User Review Bosch SMS60L12IN Dishwasher Review

I was in search of dishwasher reviews for the past couple of years, specially from Indian users.
I couldn't find much except for a review or two on YouTube, but they were not in detail for me to take the plunge.

Finally I bit the bullet and bought a Bosch SMS60L12IN from Amazon for 31.5k.

I'd summarize few points which might be useful for prospective buyers.
This review applies to all dishwashers in general since all the models from different brands sold in India are more or less with similar specs.

Which Brand?
  • AFAIK Bosch, IFB, Siemens, LG & Samsung sell dishwashers in India.

  • Bosch has only one model in two colors with different model numbers.
    People quoted that the silver model is an upgraded one with water saving features blah blah blah.
    But I verified the specs and both are in fact color variants of same model.

    Siemens has a model or two IIRC, but they are priced higher and share 90% of the components with Bosch. Both are sold and serviced by same channels too.

  • IFB has 5-6 models, out of which all the models have 12 place holders except the top of the line Neptune SX1, which has 15 place holders. This particular model has extra pullout basket for small cutlery, which is of practical use. I later found out how significant this feature is (More on this later).

  • LG and Samsung sell one model each, which are priced higher and I doubt their after sales service w.r.t dishwashers.

  • I found build quality to be better in Bosch.

  • In terms of service I heard/found Bosch to be better, can't comment on the spares availability/cost of spares at this moment. There are many horror stories about IFB service, so I stayed out of this brand.
Purchase and Installation

  • For months, I pestered almost all major stores for a demo and no one gave a positive reply. Croma, Bajaj electronics have a Bosch demo dishwasher with transparent window to see how the dishwasher works etc, but they never showed interest in showing a demo as well.

  • All of them were offering a discount of 1-2 k, so I chose Amazon as I was getting it for almost 8k discount on MRP. These store guys were selling very old stocks, but the one I ordered from Amazon was imported in Dec 2016. I think all Bosch dishwashers sold in India are made in Turkey.

  • I got a installation request acknowledgement from Bosch on the very next day I ordered on Amazon. They had been following up for installation even before it was delivered from Amazon and installation was done within hours of delivery. Satisfied with the overall purchase and installation experience.

  • There is nothing complicated about installation, just connecting the inlet hose and proper drainage for drain pipe. The purpose of waiting for installation is more or less to verify damage and to avail warranty.

  • Also ours is a free standing unit, if you want to integrate this into kitchen, you might need to get some additional work done to mount the machine into place.

What are these three cleaning agents?
  • A dishwasher needs a combination of three cleaning agents. Using all three( Salt+Detergent+Rinse Aid ) is the key to perfectly washed dishes. You can use any brand of dishwasher cleaning agents, as long as they are dishwasher compatible.

    Bosch recommends "Finish" products, which are imported and cost a bomb when compared to other brands. IFB sells their own brand of cleaning agents.

    We personally use & recommend Fortune Products >> http://fortunedishwashing.com/
    They are cheaper compared to imported brands.
    I compared the wash quality with Finish and I couldn't find any difference.
    Many Bosch/IFB users gave similar feedback about Fortune products.
    They are not easily available in super markets, but you can order from their website or their Amazon store.

  • What are these three cleaning agents anyway?
    • Salt - Don't confuse this for normal table salt.
      This is special salt, used to convert hard water into soft water which prevents hard water stains(white powdery stains) on the dishes. It is mandatory if your water hardness is medium to high. Depending on your dishwasher model, you can adjust the salt dispensing levels.

      You don't need to refill salt for every wash, you need to refill once in a month or two based on usage.In our case, we use dishwasher everyday and we need to refill it once a month with 1KG of salt. Cost of refill is around Rs. 100 per KG.

      http://fortunedishwashing.com/product/fortune-dishwasher-salt/

    • Detergent - As the name suggests, these are detergents specially made for dishwashers.
      You need to fill the detergent for every wash, just like a washing machine.

      http://fortunedishwashing.com/product/fortune-dishwasher-detergent-1-kg-pack/

    • Rinse Aid - It is a special liquid used to reduce the surface tension of water, so that water won't stick on the dishes during rinsing. This actually makes a lot of difference to the final wash quality. If you don't use it, then the dishes would have water droplet stains and white stains.

