I have a Kenmore Elite that also leaks but mine leaks out from around the whole dispenser. There will be 10-15 little streaks running down the door into the tub. After filling it takes about 3-4 days for it to be empty again so I just stopped using the rinse aid. I was going to replace the part but then I was having problems with it cleaning for a while---seems that started when the rinse aid went bad. Now the washing seems to be better but ONLY if I use Cascade Complete liquid. Anything else and I have all the particles on the dishes again. I had always used Jet Dry then I switched to the Jet Dry Turbo. I also wondered if that was what caused mine to fail although I tried the original since then and it leaks out also. Mine must have a bad seal?? Don't know what to tell you about yours other than just replace it, OR maybe when you empty it go back to Jet Dry and see if that helps. Do you think it could be too full?

The salt used in the dishwasher never mixes with the water used to wash and rinse the dishes - no need to worry about that. As a matter of fact, you can use salt, very hot water and aluminum foil to clean silverware. RE: rinse aid. Well, Miele says in their manuals that you can use vinegar or citric acid in place of rinse aid - but results won't be as good as when using real rinse aid. I am currently using Electrasol/Finish Turbo Dry, which is pretty good. I actually have the dispenser set to the lowest setting, which equals about one teaspoon of rinse aid in the final rinse. There are also detergents with rinse aid substitute available but these products don't work as well as rinse aid. How about Ecover (or such) biological rinse aid? Ultimately, you could also have a Miele tech raise the final rinse temp on your dishwasher to compromise for the lack of rinse aid - if noting else works. HTH, Alex

We have an older Miele (model G 848) dishwasher that has served us well for ten years come fall. Our local water (Portland, Oregon) is soft. From some time before we installed the Miele, we had begun to use Ecover powder exclusively, and cannot imagine that we would ever use anything else as long as Ecover is available. We had switched to Ecover from "supermarket brands" (Electrosol and pre-Henkel Dial [Armour], mostly) while we still had our prior dishwasher (Whirlpool), after we learned that the severe etching on glassware washed in our dishwasher was due to chemical action of the dishwashing detergent exacerbated by the softness of our water, rather than (as we had supposed) from mechanical action. We have had not the slightest hint of etching since we switched to Ecover (which, not incidentally, gets our dishes really clean). Formerly, we preferred Cascade (then called "Cascade Crystal Clear") rinse aid to Jet Dry rinse aid, and we were in the process of reevaluating our options after Cascade was reformulated some years back (conclusion then: Ecos WaveJet seemed closest in performance to the former formulation of Cascade), when a poster here on Garden Web touted Somat. Somat was hard to find, but we sought it out to give it one try, and once we tried it, we were hooked. It is the only rinse aid that we use now. With our soft water, we never have used salt in our Miele, and it works just fine after almost ten years of heavy use. Hope this helps.

I was the original author of this thread. I ended up buying the Bosch 500 series SHP65T55UC from Best Buy at a cost of just over $950 including the extended warranty and sales tax. I bought this dishwasher after reading hundreds of reviews from various sources. Simply stated, it appeared to be the best choice for the price. I've used this product for about a month now. For me, the pros and cons are as follows: Pros: Name brand with a reputable history Stainless steel interior Available in multiple colors and door styles The third rack is a helpful feature that I would now miss if I didn't have it. Cons: It will only "clean" dishes that require a moderate wash and rinse. (In other words, a frying pan with scrambled eggs stuck to it when going in the dishwasher, still tends to have eggs stuck to it coming out of the dishwasher.) There is no heating element, so don't expect a load of completely "dry" dishes, either. If you think you might need an item again soon, you might be better off washing it by hand, since this dishwasher may need 2+ hours to complete a load. The noise level varies with the volume and placement of the load. It is not always whisper quiet. To sum up, I do not feel that this dishwasher is worth what I paid for it. I'm convinced that I could have purchased a similar level of quality--perhaps even better--for several hundred dollars less. I've attempted to follow the manufacturer's recommendations regarding both installation and operation. Yet, the performance of this product is disappointing. I'm at a loss to explain the overwhelming consensus of positive reviews that this product has received. Perhaps others have identified virtues that I've yet to perceive. I can only say that I regret this purchase and do not recommend this dishwasher to others.