kitchenaid dishwasher thermal fuse

[Billccm]

Hello:

I have a three year old Kitchenaid dishwasher, and it is at best a mediocre product, but that is beside the point.

The dishwasher went dead tonight in the middle of it's dry cycle. No power, no loghts, no nothing. A pulled the thermal fuse plug, and ohmed it out-infinite ohms-it is open.

So, is it just a fuse, or do I have long term issues that require a repair man?

Any help is appreciated. Thanks, and have anice day,

Bill

[I-zheet M'drurz]

Not so fast there! This help is not the best news you could be hoping for, but here it is:

1) Fuses just don't blow for no reason, something caused it. You can be optimistic and *hope* it was some wierd, OTO "power surge" or "it just got old" (those are the top two wishful thinking excuses) or it could have been from something REAL, like a wire somehow shorting to ground, or a component on the PC board going belly up, causing a high current situation, or any number of things that are sadly NOT going to go away magically when you try a new fuse. 2) Not trying to be a smartass, but: We can't see it from here. You need to evaluate the cost of a new one vs a repair service call unless you yourself are an electronic tech that knows how to troubleshoot appliances. Every day that passes in this world, new becomes cheaper and repair situations become less and less desirable.

Buy one fuse to check for the "fluke" thing. If it blows again immediately, either open The Yellow Pages or get ye to Lowes or Sears or wherever you intend to buy your next dishwasher.

[Edwin Pawlowski]

It may be the point. KA is one of the best DW around so if it is not doing the job, something is wrong. It may be wearing out the pump, spray arms clogged, filter clogged, etc. At three years, it should not have those problems

Is it possible that something is being overloaded? See above about the pump. It may be putting too highof a load and causing problems. Could be lots of things. Fuses just don't "go" after a number of years, they go when overloaded.

My guess is that if you find the problem, you DW may suddeny go from being mediocre to a very good dishwasher. Considering the age, I'd call a repairman. New will cost $500 and up so fix what you have. Ed

[jeff]

Hi,

No model# posted.

Many times a loose connection on the thermal fuse allowed the fuse to warm up and open circuit, but all of the heating items should be checked, heating element, thermostat(s) and if they check ok replace the thermal fuse....but the new fuse should come with new wires as well and everything must replaced at the same time!

style of the thermal fuse.

jeff. Appliance Repair Aid

[Billccm]

Thanks for all of the replies.

Obviously, this is a known issue. The replacement part number is supersceeded into a thermal fuse relocation "KIT". Cost is $21.99.....I'll let you know how I make out.

Bill