Larsi, not to hijack, but I just answered your question on the Induction/Grill pan thread. Sorry it took me to long to see it!
Cj

Hi Larsi,

Long time lurker here but saw your thread and thought I'd post my experience with my LaPerla II. I haven't ever had an issue with my door creaking or popping; so not sure what's going there.

But for the dirty dishes! When I first got mine a year and a half ago, I cannot say I was all that impressed with it the first month or so that I had it. I did have issues with not so shiny dishes and glasses that had food grit on the outsides where they touched each other. I checked the water hardness setting and it was set to 4 so, after calling the county water dept. and realizing that our water was nowhere near 4 gpg I adjusted it up 7 gpg and things improved quite a bit. But still my glasses didn't sparkle. I put up with this for several more months trying to tweak the detergent and rinse aid. Nothing really worked. So finally I broke down and called Miele. After going through everything I had done so far, the tech said that the dishes were probably not being rinsed enough after the main wash. So they had me activate the second interim rinse in the programming menu. This was over a year ago and results have been flawless since.

While I am all for water efficiency and conservation, I think Miele took it just a wee bit too far with this machine. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my dishwasher but I think they should have addressed this in the manual or just programmed it to add a second rinse automatically. But all is well now and I could not be happier.

Just by chance, what programs do you normally use? I have found the Normal program on mine to be useless. It never seems to clean much of anything and my glasses and silverware look awful afterwards. So, I just use Sensor Wash instead. Shiny glasses and silver all the time. :-)

Hi Mieleguy..

Do you remember how to activate this second rinse? I was SO excited to upgrade my La Perla I (G2830) and get this G2832..and I honestly feel disappointed and sad :( My old La Perla I left everything I washed flawless. Even when I put things in there, that I did not expect the machine to clean...it cleaned. It tackled the most baked on, dried on messes. Amazing. New machine...blech!!

I too called our County water district, and our water hardness is about 7-7.5gr/gallon. They told me to set the machine to water hardness 7. Are you in So. California?
I called Miele, and they said I need to use their dishwasher tabs. They told me it was the new Phosphate Free Cascade Complete I am using in my new G2832. I told them I accept that, but the box of Cascade I used in the new G2832 is the SAME box I had been using in my G2830 for over about 2 months (huge box I got at Costco). So the Phosphate Free Cascade used in my La Perla I (2830) left dried on, horrible pots, pans and dishes flawless (and the machine was over 3 years old). My new G2832 is leaving dishes, pots and pans less than perfect with the same detergent...same box.

Do you use the Miele tabs or Cascade?

I have the Rinse Aid set to 2ml, and it is Miele Rinse Aid. What do you have yours set to?

If you can help me activate that extra rinse...that would be great. Thanks a lot!

Hi Larsi,

I understand your frustration. That's kinda how I felt too. This machine was my first Miele appliance and I too felt a little bit let down as well. My dishwasher will clean rust off of a chrome bumper now, lol. If you want to activate the 2nd rinse, make sure your machine is off, press clear and power at the same time. Then press clear 6 more times and on the 6th time hold it down. After a few seconds the Technical Programming menu will come up. Just scroll down till you see Second Rinse. Select that option and turn the function on. I also set my machine to Water Plus. Though I am not sure if that bit of extra water helps or not.

I am in Maryland and we have moderately hard water here. I am using non-phosphated Finish tabs and could not be more pleased with the results. I have not tried the Miele tabs yet; I may after this canister runs out. I never, ever use Cascade tabs in my machine as I have found they leave a greasy film all over my glasses and silverware. My rinse aid dosage is also set to 2 ml.

One trick I found when I tried a box of non-phosphated Cascade was to increase the water hardness on the machine to make the water even softer. I increased it to 8 or 9 gpg. When I did this the results improved greatly, but I still think Finish beats the pants off of Cascade now. Shame really because I used to be a devout Cascade user but not anymore.

I hope this information helps.

THANK YOU Mieleguy! Wow, you rock!! I am going to try this now!!

I also found the Normal Program to kind of suck. Tonight, I had the best cleaning so far. Still not as good as my ol' La Perla I...but I would rate it a 95/100. I used Pots and Pans Cycle with the Soak Option. Cascade Powder with some Lemi Shine. I had usual utensils, glasses, pyrex measuring cups, plates, bowls and a few crusty Le Creuset pieces. Besides from the smallest piece of dried sauce on the inside of a lid...the dishes looked amazing!!!

I will give props to the La Perla II...it is VERY quiet!! I am having hopes that I will soon love my new G2832!!!

Again, THANK YOU!!!!!

@ Mieleguy again.... :)

I did it. Your directions for the Technical menu were spot on! Thank you.

I set my G2832 La Perla II to 2nd Rinse, Water Plus and I also set the main wash temperature from Normal to Increased. Did you do this too? The hotter the water..the cleaner the dishes and more power for crusty food, right?

Gardenweb and the Internet are pretty amazing sometimes!!

You mentioned that the La Perla is your first Miele appliance. Trust me...the Miele washing machine (W4842) and dryer (T9802), Induction Cooktop (KM 5773) and Speed Oven will floor you!! AMAZING does not even begin to describe the perfection!! Again, thank you!!!

