Also, the nozzles on the spray arms can become clogged. The easiest method to clean everything is to add one of those "cleaning" tablets to a normal wash. These are just Sodium Hydroxide, which chemically converts accumulates fats and greases into soap.
I don't like cleaning the dishwasher during normal cycles. I don't like eating more chemicals than I have to.
I clean the (German made) dishwasher when it tells me to using products designed for this.
https://shop.rema1000.dk/varer/145820
and
https://www.fjordbutikken.dk/sterling-citronsyre-til-afkalkn...
The first on removes dirt .. mostly fat I think.
The second removes lime using citric acid crystals. You could use vinegar instead I think.
The water hardness has something to do with the amount of salt the dishwasher uses so it needs to be set correctly.
I don't have any issues with the dishwasher.. I had it for 5 years.
https://clrbrands.com/Products/CLR-Household/CLR-Calcium-Lim...
This is probably a 'different problem', in that I have hard water, and calcium buildup is a thing here. It also builds on the plates and everything. So.. I do a full load, all dishes, with CLR. Yes, I do a second wash after.
To give an idea, if I put a pot full of water on the stove, and boil it to empty, I'll end up with a solid disc of calcium and other elemets at the bottom, about 1mm thick!
Do you use filters for drinking water or just bottled water?
I have a cooler with delivered water. I probably could drink the well water, how much calcium and such does milk have? But I'd have to test it more often.
The cleaning program is probably executed every two months or so. I'm assuming that the dishwasher can sense if the pumps it contains use more energy to pump water (I know pumps that can give the user this info but I think this is an estimate based on some magic numbers from the designers of the motor control software).
It might be also a simple timer. :)
EG, I use the 'weed wacker' to cut up stuff, or I am racking leaves, I get pants with plant debris on them. I tend to shake them off first.
Presumably plates had the leftovers scraped off into the compost bin before putting into dishwasher anyways.
This strikes me as an abuse of the word “need”, in my opinion.
Look, yes, you ought to replace the filter every six months to a year, but will your car stop dead the very next day if you don't? No!
It also won't stop the day after, or the day after that. Ergo, by induction, we come to the conclusion that the 2012 R2 server on RTM patch level is not professional negligence.
It's just simple logic.