glad-A Rep for Bosch told me once that what they recommend for their machines is Cascade powder. Just the plain one. NO GELS because the machine uses such little water that they dont dissolve(even though it is gel)and they stick and build up on everything including some of the sensors--that they had problems with that before. Also said they don't recommend Complete because it has rinse aid in it so when you use it plus Jet Dry that could cause "foaming issues". Now I am just telling you what I was told. I am 99% sure you could call them back and get a different Rep and they would give you a different story. You can never get the same story twice doesn't seem like.

Well, I'm glad to see some posts directed to the original poster's issues. Well, since he's been taken care of, Antss, last night I had drafted a rather long rebuttal to your post which basically kindly suggested you go boil your head. ;-) However, in between writing it, I realized that I needed your help on a question (separate subject) so I abstained from posting it. *grin* Anyhow, the gist of my response basically was a self-example showing why I don't like the "A is the best/most technical. Only buy the best/most technical." Case in point: I work at a research lab. Aside from our research, one of the things we do is build some particular extremely precise sensors for certain aerospace vehicles (no need to get into which ones). These are The Very Best such instruments you could get anywhere (or not get. More on that later). Super-precise, radiation hard, fast initialization, everything. This is not parroting a company line. This is fact. Our only customer is a certain body in the US government. Now, these devices are extremely expensive. They are very expensive and the only reason we (a lab) still fabricate them is that, aside from the complexity to provide the necessary sensor sensitivity & precision & robustness, the demand for such inordinately high precision instruments is extremely low (single digit orders of such devices every few years) making it not very compelling for the major aero-astro companies to produce. So, for these one-off sorts of builds, we continue to fabricate these when the need arises. Now, we are a lab, and while we have fabrication facilities for prototyping high-precision devices, we don't have manufacturing facilities. So, these systems are VERY expensive and will continue to remain so. Both because of the precision called for as well as the fact that no manufacturing principles can be applied to improve the efficiencies of production. OK. So we make the absolute best of such systems. And we're known for it. Still, that doesnt make what Honeywell and NG produce as the industry leaders in that market at some fraction of the performance and a fraction of the cost, junk or crap because it is "mass produced". In fact, when we get an inquiry from any other division of the govt. about these sensors, we scratch our heads and ask why they think they need such uber-precision. For more than 90% of the projects that we work on at my lab *we* have no use for our super-precise devices and we rely on the "lesser" products. And it is true that, by performance, compared to ours, they are a "lesser" animal. But by no means are those "lesser" items, "cheapened by production", a dismissible item. In fact, as I mentioned, >99% of the time for the world at large and >90% of our own activities, they are net superior because the performance is more than good (enough for the task required) and the savings in cost on the sensor unit means that we can afford more on other without in any way compromising on the required performance. This has gone on long enough and I realize that a Miele DW is no lab-grade unit, but the point was to say that I have daily proof that paying blind obeisance to "The Best" product and dismissing everything else as "cheapened", "advertised", and "mass-produced" is actually being penny-wise pound foolish. IMO, the only "The Best" is associated with an associated cost function/performance index. Seldom has a performance index been cited when a "Miele / Wolf/ Subzero/ whatever is the best" defense is provided. This is why I get & got irritated up there. There's actually loads more to say re: comparos made up above, but I'm just going to sign off now. Also you'll forgive me if I take your assessments about aircraft and Crays with a pinch of salt as I rather doubt you have some of the more interesting insights into these 2 worlds.

I called the Bosch customer service line for advice and the rep's answer was to refer me back to the service agent. At this point my he-man partner decided I had given the traditional methods enough time. Think he was more sick of me bringing individual pots and dishes in to show him and saying "honey look at the stuff left on that one." He looked at the dishwasher and wondered if there could be some constrictions in the line that resulted in the bottom sprayer getting lower water pressure. He pulled the lower arm off and stopped and started the machine several times with the arm off. He then replaced the arm and started it up regularly. The machine was a lot louder than it had been in the past. It was almost inaudible before. It appears to be cleaning now, but we'll see what happens.

Thanks for the input guys. The repairman that came out was pretty awesome. He said that the only time a Bosch would do this kind of damage is if there's an issue...and there was. The original installer sort of jammed the dishwasher in and there just wasn't the space for it. There is a small piece of wood running all along the right side of the dishwasher squaring the cabinets to the counter in that spot. It was apparently pushing the dishwasher just enough to the left at the top to create enough torque on the door to keep it from shutting correctly. So, basically I have to get a contractor out here before the new trim kit my repairman ordered gets in and he needs to uninstall the DW, remove that piece of trim running all the way to the back, cut the swollen wood from the bottom of the counter and possibly remove some shoddily installed tiles under the dishwasher to allow it to sit better so that it can then be put back in and run til April. The repairman suggested putting a couple of coats of paint under the countertop to repel moisture from this point forward. He also suggested I ask my homeowners insurance to cover the contractor fees...not sure if I'll bother. I guess it will depend on the costs...