PHOTO: (click on photo to enlarge) my new Bosch dishwasher projects the time remaining on the kitchen floor tiles using an unspecified technology that I am guessing is also made by a German company, Osram Opto Semiconductors GmbH, using their optoelectronic semiconductors and LED laser projection technology instead of the older Texas Instruments Digital Light Processing (DLP) projector technology that uses a digital micromirror device. (See "Osram creates a milestone with laser diodes for projectors," osram-os.com Jun.17, 2014 accessed Oct. 2, 2014 and "Digital Light Processing," Wikipedia accessed Oct. 2, 2014, Laser diode," Wikipedia, accessed Oct. 2, 2014, "OLED," Wikipedia accessed Oct. 2, 2014 and "Laser Pointers," RP Photonics, accessed Oct. 2, 2014)
An earlier version of this Bosch dishwasher display used only a light on the floor to indicate where it was in the cycle. I was impressed by this new time light display because it was one of only a few dishwasher displays that I could see with my low-vision blindness and it is esthetically cleaner and easier to use than models with a TFT display on the front of the machine (all of the controls on my dishwasher are hidden capacitive touch LED lit buttons that can be reached by opening the door slightly, pressing them to start and select the wash cycle that starts after the door is closed).
` The only problem with the Bosch user interface is it tried to be too friendly with fuzzy logic controls that make us analytical types nervous because they want direct control of machine that does exactly what we asked for instead of the type of Bosch controls that require a complicated table in the manual to describe all of the options, including a range of behaviors and variable times depending on the incoming water temperature, etc.
Likewise the Bosch machine's service computer reboot and its method to change the low-level default options looks like an embedded systems engineering erd from the 1980's wrote the firmware for it. Nonetheless, after much research, I was able to pick one cycle that I use all the time and I have been happy with the results and the ability to know how much time is remaining, if I account for the fuzzy logic time that shortens the cycle depending on what has happened.
It seems like all of my twenty year-old appliance have to be replaced this year. See previous post Wheelchair accessible Speed Queen Washer Dryer replaces old Maytag stacker (7/7/14).
The Bosch Dishwashers product page accessed September, 2014 included the following:
- Bosch 24" Bar Handle Dishwasher 800 Plus Series- Stainless steel Model SHX7PT55UC - this model includes a TimeLight(TM) that beams the remaining cycle time on the floor.
- Bosch 800 Plus Series - Stainless Steel Model SHX7PT55UC 24" Bar Handle Dishwasher - specification sheet (PDF)
- Bosch links to portal.bsh-partner.com to download manuals, which after a long wait for "application to load" allowed the following manuals downloaded to replace the soaking wet and rusted stapled printed paper manuals that were included inside of the Bosch dishwasher by the manufacturer:
- Installation Instructions for Bosch SHX7PT55UC/04 EN-US, ES-MX, FR-CA 1923 II
- Instructions for Use of Bosch SHX7PT55UC/04 EN-US, FR-CA 4514 IU
- I also wanted to download the service manuals, but the site crashed and I haven't tried to do it again
