I don't ever put my silver plated utensils in the dishwasher. I hand wash them and even hand dry. Keeps them clean and tarnish free. I have a set of stainless steel for every day use and they can go in the DW without any problems. Just my experience.

In practice, I'm with jannie. In fact, phosphates are discouraged when cleaning silver or silver plate. This is a stumper b/c I'd deduce it wasn't the detergent at all but one of the myriad other reasons (touching stainless steel in the DW, water too hot, other detergent fillers/builders, etc.)

Sigh. I know this goes against the grain: My Mama used nothing but her sterling flatware, three meals a day, and to my knowledge she ran it all through her dishwasher for 24 years, once she had a DW. It did not harm it--I have it now. Mama had a drawer lined with Pacific cloth, including a loose cover, where all the flatware was stored. I wonder if what I'm noticing is a result of the water-saver features of this DW. I may end up hand washing, but I'm not going down without a fight!
Thank you both for answering!