Indeed, many many welcomes, Julie -- and feel freel to join the idyll threads -- you'll find that sometimes we all get busy with events in our lives, major and minor -- so that the posts slow down to zero & then they pick up to 75 miles an hours...pls dont take offense if you dont get feedback from each of us -- it's not at all a slight. I hear the echo of the refrain of never be "too busy to live" -- and that means our kids, our families -- and our friends -- No matter how long the friends are off elsewhere, we think of them and their families all the time and wish them well. Good speed on your journey, 'bug! --So come on over to the #thread -- you'll see (if you havent already) that a lot of us have brick edgings and paths too -- Fall is a great time for projects. I look forward to chatting about it all with you, Julie! -Cindy

starfish24, Basically what happen was this....... My Diamante Plus unit is now 15 months old. I had used the original Miele tabs (half a tab per load) up until Oct/Nov of last year when I ran out. I went to buy another box, but it was replaced by a "newer" Miele tab that is now phosphate free. I again used half a tab per load and that box lasted me until about April of this year. I went and purchased a 2nd box, same "newer" Miele Tabs. It was a week or so later that my unit was running one night (with the half tab) and I went upstairs and saw something that I forgot to put in the dishwasher. So I back to the kitchen and opened it up to add the item. To my amazement, there was about 1" of suds on top of the water. I added the item and closed the unit back up, and it continued it's cycle. I know from before, that the original Miele tabs did not make suds, because once or twice I did have to open it up mid-cycle to add something....but this was the first time I had to do it while using the newer tabs. So I called Miele Tech Support and told them. They said "You need to use half a tab them", which I then informed them that I already was using half, so they then said "then try to use less, like one-forth of a tab." I tried it that night, but you can only cut them so much with scissors before they start to break apart. So instead I crushed them all up into powder using to large spoons and mixed it all together. I then used a one-half teaspoon measuring spoon (which is equal to a quarter of a tablet) to does it out into the detergent door of the dishwasher. I saw that it still did make some suds, but not nearly as much as when I was using a half tab, but everything still came out clean. So since April, that is what I've been doing, just using the one-half teaspoon dose for each nightly load. When I went to run the unit on July 22, I pressed the power button on the front, and it started a continual drain mode with the 3 yellow LED lights (rinse, dry, end) all flashing. I could not select a program and start the unit. I called Miele Tech Support, which instructed me to unplug it, and shut off the water to the unit from under the sink, so that is what I did. He said that there is a lower-pan under the unit with an overflow protection switch that will put the unit in a continual drain if it gets wet. The unit was unplugged and unused this all weekend, as on Monday 24th there was to be a service tech to come out, but he was out sick, and the other tech was booked-up, so I was re-scheduled for three days later. A bit later on that Monday, I plugged the unit back in just to see if it was still on the continual drain, and it wasn't, so I was able to try a Rinse mode, and it worked Ok. At that point, I didn't want to use the Miele detergent any more, as I had a feeling it was the suds that got down in the lower pan and tripped the overflow circuit. So I went out and got the Method Smarty tabs. I tried those (half and full tab) and it cleaned just fine and there was no suds. Now on Thursday the Miele Tech and the Area Tech Supervisor came out to inspect it. The dishwasher did not have to be pulled out. All they did was remove my lower wood toe-kick board and unscrew and remove rectangle shaped metal plate on the bottom-front (about 6"x3"), that would normally be covered-up by the toe-kick. Behind that metal plate was a bottom metal floor and he showed me where there was died-up detergent. There was also a circular piece of white plastic that was on the bottom, and attached to something else above it. He said that was the overflow protection, that if water or suds happen to get down in there, that it triggers the circuit and puts the unit into the drain mode. But they said all the water gasket seals were fine, and ran it on a rinse, and no water leaked down in there. I showed them the pictures I took of all the suds from the newer Miele tabs. They both looked at them and said it didn't look excessive, but said it still really shouldn't make a lot of suds. Neither of them could explain as to why the newer Miele tabs made suds, but said that overtime it could of built-up and then triggered the over-flow down there. The Area Tech said he was going to "forward it up" so that the other departments can be aware of my issue and maybe have to re-test the Miele Tabs on their own. They also tested my water hardness and said it was 5 grains, which my unit was already set to that level. I showed them the Method tabs and said I've been using them for 3 days and haven't had any suds from them. The one tech said he uses regular Cascade powder detergent in his older Inspira unit, and it works just fine for him. So to sum it up... I believe the suds from the newer Miele tabs that I have been using since October of last year was the cause of the problem, and eventually got down in the lower pan area and triggered the overflow circuit. Then when I had the unit unplugged and not used for 3 days, whatever was down in there dried-up, and released the overflow protection. So I'm not sure how the tech would "fix" it if there were water/suds down in pan at the time of him being here, since mine was all dried-up and just had some white residue.

Any item with electronic controls can have a hicup and reset -- that's why I suggested you try it. Could have been a power surge, bugs crawling in places they shouldn't -- who knows? There's really no way of knowing if something like that happened or if a aprt is shorting out or about to die unless you give it a chance to see if it happens again. You've got another thread going with doubts about the LG, so why not cancel that and give it some tim to make your answer onthe KA DW apparent? In the meantime, you can take a little time to see what you'd chocse given a little more time and a little less frayed nerves. I had a KA of similar vintage to yours that I loved. They changed the racking when I had to pick in this house and I went with Bosch. I went next to the top of the line for nearly the least sound and the best features/value combination. I've had to adjust my loading, but I'm very happy with them. Yep -- I have a matched pair and love it.

I had a Bosch in my last house and loved it. Plastics don't get totally dry but glass and ceramics do. It has to do with the condensation drying. It works best on things that hold heat. Plastics don't do that so they never get try in most European dishwashers. I find that plastics have all kinds of lips and crevices that hold water too that drive me nuts when I pull them out only to have them drip everywhere. Condensation drying is very energy efficient though and if you don't have a lot of plastic stuff it will save you a lot of money in the long run to not have a heating element running all through a drying cycle like many US-made dishwashers offer. I now have the FP dishdrawers and love that they are small and ergonomic. They are easy to load and, more importantly, easy to unload. I'm the kind of person that won't run a load until the thing is FULL. In my Bosch that meant every dish I owned was in there and it would get funky after a day or two. Not an issue with the FP. Drawbacks: plastic interior (not stainless steel) that stains and doesn't hold heat so condensation drying isn't quite as effective, it's relatively loud compared to my low-end Bosch, and it has a pretty disturbing reliability record (mostly I think due to the mechanical failures associated with the lid clamping down to make them watertight - I had a problem with this early on my DH is a total fix it guy and it hasn't been a problem since). I stayed at a friend's house who had the Miele and I could NOT get used to the upper cutlery tray. That's entirely optional since many models do without it. I don't think you can go wrong with the Miele or the Bosch. I was even considering the GE for my next remodel - something kind of convenient about that fill-it-to-the-brim dishwasher fluid feature. I see they are even using it in their front-loading clothes washing machines. Must be a popular convenience feature.