Looks fine to me. And there will always be a bit of water that doesn't make it out.

As Weedmeister says, residual water in the pump sump is normal. It keeps the seals from drying and no dishwasher pump (or washing machine pump for that matter) can discharge 100% of the water. It's normally clean water from the final rinse. The water in your pic looks a bit dirty/murky, which could be backflow from your sink drain if you previously didn't have a high loop in the drain hose.

You might run a cycle to flush the system, adding 2 cups of white vinegar to the main wash phase.

I'd also consider adjusting the drain hose for a straight-shot from the high loop.

It's funny - before I opened your post I said to myself -- I'll bet it's a Bosch! A number of posters on this forum have had this kind of problem - you should do a search. I'm not sure if anyone figured out what causes it.

I rerouted the line as best as I could. It comes out of the back of the dishwasher at the bottom (as it is installed), then directly through the cabinet at the bottom, then up as I high as I can go to the top of the cabinet, then a bit horizontal, then down to the drain line....

I tried to minimize any dips.
The hose is too long for my situation, unfortunately...

hopefully that will work.

I ran the dishwasher last night, so we will see in a couple days here if the odor returns.

thanks for everyones help.
mm

I think what Creek Side is saying should look like this. All you'd really have to do is drill a new hole at the top of the cabinet (as far to the top as possible) and run the drain hose through it.

Quick update:

I contacted Bosch. Since the unit is still under warranty, they recommended I have a Bosch certified dealer come out and take a look.

The tech came out and confirmed that the dishwasher was installed correctly. He saw no issue with the drain loop.

He smelled the odor and wasn't sure of the problem.
I told him that we generally pre-rinse, and only run the dishwasher about once a week. I also told him that we use the Electrasol tabs. I also told him that I have well water with a water softener.
Based on all of those conditions, he took a guess and said it could be too much soap. He said the single cube could be too much soap and the machine isn't rinsing completely. He suggested switching to powdered detergent and using less. Although he did admit that he didn't see any signs of soap buildup in the inside of the machine...

I used one of those Jet Dry machine cleaners after he left, and the smell went away for a few weeks, but it seems to be back.

Does that sound like a possibility? Too much soap casuing the odor?
Also, I haven't refilled the Jet Dry in the dishwasher in a while (keep forgetting to buy it), any chance that a lack of Jet Dry in the machine causing the odor?

thanks.
mm

When you say, "pre-rinse," do you mean you are using a rinse and hold cycle on the dishwasher? Or are you talking about rinsing your dishes in the sink prior to washing?

mojavean-

Because we only run the dishwasher about once a week, we typically rinse the heavy food stuff off the dishes in the sink prior to loading them in the dishwasher....

When you are trying to solve a problem, one of the best techniques you can use is to introduce a variable into the situation and see what happens. I suggest that you run the rinse and hold cycle to rinse the dishes instead of doing it by hand in the sink. Do it once a day after dinner and do not rinse by hand. Just scrape and place the dishes in the racks. After dinner, run rinse and hold. If things start to smell ripe at midweek, take one teaspoon only of Cascade and toss it in prior to the running the machine rinse and hold.

See if things improve. Also, another thing I would do is try cascade action packs to see if they can help take the odor out.

Next up is just run the washer every two days instead of 7 days. Eat more and use more dishes. It's easy. If I can do it, so can you!

The way things look in the photo's, where is the loop?
Your first picture looks like an &, and the new configuration lacks the loop.

Loop your drain hose like a "O" and connect to the drain so it will minimize the back flow.
Do a complete Pots and Pan cycle with citric acid to clean the machine, hot wash/steam/no heat.
Then try it for a week and get back to us!

fellas - the "high loop" is the arc in the hose running through that brass colored ring just under the white plastic cabinet brace. It's fine, could it be neater, spiffier, ect... sure. But it's not likely causing the problems. And, if it is - it just goes to show ya Bosch is building crap.

mr. moore - don't rinse your dishes, the leftovers are needed to keep the soap from eating your dishes. It's almost always a waste of water too.

FYI - I'd get rid of that accordian style extension. They are very restrictive and catch all kids of junk. It's not the cause of your problems though.

Another FYI: I usually wait a while until running to get a full load. I have found that using Rinse/Hold CAUSES more smelliness than just leaving the dishes in the machine. My KA has a pot scrub cycle which I use to deal with anything that has dried on.

There's one area of the dishwasher we all forget to check.
Run your fingers under the door panel on the inside of the tub. Possible build up of grease/detergents in that area.....

Echoing WeedMeister ... in my experience with 35 years of dishwasher use, running the Rinse/Hold cycle and leaving dishes to sit for more than a day promotes odors. Remember that dishwashers do not (cannot) drain 100% of the water, a small amount (few ounces) is left in the pump to keep seals from drying out. Rinse/Hold leaves dirty water there, along with the dishes left dripping with dirty water.

Running Rinse/Hold twice in a single day (breakfast, lunch) then running a full cycle at end of the day may be OK. Running Rinse/Hold more than once per day over the course of several days as a full load is accumulated may also be OK, but seems to me that uses considerable water. I simply scrape the dishes fairly well and load them as-is without rinsing or using Rinse/Hold (except a quick swish under the faucet if milk is involved such as cereal bowls, which may sour). I've accumulated a load over 3 to 5 days many times, with no noticeable odor.

The operating principle is to try something different. He hadn't been using the rinse and hold, so I suggested he try it. Had he been doing that, I would have recommended he try something different.

When you are trying to solve a problem without enough information to deduce the answer immediately, the best course of action is to introduce a variable and see if that changes the outcome. In any way, good or bad.

