My Frigidaire dispenser won't open at all. I hope there is a solution to your problem because mine is out of warranty and the answers I received before were expensive. I time it to finish the first rinse cycle -then add detergent.

I realize this is a super old thread, but it's one of the first hits I got when this was happening to me and I googled "Bosch dishwasher soap tray not opening" so I figured I'd revive it with the solution I found. My dishwasher seemed to be running (e.g. making swooshing noises) but the "in cycle" light stayed on, even overnight, and when I opened it the soap tablet dispenser was still closed with the tablet inside. It seemed to realize the soap dispenser hadn't opened and therefore wasn't completing the cycle. I did two things and then it started working, so I'm not sure which was the fix. The first was following this video to clear out the soap dispenser. Honestly, mine didn't seem gunked up at all, but maybe the act of taking the lid off and putting it back on again fixed something: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wuEo__I9uY The other thing I did was turn it off and back on again to get rid of the "in cycle" light and then reset it, which for my model meant holding down the start button for three seconds until the display reads :01. (my model says "press for 3 seconds to reset" right on the control panel next to the start button, I had never noticed that before!) Then I closed it, it ran a 1 minute cycle, and the next time I ran it for real it worked. Anyway, figured I'd share because I was NOT looking forward to arranging a repair!

Yes, there are lots of items other than just plates and that you can put in the dishwasher. For the past three or four decades, I have on a regular basis used dishwashers to wash pans, pots, cutting boards, casseroles, Tupperware, plastic and wooden tools, chopsticks, canning jars, cookie sheets, mixer attachments, blender jars, LEGO bricks, keyboard key-caps, and many other things. Dishwashers are extremely efficient at cleaning. They need fewer resources than hand washing, and they generally get things much cleaner. With few exceptions, they are also pretty gentle. You need to be careful with heat sensitive plastics (if your dishwasher has a heated dry cycle, disable it before washing plastics). You shouldn't wash sharp knives (they'll need resharpening sooner). Seasoned cast iron will lose its seasoning. Aluminum will oxidize (and anodized coatings will wash off). And enameled pots will turn a little more matte rather than staying super shiny. But no other harm done. Also, if you put exceptionally large objects into the dishwasher (e.g. a roasting pan), you won't be able to pack the dishwasher very efficiently. If that happens, you might find yourself in a situation where hand washing for once uses less resources. While enzymes work perfectly fine at colder water temperatures, they need less time to work, if the water is hot. The mechanism as to how they work is pretty much unchanged regardless of temperature. The reason they prefer higher temperatures is that catalyzed chemical reactions work much faster as temperature increases; this is true until you reach a temperature that breaks down the catalyst. I don't think that temperature is ever reached in a dishwasher. And enzymes are just bio-catalysts. As a rule of thumb, each 10°C (or 18°F) increase in temperature doubles the reaction speed. The reasons dishwashers have these super long wash cycles is to give the enzyme plenty of time to work. You might notice how a modern dishwasher doesn't spray water continuously. Instead, it splashes water on the dishes, then waits for the enzyme to do it's thing, and then repeats this process over and over. This a great way to clean, but it does take time. Dishwashers are sometimes connected to the cold water line and then they use an electric element to heat up the water. This saves energy, if your domestic water heater uses electricity, as you don't need to heat up the water and the pipes going to the dishwasher. If you heat your water with gas, it might or might not be more efficient to connect the dishwasher to the hot water feed. If you are too far away from the water heater, you still waste energy. Modern dishwashers don't use a lot of water. With long runs of pipes, it might not be enough to flush the cold water out of the lines. So, feeding hot water would just be an utter waste of energy. That's why some manufacturers categorically tell you to always connect to the cold water supply. You won't break anything by sending hot water to the dishwasher; you merely waste energy for no good reason. But if it makes you happy, feel free to continue doing this.

Thanks for the information Meagan, this is turning into a very enlightening read. I rescind my knee-jerk recommendation of remedial biology courses. I'll preface this for any non-squeamish readers who are still around by mentioning out that: 1) bacteria are everywhere, E. coli included. A typical human contains more bacterial cells than human cells. Yup, we are covered with bacteria, and are still healthy. 2) most bacteria are harmless, or beneficial (we need E. coli in our guts). 3) most people have good immune defenses that take care of problem bacteria, exceptions are the very young, very old, or immunocompromised. Hospitals need special precautions. 4) There are a few VERY bad bacteria, as examples a particular strain of E. coli O157:H7 (the BAD E. coli) and MRSA, PRSP etc. ------ Given that bacteria could get into a soap reservoir, and even multiply (growing on what? and how do they survive and reproduce at that osmotic pressure? amazing prokaryotes!), is a container of bacterially contaminated dishwashing soap under the sink at home going to cause any health problems? What is the resultant dosage level, and depending on the bacterium, is this enough to cause disease? (BAD E. coli may be an exception here, but if you have enough hanging around in the kitchen to get sucked back down into the soap you are probably already hospitalized). The few studies I have seen show that even washing with intentionally contaminated bar or liquid soap (with marker bacteria) after rinsing did not result in bacterial contamination of people's hands. Note that Dr. Gerba's research as cited here was funded by GOJO soap manufacturers, and the report conclusions have not been peer reviewed. His results may be fine, this is just something to note.