Fixing the Dishwasher

I fixed my dishwasher tonight (KitchenAid model KUDI24SEAL5). I bought a multimeter. After searching the web a bit, I 1st: tested the circuit breaker. It was good. Tested to see if power was getting to the washer (opened the bottom and tested the AC line by poking the thingies into the twisted wires). That was good. Turned off the circuit breaker. I took the dishwasher front cover off. Tested the door switch continuity. It was good. Tested the next part, which turned out to be an electronic thermal fuse. It was blown.

I called Sears to get a replacement. It would be a week before they could send one. I called a small repair shop. The guy said tomorrow at the earliest, unless... If I got this far on my own, I could probably just go to Radio Shack and buy any ol' thermal fuse and replace my blown one with it. But get a higher rating temperature because the KitchenAids are rated low. Or something like that.

So I drove to Radio Shack, bought a 140C fuse (old one was 110C) and a soldering iron. I still had a few tools from high school electronics, such as self closing tweezers, dikes, and pliers. I didn't realize it until I read the back of the thermal fuse instructions that the soldering iron would likely blow the thermal fuse. But if I used the tweezers as a heat sink, chances of blowing it were lower.

I was never really good with a soldering iron. I always cooked things too much. So I tried to be quick, and I had some water to cool the fuse (not the solder though--I know that is bad for the bonds). So anyway, I did it without blowing the fuse. My dishwasher works again, and now I have a multimeter and a soldering iron. The fuse cost $2. A website listed it for $12 (including the plastic holder--I used my old one).

Published: 2005-10-04, last edited: 2020-05-11