      You might have to refill rinse aid every 10 washes on average. So a 500ml Rinse Aid should be sufficient for a month or two, if you use the dishwasher daily.

      http://fortunedishwashing.com/product/fortune-rinse-aid/

      You can buy a combo pack of all three, which is more in tune with the usage cycle.
      http://fortunedishwashing.com/produ...tarter-combo-pack-free-descaler-worth-rs-150/

    • All in one Tablets - If you are lazy and don't want to buy all three of them and refill every time. These all in one tablets come with a combo of Detergent/Salt & Rinse aid all in a single tablet. You will need to use one tablet per wash.

      Manual says that if your water hardness is medium to high, then you would still need to use salt in addition to these tablets. I've tried to use tablet alone and the results weren't great. Ended up using the additional salt as well. So I won't recommend tablets, plus these are costly compared to the purchasing the individual detergents.

      For example, this costs almost 1200 for 34 tablets >> http://www.amazon.in/Finish-All-Max-Powerball-Tablets/dp/B01ET6E9XE?tag=googinhydr18418-21

Stacking the dishes and Usage
  • You need to dump all left over food particles from the utensils. Soaking is not necessary for normal utensils. Wok's on which deep fries are done, would wash well with soaking.

  • Plates go into plate holders and large dishes go on bottom rack.
    Small plates, cups, small utensils go into the top rack. There is a free standing basket for cutlery into which you place all the ladles, forks & spoons. But using this basket is tricky, as it can be placed only on bottom basket and is difficult to fit in if the bottom layer is full. This is where extra basket in IFB Neptune SX1 comes handy. Otherwise you are forced to use the assorted holder in the top rack for placing spoons and forks.

  • All dishes should be facing downwards on the racks and should not be stacked on top of other.
    Stacking the dishes is tricky and time taking for the first few runs till you get the hang of it.

  • Once you are done stacking, check for the refill indicators. Only for the first use you need to fill the salt and rinse aid. Post that you need to fill them only if the respective refill indicator is lit.
    As I had mentioned earlier, refill cycle is roughly once a month for salt and once every 10 - 15 washes for Rinse Aid (100-150ml per refill).

  • Now comes the wash options, depending on the model there will be Auto, Eco and Intense modes.
    We normally use Eco and Auto modes and are yet to use Intense kadai mode.
    Since water temperature goes to around 70 degrees, we never risked using that mode owing to plastic boxes in the wash.

    Auto/Eco modes usually take 1.5 hrs for the cycle to finish.

    Unlike a washing machine, there is no lock for the door, no sound indicators for the wash completion.
    You can open the door in the middle of wash, it automatically pauses and resumes once the door is shut. But avoid opening the door as the vapor that spews out is very hot.

    Once the wash cycle is done, machine turns itself off without any buzzer.
Wash Quality
  • Aluminium, Wood and plastics which are not dishwasher compatible should not be used in dishwasher according to manual. I tried aluminium dishes, they got cleaned properly, but are slightly discolored and have white stains even after rinse aid is used. So I won't recommend using aluminium utensils.
    I've used wooden spatula's and wash is fine.

    Silverware, steel, glass and food grade plastics are washed perfectly. Shine on the utensils and the squeaky noise from the clean dishes is so satisfying.

  • Specially if you are using Tupperware boxes for carrying lunch, the difference in wash quality is reason enough for you to buy a dishwasher. Even those sticky oil stains are washed perfectly, leaving the boxes squeaky clean. When we used to wash the dishes manually, getting the oil stains from plastic boxes is a nightmare and oil stains never used to go off.
Power Consumption
  • This particular model is rated at 1.5KW, but I guess that rating is only for the heating element.
    Never calculated the actual usage, but should be on par with any washing machine if not less.
    There is no significant spike in electricity bill, so I never bothered to check the power usage in detail.

I will add a few pictures later today, of the dishwasher and utensils before/after wash.

