Splish Splosh, its a Bosch (Bosch SGV46M43GB)

Member Name: Craggybuk

Product:	Bosch SGV46M43GB
Date:	21/09/09 (217 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Low noise

Disadvantages: Cutlery compartment is a bit inflexible and bendy

Introduction

Personally, the invention of the dishwasher has been one of the greatest inventions of recent times. As both myself and my wife work, we need to maximize the quality time we get together. What better way to accomplish this than to shove all the pots and pans into a dishwasher, forget about it for a couple of hours and then put them all away when dry. For some reason we seem to have got through dishwashers like there was no tomorrow (the handle broke on one and the motor went kaput on the second) so when we chose our current dishwasher, we studied reviews on reliability as well as performance and the Bosch came out on top.


Tour of the Dishwasher

Outside

The dishwasher has a white metal door, with a white plastic control panel. On the control panel are the power button, the programme dial and 3 red lights for the water supply, a salt warning light and a rinse aid warning light. I will go into more detail about the programmes later.

Inside

The inside of the dishwasher is split into a lower deck where heavily soiled items should go and an upper deck where cups, mugs and glasses, etc should go.

There is enough room in the dishwasher for 8 items each of the standard courses (ie 8 plates and 8 bowls) which will be plenty big enough for the average family. As well as these items, we are also able to fit a couple of small saucepans and a casserole dish on the bottom deck. Also on the bottom deck is a compartment for cutlery. This consists of a container with a plastic lid with holes in it for you to place knifes, forks and spoons. My only criticism of this container is that the plastic lid warps fairly quickly meaning that because it bends it doesn't sit properly on the container. This isn't really a big issue but is a design flaw. Another minor issue with this container is that if you use cutlery with slightly bulky handles then you will struggle to get them through the holes in the lid. Bosch, not unreasonably have made these holes as tight as possible in order to maximise the capacity of items you can fit into the container.

The upper deck is a bit more of a free for all, there are a couple of dividers for the safe storage of wine glasses but other items on the deck can be placed anywhere making for great flexibility. We tend to use the upper deck for cups and the occasional pudding bowl.

In order to get the best results out of the dishwasher, Bosch recommend that you use salt and rinse aid with each wash. These items are simple to top up. The salt goes in a compartment under the lower deck. Simply unscrew the cap and pour in the salt via the provided funnel until it starts to overflow. At this point screw the cap back on tightly and you are ready to go. The rinse aid compartment is located on the inner side of the main door, again pour in the liquid until it all starts running out. With the Bosch, this will need topping up every 2 to 3 weeks depending on how often you use the dishwasher.

Programmes

The dishwasher has four programmes plus a fifth option to reset the current programme. It is worth saying that which ever programme you choose, you will only get the best results if you rinse off all crockery before placing it in the dishwasher. These programmes are :-

Deep Wash at 65 degrees - This programme is meant for really dirty items where food has cooked onto the side of pans or there are a lot of items in the dishwasher. This wash takes approximately 2 hours to complete. Providing items have been stacked sensibly, all items will be ready to be put away instantly.

Deep Wash at 50 degrees - This programme is the same as the 65 degree one but at a lower temperature. This programme should be used when pots and pans are dirty but food is not stuck to the side of them. This is my preferred setting as I find it is as good as the hotter wash but without using the energy to generate the hotter temperature. This wash also takes about two hours to complete. I have had occasions where certain items have needed to be rewashed but I think this was more down to the way I've stacked them rather than any shortcomings with the dishwasher itself.

Eco Wash at 35 degrees - This programme is ideal if you only have a few slightly dirty items to clean. It works perfectly on coffee mugs, plates that have a light layer of dirt on them and saucepans that do not have a heavy layer of food on them. This programme takes approximately 30 minutes to complete and is great if you prefer to was breakfast and lunch items up after each meal rather than doing one wash per day after your main meal.

Rinse - The rinse programme does exactly what it says, no dishwasher tablet is used in this mode. Cold water is released from the jets simply to was off any excess food before the main wash commences.

Useage

The first thing that stood out with this dishwasher was how quiet it was. It goes about its business with the minimum amount of fuss. The two main programmes do take a bit longer than what we were used to but the results normally do make the extra washing time acceptable. Occasionally, as mentioned above, items do require a second wash but that is not always the fault of the dishwasher. The dishwasher can be run without the addition of either the salt or the rinse aid but this means that items will lack the shine and sparkle when they come out of the machine.

Durability

This dishwasher has now lasted longer than any other one we have had. It has been a trusty little companion and has got through its fair share of work over the years. When we bought the dishwasher we were seriously considering taking out the extended warranty due to our previous experiences with other machines. Fortunately we decided against this and the Bosch hasn't let us down.

Verdict

I would recommend this dishwasher to anyone, be it an individual or a family. There is plenty of room for every day use although, at special occasions like Christmas where there are larger gatherings you will either have to do two washes or bite the bullet and wash some items up by hand which isn't much of a hardship really. The dimensions of the dishwasher are standard for this type of appliance and will fit into a 60cm gap so if you are looking at this dishwasher to replace your existing one, it will fit into exactly the same gap.

This is our first Bosch appliance and we are very satisfied with it, we will certainly be buying their items again in the future.

We bought this item over the internet for approximately £450, I think if you shop around then you could get it a lot cheaper nowadays.

Summary: Great dishwasher, would recommend.

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