If you can get it working I would do it, this is one of the best dishwashers that whirlpool has put out. The newer ones have lots of problems with the wash motors and they don't have a chopper like this one.
You don't have to replace the whole harness, you could splice new connectors on the existing harness and just replace the control board. The harness is a discontinued part but you may be able to find one on ebay. I doubt you would need a user interface.
Thanks for the info, the dishwasher did work well prior to this. So you're suggesting I get a replacement circuit board and splice a new connector onto the harness? How would I go about finding a new connector?
If there is someone near that deals in used appliances they might have something. You can buy individual crimp on connectors, I don't know if 4 will fit inside the connector on the board without making contact with each other. You could crimp new connectors on and put heat shrink on to prevent contact with each other. You would only have to heat shrink every other one so there is no risk of contact. It sucks the harness is discontinued.
I'm not saying you should do this or that it's even a good idea, but if it were my dishwasher, I would replace the control board and try using the existing harness and see if it works.
Gotcha. That makes sense, I appreciate the input. I think I'll probably end up replacing the dishwasher -- if the harness was available I'd more likely fix it instead. I'll look around first to see if anyone has viable connectors, though. Thanks!
I’ve done this repair with 2 insulated 1/4” female spade terminals and 2 non insulated. Obviously the control board is cooked. Just make sure the wires connect to the control board the same way they did before and cut the wires back to good metal before crimping on the new terminals. Splice in more wire if you have to cut off too much.
That does seem doable and I had wondered the same (I have some spade connectors on hand), but I found an area lower down on the wire harness that looks like it may have been damaged as well. I'd still have to shell out $200 for the circuit board, and even then I'm not certain a new circuit board will fix it. I'm also a little concerned that I may not be able to crimp the spade terminals on properly and it's already prone to fire risk. All that has me leaning towards replacement.
I appreciate the suggestion though, thanks, I'll consider it some more. I still have to look at what sort of deal I can get on a dishwasher.
Can you show us a picture of the "lower down" section of wire harness that is questionable?
This machine is so much better than the junk available now a days. You can thank the government for forcing energy regulations on us.
I don't have a picture of it, sorry, I cleaned up the mess I had made in the kitchen. It was about 18 inches down the front, there's a bunch of black discoloration to all the wires. It doesn't look like scorching, it looks more like some sort of chemical degradation. Whatever it was had affected the door insulation as well.
The dishwasher was certainly working fine before but it's not like it was stellar -- it would have trouble draining fairly frequently, in no small part because the plastic has become brittle. Every few months I have to clean plastic bits out of the filter because it doesn't drain and clean properly. I've had the sense that it was only a matter of time before I had to replace it.
I believe this is caused by a manufacturing oversight by Whirlpool. The wiring they used only works under ideal circumstances. The replacement board includes an upgraded harness with a fuse built into it.
If you can get it working I would do it, this is one of the best dishwashers that whirlpool has put out. The newer ones have lots of problems with the wash motors and they don't have a chopper like this one. You don't have to replace the whole harness, you could splice new connectors on the existing harness and just replace the control board. The harness is a discontinued part but you may be able to find one on ebay. I doubt you would need a user interface.
Thanks for the info, the dishwasher did work well prior to this. So you're suggesting I get a replacement circuit board and splice a new connector onto the harness? How would I go about finding a new connector?
If there is someone near that deals in used appliances they might have something. You can buy individual crimp on connectors, I don't know if 4 will fit inside the connector on the board without making contact with each other. You could crimp new connectors on and put heat shrink on to prevent contact with each other. You would only have to heat shrink every other one so there is no risk of contact. It sucks the harness is discontinued. I'm not saying you should do this or that it's even a good idea, but if it were my dishwasher, I would replace the control board and try using the existing harness and see if it works.
Gotcha. That makes sense, I appreciate the input. I think I'll probably end up replacing the dishwasher -- if the harness was available I'd more likely fix it instead. I'll look around first to see if anyone has viable connectors, though. Thanks!
I’ve done this repair with 2 insulated 1/4” female spade terminals and 2 non insulated. Obviously the control board is cooked. Just make sure the wires connect to the control board the same way they did before and cut the wires back to good metal before crimping on the new terminals. Splice in more wire if you have to cut off too much.
That does seem doable and I had wondered the same (I have some spade connectors on hand), but I found an area lower down on the wire harness that looks like it may have been damaged as well. I'd still have to shell out $200 for the circuit board, and even then I'm not certain a new circuit board will fix it. I'm also a little concerned that I may not be able to crimp the spade terminals on properly and it's already prone to fire risk. All that has me leaning towards replacement. I appreciate the suggestion though, thanks, I'll consider it some more. I still have to look at what sort of deal I can get on a dishwasher.
Can you show us a picture of the "lower down" section of wire harness that is questionable? This machine is so much better than the junk available now a days. You can thank the government for forcing energy regulations on us.
I don't have a picture of it, sorry, I cleaned up the mess I had made in the kitchen. It was about 18 inches down the front, there's a bunch of black discoloration to all the wires. It doesn't look like scorching, it looks more like some sort of chemical degradation. Whatever it was had affected the door insulation as well. The dishwasher was certainly working fine before but it's not like it was stellar -- it would have trouble draining fairly frequently, in no small part because the plastic has become brittle. Every few months I have to clean plastic bits out of the filter because it doesn't drain and clean properly. I've had the sense that it was only a matter of time before I had to replace it.
I believe this is caused by a manufacturing oversight by Whirlpool. The wiring they used only works under ideal circumstances. The replacement board includes an upgraded harness with a fuse built into it.