Replace Dishwasher Control Board or Buy New Dishwasher
 

Have a 4 year old Kitchenaid model kudc10fxss5. Wife said it smelled like it was burning up and then it quit completely. It tripped the breaker. I opened it up and found this:

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/d...psuuptprvo.jpg

Any reason not to replace the board? I'm concerned I don't know why the board burned up and if the root cause was not within the board, the new board may go up in smoke too in short order. I'm also concerned the board failure may have damaged something else.

But it's a whole lot easier to replace the board than to go buy a new dishwasher, haul it home, de-install the old one (which will require taking out a section of plank flooring laid on type of the original tile), install the new one, and then get rid of the old one.

I would definitely be concerned about WHY. See if you can tell what exactly cooked off and ask yourself what its purpose in life was. If it looks like power circuitry ask yourself if something was drawing too much current. If it all looks like spaghetti to you, welcome to the club.

there's a product recall on this dishwasher:

Dishwasher Fire - Whirlpool KitchenAid Sears Kenmore Maytag

Thanks!!! At first glance looks like I'm covered.

Edited to say, looks like it's too late. Boo! Hiss! I won't post more until I have a chance to thoroughly evaluate.

I haven't had good luck with Whirlpool products. 2 dishwashers that burnt up like that one (one was warranted), a refrigerator that caught on fire, a washing machine that blew its transmission after 3 months, etc - you get the picture.

Replaced the Whirlpool tall-tub dishwasher in this house with a bottom of the line Bosch and could not be happier. Super quiet, gets everything clean (I have literally never pulled a dirty dish out and I don't pre-rinse), and in the 4 years since it went in it's never done me wrong.

Whirlpool stuff over here in Europe has been catching on fire. After more than a year of arguments they have finally admitted there is something wrong with their product...

...I'd buy a new machine from a more reliable manufacturer

It looks like that bottom left relay is where the short happened. One of them is for the heater, the other is for the motor. Check for a grounded heating element.

I would definitely fix, that is one of the best dishwashers out there.

The wires look fine. You can do a continuity and resistance check on the heater and motor to make sure they're not open.

Relays are mechanical things, it could physically fail and short out the control side and send a whole bunch of power to components not sized to handle that kind of load.

There's also large temperature changes and humidity. Both are tough on the control board.

I would try to figure out what happened and then prevent it from happening again.

You might find one on Craigslist for cheap and remove the parts you need.

I'd do what Eugene says.;)

Thanks for the suggestions.

Checked into the lawsuit and my model is not included. Called Whirlpool Consumer Safety and they got really interested when I told them it burned up.

Me: The control board burned up.
Them: You mean burned up like quit working, or burned up like flames?
Me: Flames. The board is covered with soot so it had to have flames.
Them (shifting into liability avoidance mode): Was anyone injured? Is there any property damage? blah blah blah Will you let us repair it at our cost?

Yes, they offered to send a repairman out to fix it at their cost. He's coming Wednesday. Thank you Whirlpool for fixing my out of warranty, almost 4 year old dishwasher.

My only expense will be to turn around the control board I ordered from Repairclinic.com. They charge a flat $9.95 for returns.

Its good that you posted that Whirlpool stood up and took ownership. That says a lot about a company (epically these days) and would influence my purchasing decision.

You can bet that the evidence of the fire will leave with the Whirlpool-funded repairman...

I was gonna suggest just getting a new one - the cost of the board is too close to a whole new unit (and you get new/clean tubes/pipe/impellers/drains/screens/filters)

But if the Appliance guy (lorainfurniture) above says that its worth saving - I'd believe him more than me.

-John

I have a BOSCH dishwasher. It works like nothing I have ever seen.

And my first dishwasher was a top loading unit from the 50's.

A good way to catch a break on the price of a BOSCH appliance is to buy it from Sears. The sales people know where the rebates and special offers are coming so find a model you like and work with one salesperson. They will usually let you know when the model you want is going to receive an incentive.

They will also let you know when Sears is running an incentive for using their card.

So I was able to save $100 on a secret rebate and $50 for using my Sears card. I just had to wait two weeks for the dates to line up. Then I had to wait ten days for the unit to be delivered to the house.

And don't forget to ask for a Veteran's Discount if you are entitled to one. Lowe's is very good about giving this discount to those who can prove Veteran status. And the sales people there will also, sometimes, tip you off as to when rebates are coming.

But I'm cheap. I even installed it myself with a bit of help from the much younger Mrs. Idle.

GEERZERS RULE!!!!!!!!!