In advance: There are no short-term interruptions: You have a beginning damage, sorry. The questioner asked a long time ago, but.....
...General tips for everyone with a dishwasher:
1. Always fill salt into the salt compartment (!), see indication lamp/display
2. The 3-in-1 etc. tabs .. DON'T CARE! Always use salt, no matter what the tab manufacturers write on them! Of course, it's best not to overdo everything, so also "cut back" on the multifunction tabs accordingly. (1-phase tabs rather..)
If the ion exchanger is screwed, then the sh*t is hitting the fan! (often economical total loss)
3. Never put detergent into the salt compartment or let it get in (Keep the cover TIGHT) !!!!!!
4. Again: Never forget salt, if necessary refill occasionally if the indicator is stuck or might be.
1-phase tabs are actually optimal when you remember to check the amount of salt and also fill rinse aid into the respective compartment. Everything else is marketing.
And forget the pitting Calgon stuff! Also and especially with detergent. (Most of the detergent already contains SOFTENER, i.e. descaler. Exception: If you live in an EXTREME water hardness area)
Washing machines and dishwashers are cleaned for about 10 EUR (cost of the special cleaner) 1-2 times a year without laundry at 60-90 degrees and that removes everything from lime scale to mold and odor. Special cleaner as said, from the specialist trade, not the supermarket. But I don't want to go into details here, nor other ways. Just ask a specialist dealer (service technician), maybe you catch a good one.
Whoever has better experience with 7-in-1, please, have fun with the (factory) service (at some point)
especially if you think you don't have to refill salt anymore because supposedly the tabs handle everything.
AND ALL LIDS IN THE DEVICE (especially the salt compartment) MUST BE WELL SCREWED ON or pay attention to the TIGHTNESS of the respective lids (seals)! (Salt container, filter etc.)
Detergent must never get into the salt compartment (or anything else!) or vice versa. (Then say goodbye to the ion exchanger, which clogs and petrifies and is screwed...)
I still have in mind the Polish cleaning staff who always messed up the dishwashers in offices (in big companies). Employers save on hourly wages, they (cleaning staff) could not speak German and thus were particularly cheap to maintain, but forgot that due to the language barrier it is almost impossible to explain to them that the accesses to the ion exchanger (or salt compartment) must always be tightly closed/sealed, otherwise detergent gets in and the expensive ion exchanger clogs/petrifies and is only worth repairing with high-quality devices. Just the labor time alone. Dishwashers are often a time trap depending on the defect situation. A washing machine is usually much simpler, faster, and more pleasant to repair.
Dishwashers must be removed, then put back in exactly. They have to be taken apart, turned upside down etc. Some things have to be accessed from below, some via side accesses. Rarely is it enough to just open the flap and work inside the device without removal. If it really is that easy, it's usually the rollers of the dish racks, a defective or clogged spray arm etc. Or splinters in the filter or beneath. Such things are done in 5-10 minutes. Everything else means ALWAYS removing, unscrewing, and REINSTALLING, which really takes time. And time costs real money.
So better take care of the devices and always think about salt and the tightness of the accesses to the salt compartment and not rely on thousand-in-1 tabs.