

Of course it's not a Bosch...

My Bosch SHE55 (purchased last June) does not have a "top rack" only finction but it does have both a "half load" button and a "quick wash" setting. The half load works with all cycles in the way badgergal described. The "quick wash" runs a complete cycle in 30 minutes. FWIW, I've had no trouble washing plastic containers while using a combined "half load" and "quick wash" cycle. IIRC, some of the containers were the disposable Gladware things. (If not Gladware, they were something comparable.) I put them all in the upper rack simply because they seemed less likely to fly around up there. I used a bit less than a couple teaspoons of powdered detergent. The disposable containers came out fine, even the one that had stored a creamy curry sauce.

This post was edited by JWVideo on Tue, Feb 26, 13 at 16:32

Some of the LG's have a half wash mode and you can select whether the water goes only to the top half or only to the bottom half.

Used to have a Bosch SHU68 which had a top-rack only setting, though the top rack in the lower position could barely accomodate my 10-1/2" plates.

I'm guessing it's been dropped in part because their higher-end machines now have a shallow third rack at the top which precludes using the top rack for dinner plates or large items.