My parents were reluctant to get rid of the maid and get a dishwasher instead. They were apprehensive about the performance earlier, but after looking at the wash quality, even they are on the scout for a dishwasher. Since I know the practical advantages of an extra rack, I'm pushing for IFB Neptune SX1 and will update this review accordingly if we end up buying that.


This is how dishwasher was delivered by Amazon. Luckily no damages.

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A few pics from yesterday's wash cycle.

Notice that refill rinse aid indicator is lit. It's been almost 3 weeks since last refill.

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After refill, with the indicator off.

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After the wash cycle.
Those plastic flap like things you see at the bottom of the pic is where you add the detergent and the rinse aid.
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Bottom rack, where plates and large utensils usually go.

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Top rack. Since the bottom rack is full and we couldn't fit the small cutlery basket, We had to improvise and use the Etagere for small cutlery.

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Notice how the stainless steel utensils are shiny. If you don't use rinse aid, there will be a cloudy layer of water droplet marks over them.

I'll do a set of before/after wash pics of dishes, once I get some time over the weekend.
 
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Is it the same product though ? have you compared it with the oem product

Yet to. Will give a proper feedback once I've finished atleast half the pack.

Currently using Finish for the past couple of months. I'm okay spending the premium given the difference in end result as compared to Fortune.
 
Yet to. Will give a proper feedback once I've finished atleast half the pack.

Currently using Finish for the past couple of months. I'm okay spending the premium given the difference in end result as compared to Fortune.
What issues were you facing with Fortune. I have been using them ever since I bought the dishwasher in October. We only use the quick mode and don't use both rinse aid and salt. Results have been perfect for me since day 1.
 
What issues were you facing with Fortune. I have been using them ever since I bought the dishwasher in October. We only use the quick mode and don't use both rinse aid and salt. Results have been perfect for me since day 1.
Probably soft water source in your case?

In my case, water hardness levels are high. Fortune detergent is not dissolving properly and is clogging up the filter. Strong detergent residue on utensils.

IIRC I did post regarding the same issue a couple of months back.

Switched to Finish post that and the results have been good so far.
 
In my case, water hardness levels are high. Fortune detergent is not dissolving properly and is clogging up the filter. Strong detergent residue on utensils.
I looked this up and nobody is suggesting hard water as the reason.

- something blocking the detergent drawer from opening or the spray arm from moving completely

- is the temperature setting hot enough. More than 50 degrees

- whether you're overdosing, ie using too much or too short a program for this detergent

- whether the detergent tray is wet leading to the detergent caking up and not flowing out properly

- check the expiry date of the detergent



If you're still not convinced then maybe your salt settings need to be bumped up like this lady explains

But even she mentions white stains or patches. You don't have that problem. In your case its not dissolving properly.

It's a hard water problem only if you're seeing white film

 
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I've actually tried all different combinations of Salt dispensing level and rinse aid dispensing level over the entire period.

Nothing was blocking the spray arm or the detergent tray. This happened consistently for a couple of months before I switched detergent.

The reason as I said was filter getting clogged frequently with detergent residue. Say I clean the filter and the next 1 or 2 washes comes out fine and after 5th or 6th wash, filter is clogged again.

Initially I felt may be the batch was defective, but this happened with three different batches.

AFAIK, the only temperature control mode is the Intensive Kadhai mode and then the D0, D1 drying temperature settings. Utensils are quite hot after the wash, so that confirms that the heater is working as expected.

The white stains were very stubborn. They needed scrubbing to go off. Not like the white film stains which usually go off easily.

The only change was the detergent & rinse aid brand, from Fortune to Finish.
 
I've actually tried all different combinations of Salt dispensing level and rinse aid dispensing level over the entire period.

Nothing was blocking the spray arm or the detergent tray. This happened consistently for a couple of months before I switched detergent.

The reason as I said was filter getting clogged frequently with detergent residue. Say I clean the filter and the next 1 or 2 washes comes out fine and after 5th or 6th wash, filter is clogged again.

Initially I felt may be the batch was defective, but this happened with three different batches.

AFAIK, the only temperature control mode is the Intensive Kadhai mode and then the D0, D1 drying temperature settings. Utensils are quite hot after the wash, so that confirms that the heater is working as expected.

