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Smelly Dishwasher Help! Miele brand

15 years ago

My mom has a Miele brand dishwasher and I can't seem to get rid of the bad smell. It is brand new.

We are in the process of building and I think we will be purchasing a Bosch dishwaher, but I'm concerned it will also have a bad smell. Is it something to do with the jet dry? I have read the rave reviews on these two brands but concerned about smell. Thank you for your help if you know how to get rid of it or what causes it.

Featured Answer

carol_jk

15 years ago

My Miele also had an unpleasant smell when it was new. Miele told me to run the Sanitize cycle twice, adding 2 cups of distilled vinegar to the wash cycle each time. This solved the problem.

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Comments (11)

User
15 years ago
Bosch will have the same "problem" too. It's not really a problem, both manuf. test their DW's before thay leave the factory and the smell comes from the minscule amt. of water that is left in the unit that turns stale by the time the unit actually reaches your house. Smell goes away by running the sani-cycle with a bit of soap. There are also products around that sanitize your DW too.

It has NOTHING to do with Jet Dry.
weedmeister
15 years ago
q: what kind of smell? petroleum-like? tar-like? That would be the adhesive/insulation/wrapper stuff that 'cooks' as the machine gets hot. It will go away with time.

rotten egg-like? spoiled meat like? mold-like? Could be some food particle left that need to be flushed out. Run the machine with detergent but no dishes on sanitize.
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Hi I had the same smell 2 years ago. It is rotten egg gas, the type of science experiment we annoyed our science teachers with. I had a Miele for 20 years and replacing it seemed logical after 20 problem free years. After going through all that everyone else has done with their smelly dishwashers i began my research into plastics, their interaction with chemicals and the results of the interaction with the components of dishwasher detergents. I came up with different kinds of polymers that are components of plastic. When certain polymers interact they give off rotten egg gas (Hydrogen sulphide). It stinks. Replacing the baskets stopped the odour, but the plastic water hole is another story. It is a haven for a fungus the likes of which I have never seen. Rinsing the filter after every wash is the only way out of that one. It is Miele's responsibility to have the components of their dishwashers manufactured under better quality control.
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need some more info: where do you live? what is the pH of your water? what soap are you using and what were the other three? how much are you using? do you use rinse aid? is the unit hooked up to hot or cold water? half way through a cycle open the door slowly and see if the water is hot. I know you checked the filter, but is it really clean? I've seen sticker residue clog up the very fine holes in those filters and they "look" clean at first glance. At the end of the day it's possible you've got a broken or defective unit. Even the best co.s make bad products from time to time.
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This is what works for us, and might be helpful info for you: Our Bosch DW smells badly if it is not run every two days. Never ever had this happen in the 40 years prior with DWs we owned. First thing I identified with it is to be sure the door is not completely closed, like in the locked position, because the interior needs some air circulation. This is our first Bosch, all others having been GE and Kenmores that had heated drying. My uneducated theory is that the condensation drying feature has something to do with air tightness when the door is completely closed. Second is that the leftover food residue on dishes and utensils is the source of the odor. The smells we get are exactly whatever was on the dishes. Third, we keep a box of Cascade powder detergent so we can run the DW every two days even if it is a small load. A pod of detergent is too much for a partial size load. Powder dosing can be whatever we decide.
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dlseek
15 years ago
I find that our LG gets a little funky unless we use the "Cascade Complete" detergent.

Is there a proper loop in the drain hose?

While I am not a professional dishwasher installer, I do recall seeing in the instructions that a part of the drain hose needed to be raised higher than the end of the drain hose, or you would get the dishwasher staaaank.
mary_in_nc
15 years ago
I had the same problem and it freaked me out. Read on GW about need to use enzyme detergent. Since using Cascade Complete I have not had a problem.
skd2boys
Original Author
15 years ago
Thank you for the great ideas!

antss I will definitely do that.

mary in nc I'm so glad to know about enzyme detergent

dlseek I'll try the cascade complete

Weedmeister I think it smells like old food definitely a bad food smell.

THank you so much!
User
15 years ago
dsleek and others- the mieles do not need a high loop or an air gap. They have a one way check valve built in to prevent dirty water from coming back into the unit. One of the reasons they cost more.

Oh, you might also check/clean the filters. Grab the handle on the floor of unit turn anti-clockwise about 1/4 turn and lift out. I'm sure you can figure out the rest.
cat_mom
15 years ago
Also, with regards to enzymes-containing DW detergents; don't rinse your dishes prior to loading in the DW, just scrape them. The enzymes "feed" on the gunk on your dishes. If the dishes are too "clean," there's nothing on which to feed, and the enzymes can (and apparently will) build up on the walls of the DW, causing a fishy or other foul odor.

We've used both CC and Miele tabs in our Miele Optima. FWIW, the DW smells just a bit fresher after running it when we use the tabs vs. CC powder.
lacombe
15 years ago
We have a Miele too, and one more thing you should do, check inside the dishwasher,check the Triple filter system, it should say in your manual how to take it out and give it a good clean, that's my husbands job, he does it every couple of months, there could be something caught in there.I see that antss mentioned this too. We also use the Cascade Complete.
skd2boys
Original Author
15 years ago
Lacombe, thank you for the info. We will check the filter system too.

Thank you to all for the good ideas.
prototype
5 years ago
Can you open the dishwasher while it is running (to add the vinegar)?

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