Hi,

We have a GE Profile stainless steel dishwasher that is only 2 years old.

I had a service call maybe 6 months ago because it wasn't draining. The guy pulled a piece of glass from the pump and it was working fine after that. Our daughter had broken a glass in the dishwasher and I must not have gotten it all.

The repair guy told me the machine had really bad mineral deposits. He said it was the worst he had ever seen. He recommended I put some vinegar in a glass and just let it run it's cycle.

So I did that a few times but I wasn't getting the bulk of the deposits off, especially on the bottom of the machine. So I let it fill up with water and stopped it mid cycle and put like a quart of vinegar in there and let it sit and I finally got all those deposits off of the bottom but I had to really work at it.

It was working pretty well after that but recently it started having problems draining and I see a bunch of the calcium deposits on the bottom but they are very small pieces now. It's like it can't drain everything properly. Sometimes I see small pieces of food that is not draining. The dishes don't look so clean either. Not bad, but they seem to have a film on them. I started using a rinse aid now, but something just isn't right with the machine.

It does empty out and there isn't any flooding or anything. I think it must be clogged up somewhere with the mineral deposits.

I am thinking of replacing it with a Miele dishwasher that has a hardwater filter. I've read some good reviews on those.

I was also thinking of just getting a hard water filtration system for the entire house but that is a lot more expensive. Many people in my area have done that.

I would appreciate any advice on what to do here.

I have several options.

1. Keep existing machine and call repair guy to fix it. $180
(That's what he charged last time and he told me any time they have to pull the machine out it is a $175 minimum)

2. Buy the Miele dishwasher that has the hardwater filter. $1600 installed

3. Water softener for entire house - I think someone told me this costs around $2000. Of course I would still have to fix the machine we have now.

I would appreciate any advice on this.

Thanks in advance,
Steve