The white stains were very stubborn. They needed scrubbing to go off. Not like the white film stains which usually go off easily.

The only change was the detergent & rinse aid brand, from Fortune to Finish.
Call up the company. Number should be on the box. If you have the batch numbers ready it would be useful.

Company was set up by two guys from IIT. One of them is a chemist the other manages the company.

When i called up for some other product they connected me to the managing director and i had a chat with him.

If there is residue in the filter then its not dissolving properly. Is that because the water isn't hot enough or the batch is faulty.

Maybe you might get some ideas. Others have used the product without issue so why it does not work for you is a mystery.

This only happens with small companies, with the MNC's you get some drone who is useless.
 
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Is anyone of you facing issues with current batch of Fortune detergent?
Our dishwasher filters are getting clogged frequently with detergent residue.

Bought a set of Finish detergent/rinse-aid/salt to test the difference.
Will update the post with my results after using them for a couple of weeks.

View attachment 79138 View attachment 79139
Why do you think this is a problem ?

Lady here says manual recommends cleaning it after every wash.

She hasn't washed hers for 10 washes does her micro filter look any better ?

Don't know why she refers to it as a micro filter. Does not seem to have any mesh on it, just a piece of plastic. So what sort of "micro filtering" can it do ?

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Nothing was blocking the spray arm or the detergent tray. This happened consistently for a couple of months before I switched detergent.

The reason as I said was filter getting clogged frequently with detergent residue. Say I clean the filter and the next 1 or 2 washes comes out fine and after 5th or 6th wash, filter is clogged again.
Whether you are using too much ?

AFAIK, the only temperature control mode is the Intensive Kadhai mode and then the D0, D1 drying temperature settings. Utensils are quite hot after the wash, so that confirms that the heater is working as expected.

The white stains were very stubborn. They needed scrubbing to go off. Not like the white film stains which usually go off easily.

The only change was the detergent & rinse aid brand, from Fortune to Finish.
The detergent isn't completely dissolving so when the drying cycle comes on the remaining residue gets hot blow dried onto the utensils :)

Try with less detergent
 
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Why do you think this is a problem ?

Lady here says manual recommends cleaning it after every wash.

She hasn't washed hers for 10 washes does her micro filter look any better ?

Don't know why she refers to it as a micro filter. Does not seem to have any mesh on it, just a piece of plastic. So what sort of "micro filtering" can it do ?

Post automatically merged:


Whether you are using too much ?


The detergent isn't completely dissolving so when the drying cycle comes on the remaining residue gets hot blow dried onto the utensils :)

Try with less detergent
It's the same mesh filter that gets clogged frequently which I had mentioned earlier and this is the only filter in the unit AFAIK. Yeah cleaning it does help and the frequency of cleaning used to be every week while using Fortune detergent. With Finish I haven't cleaned the filter for over a month now and it's still clean.

And IIRC I was the one who recommended Fortune in my first post in this thread. It was good initially and then later on the quality went down batch by batch. Atleast in my case.

My usage never changed, it's almost full load everytime and same amount of detergent irrespective of the brand, everyday for the past two years.

So my observation was based on the fact that I've changed nothing from the routine except the detergent and it fixed the issue for me.

I'm happy using Finish products, even the cap mouth is handy to pour the detergent easily, not needing another storage box and scoop.

Also I've never seen lumps in Finish till now. With Fortune it's mostly lumps that I breakdown before every wash cycle.
 
This info is for people interested in dishwashers and in Pune.
Dynamic distributors on Baner road has 15 place setting bosch dish washer (serie 4) for around 42.5k after a lot of haggling.
IFB 15 place setting model is now 42500 with additional 3k cash back and No cost EMI
 
To those who went and bought a Bosch dishwasher, I have a couple of questions.

What was the reason do go with Bosch and not say Lg or siemens. (I know about the similarity of bosch and Siemens). Is it because bosch is the cheapest of well known brands.?

In bosch the series 6 costs less then the series 4, I am guessing its because the series 4 currently listed in bosch india is a more energy efficient, did you guys buy series 6 for any particular reason.?

Does bosch assemble these dishwashers in India or do they import it completely.?
 
