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!!!!!!!!!

Right....what's a Geerzer?;)

Modern appliances. We more or less estimate what a suspected average life span will be. Sometimes repairing them depending on the cost or complexity.


Either enough time or a couple of repairs have been done. They are replaced.


I also never suspected oriental products would be better but the word around is they are.


The complexity of the wifes washing machine. I cannot find any real reason for. Plus guess what fails. Fifty years ago they did the same job well enough and where very simple in comparison.

I am cheap in general but the squeaking wheel effect the wife presents on occasion is a serious motivation provider.

I guess I am cheap in general. At the same time if the wife has a problem with any appliance this rule does not hold. The squeeking wheel effect is too pervasive.


As for her newer stove the oven does not even heat evenly. Never did. The only upside to me of the newer models is they eventually got rid of those failing mechanical timer clocks. Maybe some kept going but ours never did.


When whirlpool I think it was got hold of Maytag. They discontinued the sale of their washing machines. To me that was a loss to the consumers as they would go the distance with little to no trouble usually. Twenty five years was common. Their old factory sits dormant the last time I noticed.

I was going to suggest looking for a board on eBay. But your dishwasher may still be a bit new. Reason is that I parted out my washer (bad suspension) at ~10+ years. Was going to put the control board, timing unit, motor and pump on eBay. However there were tons of them already on eBay. So I sold all together for no minimum bid and it sold for peanuts. But hey, peanuts is better than paying by weight at my local dump!

Rgds,
Chris W.

They have piles of disgarded appliances on hand at the local dump. In their own dedicated area. No parts removal is allowed.


We had a high line Maytag dishwasher motor fail. The motor was no longer available. I knew where there were perhaps several.


Probably they are concerned about liability issues. In any event you cannot touch any appliances there..

Maybe they're sold to someone who refurbishes them and takes all of them at one time.

I would just replace unit,I had a refrig,I spent alot on electronics,almost burned down the house.

It is a throw away society today. Every so often they have a crusher come in and crush them.


There is a shrinking percentage of citizens today that seek value. Probably the reason some of us older people have money. Or at least a contributor is that we did seek value over the years.


It becomes an entrenched habit. If I could have pulled a used motor when I needed it under the circumstances I would have. Perhaps taking a small generator in to test that it was still functional.


I think it becomes a slippery slope when you pay the going price all the time for everything.


A friend just called a few short time ago. He said they want over four hundred dollars in town to replace his trucks two batteries. Could I give him the location of the two cheaper battery places? Plus is one place better than the other?


We both can afford the batteries today at local retail. It may be that we both remember when four hundred dollars was some money. I do not know for sure but about 150.00 should get him a pair of battery seconds that have some warranty as well.


I am going to need a couple of type 49s this spring myself. My old Mercedes are now so scarce locally I want to drive some of them continually in the good weather this year.


People are really starting to notice them now. Anyways antiques should be seen driving in antiques as it fits the image well. There is also a certain amount of satisfaction in doing so.

I plan to drive my studebaker/mercedes.;)

Its hard to understand why this unit caught fire...four of the parts are clearly marked mercedes!;)

Mercedes just recalled 1M cars due to fire risk. Mercedes recalling 300,000 cars due to fire hazard - Mar. 3, 2017

Coincidence? I don't think so!

;)

There is a regional landfill here and that is their policy. A scrap company pays a monthly fee to pick up what it wants which is usually anything worth having.

This is one of those five year bid things. The city that runs the landfill gets a flat monthly fee and the scrap company hopes enough stuff shows up to make a profit.

One of the landfill attendants was fired for helping himself to some of the scrap. He was stealing the scrap that the company had paid for and not yet picked up.

Circling back to the OP....me! :)

The dishwasher has been fixed. The tech replaced the control board as well as the wiring harness. It works fine. It cost me nothing. I am a happy camper.

I do intend to keep graham crackers, marshmallows and Hershey bars on hand in case it catches fire again. Might as well make a few s'mores before evacuating.

Kitchenaid are very nice product but pricy… I’ve bought mine with 1700$ and regretted about it because in a week I found other store where the price was around 1450$. So, it was a shame. This model is good and mine is a little bit newer, but this brand is very nice! Maybe I’m not just lucky… by the way, here I found a better price, may be it will be useful for somebody. ianboer.com.au

It’s a simple matter of repair cost versus replacement cost and where you want to draw the line. If the rest of the item is seemingly in good shape, I’ll pay about 40 to 50% for the repair.

I hear some replacement parts for some three year old appliances. Are not available. True or not I do not know.

I always try to repair at least once if possible. It is usually economic and physically simpler.