-Larsi

As for any type of door/hinge sounds, I don't have any on my Diamante. The only sound I ever get when opening the door is after was full wash cycle, and say the units been sitting over night. In the morning, I'll press the Power button to turn it off and open the door. There is a slight 'squeak' sound, but its the rubber gasket that runs the width of the bottom of the door rubbing on the stainless steel, which is caused (i was told) by the rinse aid. If I close it and then open it again, no squeak sound. So to me that's no big deal, since its just a combination of the rinse aid on the rubber gasket and squeaking on the stainless steal when opened after the drying cycle. I open and close the thing about 20 times a day/night and there is no other squeak.

But you are getting a popping/grinding sound on the bottom right when opening? Maybe it has to do with the internal door motor? I would have a service tech check it out.

Hi Larsi,

I am glad my directions were spot on. Hopefully this helps to rectify your problem. My guess is it will. As for the increased wash temperature, I did in fact try it twice, but I really did not notice all that much difference. Be careful though, I did notice that my glasses looked like they had baked on suds when using the more intensive cycles like Pots & Pans and Starch/Cheese. I think the water got too hot.

Yes, the quality of Miele appliances are great! I have since purchased a Miele rotary ironer and a Miele vacuum. I look forward to owning a Miele Washer and Dryer when my current set gives up the ghost. Just hope that's not too soon though, I don't want to go bankrupt. hahaha. Let me know how the dishwasher performs after making these changes. I would definitely call Miele though about that door issue, that does not sound normal at all.

Thanks MieleGuy and Fauguy. Geez...maybe I should be Larsiguy?? :)

To play it safe, I re-entered the Technical Menu settings, and changed the water temp back to Normal, instead of Increased. I use Pots and Pans and other intensive cycles...and the last thing I need is baked on suds!!

If the door noise continues to bug me, I will have to call Miele. It's funny, it TOTALLY depends on how quickly or slowly I open the door & if the door has been closed for a day or so, or if it's been in the auto open position over night or for a whole day. Sometimes, it sounds perfectly normal, and then sometimes (of course since I am listening for it), the noise sounds louds. I'm getting a feeling that my La Perla II will be as good as my La Perla I..and the auto open door at the end is the Ultimate feature!! With the La Perla I...I would not go to bed, unless I waited and opened the door. The idea of any trapped moisture and steam kinda freaked me out. Problem solved now with the II!! :) Thanks again.

Sure, no problem Larsi....guy. LOL.

Hi Larsi,

I have the G 5935 SCi (La Perla III) and can't sing its praises enough. I too had the G 2830 SCi and then a G 2834 SCi before getting the new one. With the water softener, I thought it was a sensor one where you didn't have to manually set it. Mine would just give the reading in the display. I know they added the external water softener setting as well. I suppose with your detergent being phosphate free you have to increase the water hardness setting to compensate for the lack of phosphates which did the softening. I think you need to increase your setting up a few more degrees until you get the results with your phosphate free detergent. Saying that I'm using the Miele tabs and find them great, also Finish Quantum is good, but the new Miele tabs leave them for dead
Cheers

Thanks Mr Wash.

Boy...you are like me with appliances, always the new model. Since you ended with Cheers, I'm assuming you are in the UK (or maybe AUS or NZ)! Here in the USA, we still only have the LaPerla II. I am a tiny bit annoyed about the III coming to USA sometime this year. I even called Miele before I purchased the II, and of course they told me that there is NO new model on the horizon. Hmmm, they just want to move their old stock out :) I read all about the III, and besides from cool (albeit gimmicky) LED internal lighting...I do not find the new basket design that revoloutionary. I do love the way the LED lights look (total Sucker I am for gimmicks:) but once you slide the trays out to load or unload...the LED lights do not do much function, do they?? I will freely admit, they do look very cool though.

I changed my water hardness to 8. Our local water district told me to set it to 7, but the range of harness is 7.2-7.9 for our area. So, I will try 8 for a few loads, and then will try 9, if that does not help.

Miele is also mailing me some tabs to try, since I called and complained about the performance of my new $$$ G 2832 SCi. Hopefully they will arrive soon. It's been a week since they said, they would mail them to me!

Larsi,
You may want to check out the toe kick as the cause of the door poping noise. I had a similiar issue with my dishwasher, and found out the installer didnt install the toe kick correctly so it was catching on the door and making a poping noise when it was opened. After adjusting the toekick problem resolved.

Good Luck.

Thanks stingo! The toe kick plate was our very first thought, luckily or unluckily depending on how you see it :) The toe kick plate is fine.

The noise is, or seems to be getting better. It is not all the time, and unless it increases...I do not feel like bothering Miele or using my time waiting for a service call. Miele Service is really great, but it can take 1-2 weeks to get something and then you have a 4-6 hour window. Not fun!

Well Larsi? How is the machine working since you've made the adjustments? Any better?

@Mieleguy...

The machine is running as I type this, for the first time since I made the adjustments...I try to run the machine when it's pretty full, as opposed to just running it with only a few items.

