Dishwasher - Bosch Exxcel SGS45E02GB/56

golfbgud

Hi All,

I have a Bosch Exxcel Dishwasher SGSE02GB/56 which is not washing the dishes properly. There's sediment lying on top of the items in the top basket amongst things.

Spray arms are clear.
Metal gauze filters clear.
Used liquid cleaners etc - no diff.
Machine has salt and rinse aid and I use Finish 5-1 tablets.

My last machine was a Zanussi and I had it for years - great machine with good wash results - ever a minutes trouble. Went to buy a new one but they were out of stock (had to get a machine on the day to keep "herself" happy). Paid more for the Bosch and it's nowhere near as good. Cycles are longer also.

Anyone got any advice/clues as I'm running out of patience.

I'm technical so don't be afraid to hit me with the tecchie jargon!

Thanks in advance,

Gerry.

ab20

Did you do all the usual stuff like putting in the salt and the water softener?

golfbgud

ab20 wrote: »

Did you do all the usual stuff like putting in the salt and the water softener?

Yes - Salt, Rinse Aid etc etc.....

John32c

Did you pull out machine and ensure waste tubes are not blocked or tubes not kinked? Try draining the tubes manually by draining into a basin....

golfbgud

John32c wrote: »

Did you pull out machine and ensure waste tubes are not blocked or tubes not kinked? Try draining the tubes manually by draining into a basin....

The main outlet pipe at rear of machine is not blocked - waste is emptying into shore outside (I checked).

Are you talking about Internal pipes?

Thanks.

niceirishfella

Are the Finish 5-1 tablets recommended for this machine?

Alun

What temperature are you washing at? I understand that Finish tablets don't like being used at under 50 deg, and can leave residues if used at lower temps.

In fact, IMO all these fancy X-in-1 tablets are a total waste of money, and more so for increasing values of 'X' As long as you use salt and rinse aid, old fashioned loose powder works perfectly well. If you can still find it, that is .. I get ours in Dunnes, and a big 3kg container lasts so long, I honestly can't remember the last time I bought any, and at a fraction of the cost.

Look here for some more information and pointers ...

http://www.ukwhitegoods.co.uk/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=188

niceirishfella

I use the LIDL ones @ a 50deg setting and works perfect, no residue.

gar.k

you are using rinse aid and salt as well as 5 in one tablets which has rinse aid and salt in them aswell.
it sounds like there is too much salt being used.my advice is to ditch the 5 in one tabs and stick to straight forward powder.
Poor wash results are almost always down to the detergents being used.
The bosch excell is a very good machine.

golfbgud

gar.k wrote: »

you are using rinse aid and salt as well as 5 in one tablets which has rinse aid and salt in them aswell.
it sounds like there is too much salt being used.my advice is to ditch the 5 in one tabs and stick to straight forward powder.
Poor wash results are almost always down to the detergents being used.
The bosch excell is a very good machine.

Interesting comments - I find the results better when I add rinseaid even though in theory, the 4-1 and 5-1 tablets are supposed to negate the need for salt and rinseaid?

I have tried various settings - the Auto one works best but takes a long time. I also noticed that the tabs don't appear to disintegrate properly at the lower temp washes?

Didn't realise you can still get powder on it's own (I did look a few times but not in Dunnes).

Still reckon there's a mechanical fault somewhere - just waiting for the right "expert" to appear and save me from burning this machine!

Thanks All.

davidoco

I have a similar model. Happens occasionally here also. We just run it on 65 for one or two washes afterwards and it seems to clear up the problem.

Also careful loading to ENSURE that the middle arm is not being hindered by large items on bottom tray.

cnocbui

I know you said the spray arms are not blocked but it really sounds like that is the problem.

My wife cleaned the filters on our AEG and didn't put them back quite right. Large scale crud bypassed the filters and blocked the spay arm jets and we ended up with the symptom you describe. Removed all the arms and cleaned them out thoroughly, flushed the tubes and fitted the filters properly and all was back to perfection.

You can have stuff in the arms that is not apparent, under pressure it gets blown into the holes and blocks them and then when the pressure is off it can fall back and not be obvious.

Lidl tabs are as good as the Finish ones, if not better, and way cheaper.

Alun

cnocbui wrote: »

You can have stuff in the arms that is not apparent, under pressure it gets blown into the holes and blocks them and then when the pressure is off it can fall back and not be obvious.

Lemon pips are the main culprits in our dishwasher!

Alun

golfbgud wrote: »

Interesting comments - I find the results better when I add rinseaid even though in theory, the 4-1 and 5-1 tablets are supposed to negate the need for salt and rinseaid?

"Supposed" being the operative word. All-in-one tabs do NOT contain salt, they contain extra phosphates to make up for the hard water, but contribute nothing towards the functioning of the water softener. The water softener needs salt to regenerate it's ion exchange filter, and no amount of fancy ingredients in the tabs is going to replace this. Ditto for the rinse-aid .. the all-in one tabs contain different parts that are all "supposed" to dissolve at different rates, and therefore release the rinse-aid at the correct time. Doesn't always work though especially at low temps.

I have tried various settings - the Auto one works best but takes a long time. I also noticed that the tabs don't appear to disintegrate properly at the lower temp washes?

Which is what I said above with regard to the Finish tabs ,... what you described sounds just like undissolved tablet residue. Wash at 55 degrees or higher and you should be OK.

An "old school" repair man who came out to repair my old dishwasher a few years ago told me "There's only 3 words to describe 3-in-1 tablets, and they're all sh!te'!".

Still reckon there's a mechanical fault somewhere - just waiting for the right "expert" to appear and save me from burning this machine!

So why not get Bosch involved? They're a good make that apparently have a good after sales service, so why not avail of it? It sounds like quite a new machine, so should still be within it's warranty.

golfbgud

OK I had enough so I decided last Sat that I would open up the "beast" and perform some checks/maintenance.

Took off top/lid and then the left side panel (looking from front).

Cleaned out pipework etc and removed the "gunge".

Problem sorted.

golfbgud

While this looks poor it was still actually clear as I blew through it to check.

golfbgud

I pushed a piece of electrical cable from the base of the machine shown here right out to the pipework at the side of the machine. It was obstructed to a degree also.

To gain access here I had to remove the gauze filters etc in the base and then the white plastic cover over the pump impellor (screwed in). The outlet hole is above the white impellor in the pic.

golfbgud

The pipe on the right of the red rod was the worst.

It was tricky to dis-assemble this assembly and I was worried about resulting leaks on re-assembly but thankfully all went back OK.

gar.k

common enough problem.that pipe you refer to is the sump hose which leads from the pressure chamber to the inside of your dishwasher.the gunge that caused the blockage is in your water,well done for sorting it but dont encourage others, you will put me out of a job!!!