wrote in message
...
I bought a new condo and my water is very hard. Whenever I use the
dishwasher I get white flaky residue on everything. I read to try
vinegar. I let the vinegar sit for several hours with the bottom full
of vinegar. Then I ran it a little to circulate the vinegar and let
it sit again. I then ran it through a complete cycle with no dishes
or detergent so as to rinse the vinegar out. I still get chunks of
stuff on all the dishes. The silverware especially looks horrible -
caked on white film with small bits of white flaky substance and food
particles.

Do you think I need a new dishwasher or is there some 'smoking gun'
you see?

it may take a few applications if it's been operated normally for a long
time without cleaning out the mineral deposits.

try getting some stronger acids. you can buy zep products in home depot, for
instance, that will remove more deposits. follow directions on the
container, and do a couple of applications. come back with the results.