I am still waiting for my Miele tabs to arrive, so I am trying the "new" cascade All in 1 packs that Procter & Gamble generously mailed to me, when I called to complain about the awful performance with the Phosphate Free Cascade Complete Powder. The mailed me a WHOLE bag of them, plus a coupon for a free bag. Very gracious of P&G!!

I hope the new settings and using a pack/tab for detergent helps!

;)

Hey again Mieleguy...

Even without the new Miele tabs that I am still waiting for...my dishes, pots, pans, glasses & utensils look FLAWLESS. Shiny, spot free, silky and the stainless interior looks polished!!

I am contributing it to, of course, the new settings to Water Plus and adding the 2nd Rinse. Also, maybe Cascade was right that their new All in 1 detergent packs do work better than Cascade Complete Powder. Seeing how amazing my dishes and the inside of the machine look...I cannot imagine it getting or looking better with the Miele tabs.

Again, THANK YOU!!!!! Now, I can say my La Perla II is better than my La Perla I.

When I first got my Diamante, I still had about 20 Cascade Complete packs that I used up first. They are the ones with the blue and green gel on the front of the back. It cleaned well, but I noticed that glasses and cups had a 'chemical' smell to them. Once I used them up and got the Miele tabs, no more chemical smell.

@ Fauguy...

Yes, the Cascade All in 1 packs I have, are the ones with the blue and green gel/liquid. I read some online reviews (don't remember if it was Epinions or Amazon), and other people mentioned the chemical smell as well, but now reviews are saying Cascade re-formulated...and there is no smell. I know the exact smell you are talking about, as I have smelled it on glasses and the few times I let plastic items go thru the dishwasher in the past. The load I did with these All in 1 packs last night...had plastic, glass, cermaic, stainless and lots of utensils. Nothing had any smell at all, and the interior of the Miele smelled "neutral" and clean.

The Miele tabs arrived today, 72 of them. I will try them tonight if I accumulate a full load, if not I will try them tomorrow. They look nice though :)

Hi Larsi,

What programme did you use. BTW I'm in Australia. It would be interesting to see how the machine performs with the default settings to see if the results are the same. We are lucky here in Australia that phosphates are still allowed to be used in dishwasher detergents. Did the Cascade you used have phosphates in them?
Cheers

Mr Wash,

I used Pots and Pans setting. Right now as I type this, I am using the new Miele tabs for the first time. I am trying Heavy Wash. I think Normal is not a very good setting, just as Normal on my Miele washer is not very good (the on board heater does not activate). A-ha....maybe the internal water heater on the La Perla II does not activate on the Normal setting, like on the Miele washer, to achieve Energy Star Gov's ratings??

In California, no dishwasher detergents can be sold to the general public with phosphates. The All in 1 packs did seem to be much better than the Cascade powder though. Fingers crossed for the Miele tabs!!!

Hi larsi
I have rarely use the pots and pans cycle. Most of the time I use the sensor wash programme. Sometimes I use the turbo option or with the new model there is an intensive lower basket option, great if I have pots and pans in the lower basket. I agree the normal programme is not that great the temp in that cycle is low around 115 degrees. Heavy wash or Intensive as we call it goes to 150 degrees I use it sometimes. If I wash good glasses I use sensor wash gentle, which is china and christal in the US

The load I washed last night with the new Miele tabs came out great. I had pots, a lasagna pan, dishes, plastic Oxo mixing bowls, glasses, serving utensils, measuring cups, spoon rests and lots of utensils. Everything looks clean, shiny and it feels silky.

To be 100% honest though, the load washed with the Miele tabs did not look, feel or smell any better than the load washed with the Cascade All in 1 packs! I like the Miele tabs, and since I have 72!!! of them, I will of course use every one of them. But, when it comes time to buy more dishwasher detergent...I will have to decide between Miele and Cascade!

Again, THANKS to Mieleguy2832...I think the most noticeable change in the cleanliness of my dishes and machines is the addition of the 2nd Rinse and Water Plus. I think both these setting were part of my La Perla I, that I used from 2001-2011 (I had 2 La Perla I units in two houses). The La Perla II (2832) is now operating like the La Perla I...flawless and clean dishes!!!

Btw, Miele is coming out on Friday 3/5/11 to check the door. The noise gets better, goes away...and then without warning, comes back with a vengeance! I just want to make sure nothing is internally getting damaged...and I hate the noise it makes..it makes the machine sound so ghetto and cheap :)!

I not sure why my post didn't show up earlier, but I was wondering if you tried using a half-tab?

I used a full tab. Of course Miele wants you to use more, but when I spoke to them, they said the tabs were designed to be used whole, inside the special dissolving wrapper. Miele told me it does not matter the size of the load... a whole tab is safe and fine for a full/big load, as well as a small load.

Well, I cut all 72 of them in-half, giving me 144. There's about 20 or so left. I've only used a full (two halfs) a few times. You may want to try a half tab and see how it works.

Very old thread but worth a try. Do you guys know how to activate water plus and the extra rinse on the new units. Just purchased a Lumen and am having a heck of a time getting good results, using all Miele products etc.

thank you.