To those who went and bought a Bosch dishwasher, I have a couple of questions.

What was the reason do go with Bosch and not say Lg or siemens. (I know about the similarity of bosch and Siemens). Is it because bosch is the cheapest of well known brands.?

In bosch the series 6 costs less then the series 4, I am guessing its because the series 4 currently listed in bosch india is a more energy efficient, did you guys buy series 6 for any particular reason.?

Does bosch assemble these dishwashers in India or do they import it completely.?
I bought Bosch instead of Siemens because it was cheaper and both are basically same as told by the showroom guys. LG dishwashers was not very easily available when I bought my dishwasher 2 years ago. Although I'd prefer LG over Bosch any day when it comes to service. Within one year my dishwasher has to be replaced by a new one by the company as they were unable to repair the fault after one month of continued effort. Bosch machines are imported from Turkey (at least both of mine are). Rest I do not have idea.
 
To those who went and bought a Bosch dishwasher, I have a couple of questions.

What was the reason do go with Bosch and not say Lg or siemens. (I know about the similarity of bosch and Siemens). Is it because bosch is the cheapest of well known brands.?

In bosch the series 6 costs less then the series 4, I am guessing its because the series 4 currently listed in bosch india is a more energy efficient, did you guys buy series 6 for any particular reason.?

Does bosch assemble these dishwashers in India or do they import it completely.?

I'll talk about my scenario. Back in 2016, the only available dishwasher brands in India were Bosch, IFB, Siemens. LG and Samsung had one model each with ridiculous pricing. I've touch based regarding the brand selection in the first post of this thread. So you can find more there, followed by a discussion with fellow members regarding the individual pros and cons of several brands.

The reason why Series 4 costs more is not because of the energy rating. Energy rating is kind of a compliance EPC rating that I remember from my UK days. Basically the EPC rating is a mandate when you put your property on rent or for sale back in UK. Similar sort of stuff across EU I believe. So all these A, A+, A++ are EPC ratings specific to those regions and doesn't matter much in Indian perspective.

Series 4 costs more because of an additional cutlery tray and heat exchanger module. In simple words, It works like the controlled drying logic of a tumble dryer for clothes.




On Series 6, utensils are left to dry from the heat of last rinse cycle where as in Series 4, heat exchanger controlls the temperature of drying cycle. It supposedly handles ceramic ware, glass & plastic better without causing micro cracks due to the sudden drop in water temperature between cycles. But I didn't find specific need for it, as our ceramic/glass utensils never got damaged as such.

Regarding the country of origin. I purchased two dishwashers from two different cities, both were made in Turkey.

More on EPC ratings, just as an FYI


 
To those who went and bought a Bosch dishwasher, I have a couple of questions.

What was the reason do go with Bosch and not say Lg or siemens. (I know about the similarity of bosch and Siemens). Is it because bosch is the cheapest of well known brands.?

In bosch the series 6 costs less then the series 4, I am guessing its because the series 4 currently listed in bosch india is a more energy efficient, did you guys buy series 6 for any particular reason.?

Does bosch assemble these dishwashers in India or do they import it completely.?


I have a series 4, major difference between a series 4 and series 6 are :

series 4 - 3 racks , there is a dedicated rack for spoons and ladles
series 6- Only two racks, with spoon basket for spoons.

series 4- Global model
series 6- Tailor made for India, with Kadhai option.

Series 4- Only available in Bosch Brand store.
Series 6- Available online and with offline retailer.

Series 4 - More costlier .
Series 6 - Not as costly.

check my two you tube videos for series 4
Let me know if you need any more details regarding series 4

 
Hi,

Do you know how to reduce / increase the amount of rinse aid, for your Siemens or Bosch machine
I have a Siemens dshwasher, bought on Amazon just 2 weeks before the lockdown started. But could not figure out how to decrease the rinse aid quantity, it is dispensing too much
 
It is described in your user manual. You can set salt dosing according to water hardness and rinse aid dosing through the menu.

See this video:
 
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Hey all. Amazon no longer has stock of Fortune Rinse aid/salt etc. Anyone ordered from their official website? Any alternatives we have apart from Finnish?
 
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