Sounds like a lot of water! Was it a normal cycle? And are you sure there was rinse agent? European doesn't mean wet!

Have you checked the drain? Sounds like it may have stuff stuck in it .. .

Yup, agree. Based on the three Bosch's we've owned, pooling and running water are definitely not normal. There is some issue, perhaps as suggested a clogged drain.

Some water on plastic tupperware is normal, but glassware, flatware, and plates are bone dry in all of ours.

fori -- The appliance store mentioned a "rinse agent" too, and the DW warns you if there is none. We were skeptical, but apparently this matters?! I have no idea what a rinse agent is, but we're certainly going to try it. Does it really make that much of a difference?!

sara-the-brit-z6-ct -- no, haven't checked anything yet, but I think water is draining out of the DW. At least, the water that's not all over our dishes!

Wah! are our hopes really pinned on a "rinse agent" ??

Yes, you need to use a rinse aid such as Jet Dry - this is a standard problem with European DWs that don't have heated dry.

I am often amazed at how many people don't know what is rinse aid (it was introduced in the 1960s, if not earlier) or don't understand that it's *required* with dishwashers nowadays ("but we never used it with our old machine") due to energy restrictions and design changes. Dishwashers that DO have heated dry will perform better with it as well.

It really does make a difference, but yours sounds wetter than that. Even so, give it a try first. It's the easiest thing to test.

The water supply needs to be hooked up to your COLD water supply because it works on condensation drying. This is a mistake many installers make.

My Bosch is a few years older but it certainly is NOT hooked up to a cold water line & there are no problems with drying. I seem to recall the installation manual requiring a certain temperature for the hot water heater or else a heater in the DW kicks in to raise the temp.

Yes, rinse agent will help. For the quick wash cycle, you have to air ("flash") dry just after the cycle finishes, or you'll see what you mention above, rinse agent or not. For the other cycles, we haven't used them all, but the dishes are dry enough for us when the cycles are over without air drying.

The manufacturer's installation instructions most definitely say to connect the dishwasher to the hot water line.

-Roger

True, connect to HW line.
-- except high-end machines with a setting to wash Crystal glass, since they need cooler water. In these machines, use cold (and let it heat the water and this take a few minutes), or install a mixer and you pull both HW and cold, giving you lukewarm, "just right". ¨- )

True, condensation drying, but this only means it uses room air to cool down the stainless steel tub (it pulls room air in a pipe to cool one side of the tub from the outside) so condensation is what happens on the side of the tub wall. As far as I know.

HTH
-david

Update: we tried a second load, this time with more dishes. They came out a lot drier. Still not ready to be put away, but much better. It seems the thermal mass of the dishes helps the drying process. As I type, my husband is at the store getting some "Jet-Dry," and we just finished our first non-takeout dinner, so we'll have a full dishwasher and the rinse agent to try tonight! Running an empty dishwasher around here will be a rare event.

The things you learn in a new kitchen! (Now that we have a side-lever faucet, we suddenly realized that we both always use our left hand to turn on the water, but the lever is on the right side! Who'd'a thunk?!)

Thanks for all help and advice, I'll post a follow-up when we've used our dishwasher in the normal mode we'll always use it in.