The selective, managed, introduction of new parameters into the failing system is how you wiggle solutions into the cracks of problems.

Anyway, rinsing dishes by hand wastes water, wastes energy, and can actually result in harm to your dishes. The practice is simply unnecessary.

So I recommended he try rinse and hold to see if it makes a difference.

It may be that the residual food left after hand rinsing and the scant amount of water that drips off the just rinsed dishes that drops into the bottom of the machine over the course of a week are making a potent broth of decomposables that puddles in the bottom of the machine. It may be that a week is too long to leave the previous week's rinse water sitting in the sump, particularly if it is being inoculated daily with new cultures of ferment.

So try rinse and hold to see if things change. If they don't, no harm, no foul, nobody dies, and it's back to the drawing board. OR, try doing LESS. Just scrape the dishes as recommended by the maker and shut the damned door. Quit adding water to the stew. That may fix things.

And there is always one variable just about guaranteed to work: splash a little bleach into the tub, just a couple of tablespoons, and then run a rinse and hold with no detergent. (Never add bleach to dishwashing detergent) It is very tough for bacteria to make much headway on yesterday's enchilada sauce in a bath of Clorox.

We started using our new Bosch dishwasher in July and had the same issue. I was dismayed at the smell esp since I've had several friends who highly recommended this product and never had this issue. AND it was brand new.

I called Bosch (their customer call center's the worst), aside from being dismissive/rude, they were pretty useless. Then I called Yale, the appliance store where we bought our dishwasher (still had a warranty). Very knowledgeable service person came - he's worked with dishwashers old and new. He said the smell can be a result of several minor factors. And he was right, after these adjustments, we now are odor free. Thought I'd share if this will help others who find this post:

1) Ensure the drain hose is properly installed (ours was ok per service person but this is a common cause)

2) Ensure your H20 is hot when you run the dishwasher. In our case, it takes a while for the water to heat up so he advised us to run the tap till the H20 gets hot. He said that the dishwasher will heat up the H20 but still better to run the tap since the Bosch does not use much water.

3) Do not use too much dishwashing liquid - he recommends just a 3rd of the capacity. The Bosch (SHX45Po5UC)'self computes' load. He said putting too much dishwashing liquid vs not enough hot water messes it up.

4) Do not rinse dishes. He says the high efficiency dishwashers works better with just the right amt of hot water, not too much dishwashing liquid and "dirt" to work with. Just scrape off big pieces of food that wont dissolve (i.e., big seeds, etc) - leave grease, oil, sauces, small bits of food on.

5) We dont run the dishwasher everyday (unlike our friends who have the same product). He recommends just leaving the door ajar (do not click it closed)so there's circulation. The high efficiency dishwasher seals tight so with all other factors exacerbates smell issues.

6) To remove the smell, he popped in an Affresh tablet. He thinks vinegar works just as well and run the tap to hot before running the dishwasher on its highest setting.

After doing all these small adjustments above, the Bosch now works as advertised. I think we learned the hard way that we cant assume that we can use this dishwasher the same way we used our Frigidaire dishwasher (in our previous home) or our Kitchenaid dishwasher (7 yr old model prior to our renovation)

Without this issue, it is a great high efficiency dishwasher which cleans extremely well. I have always pre-rinsed my dishes before (and was very doubtful of the service person's advice esp in tandem with the advice to reduce detergent use) but the Bosch has been a virtuoso with really oily or heavily soiled dishes.

Hope this helps others.

noel/jenny, Yale's service chaps are good (not great, but they do stand up to a problem) but the chap's hot water entering tip is nonsense. Cold water doesn't cause DW smells - especially in a DW that has a pretty capable heater. In the past I've had my DW hooked up to COLD water - including in our winters - without problems.

#3 and #4 are good tips in general but I suspect 6 may be the key that removed your smells.

I will tell you that post remodel I had exactly the same experience you did. I was positive it wasn't the DW itself because the same DW had been installed for about 6 weeks pre demo. Anyhow, post remodel, the DW was a royal stinker. Wasn't sure what to but coincidentally noticed my kitchen drain was slow to drain - and getting slower. Called my plumber, he came out, cleared the drains all the way out the house and not only was the sink better but that fixed my DW smell, too.

Doesn't mean that you have a drain line problem but somewhere stuff is collecting and you are/were getting stuff collecting and decomposing. You don't need hot water entering your DW to clear the smell. That's just nonsense.

I agree with you that the DW is a phenomenal performer.

As for the previous poster, haven't heard back from him, but despite antss' exhortations to the contrary, that's a pretty poor line. High loop notwithstanding, there are plenty of low points for stagnation and water water collection. Not the design behind a drain line. Not sure why that line is so long so I'm not sure what to do about a proper install other than to stretch out the extra line at the high point.

mindstorm thanks for the note. yes agree that definitely the affresh removed the smell. i think our bigger concern is to ensure we dont repeat whatever we did to make it a recurring issue. it took us less than a week of use to have the smell. right now going on our third week without the smell(after the yale guy came).

as for running the hot water tap, the 'sanitize' option does not work on our bosch (even on the powerscrub option) unless we run the tap on hot. it was only after doing this that we see the 'sanitize' light work.

at this point we are just delighted that it has not recurred, following #2-#5 steps. if the smell does come back, we'll revisit this post.

ok. i just googled 'drain smell dishwasher' and this popped up and I have a BOSCH. hmmm. i do the same - scrape and rinse dishes, so no food buildup, i've cleaned the filter. and there is a HORRIBLE STENCH coming from the drain which I think is originating in DW.It must be the length of the hose. It's less than 1 Y old. Trying the vinegar rinse now.