On Thursday, March 10, 2016 at 10:50:25 AM UTC-5, John-Del wrote:

And here I thought that dishwashers were made for steaming fish..

Not so much on a Bosch. There is no exposed heating element, so the water never gets to more than 180F, and then only during the actual washing cycle. The drying cycle uses residual heat and fan-forced air. So, the water is heated directly, not the entire inside of the dishwasher, and there is nothing other than the fan blowing during the drying cycle.


Did you use standard dishwasher detergent or something else?

Standard high-phosphorus/bleach detergent, yes. We are on a municipal sewer system, so I do not worry about phosphorus discharge. Normally (and this is normal?) I use no detergent at all. But this unit was beyond merely filthy - the heat-sink fins were indistinguishable, that bad.

My wife is not at all squeamish about this sort of thing, I have cleaned/restored stuff for her that she thought was entirely unsalvageable. The dishwasher has a stainless steel inside, the oven is actually self-cleaning, and there were no untoward smells. She sees it as another demonstration that I am 'handy' to have around.

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA