Hi Everyone!

The fuse in my very old Whirlpool Quiet Wash Plus Dishwasher (DU920PFGQ3) keeps blowing. Can someone help me figure out what's wrong? Is it likely the temperature sensor is making the water too hot? If it helps, I seem to have more luck when I use the 'Low Energy | China' setting as opposed to the 'normal' setting.

I realize it's a very old dishwasher, but I'd still like to try to fix this myself before buying a new dishwasher. I don't mind 'getting my hands dirty', so to speak. I replaced the water inlet valve myself, though that probably doesn't much!

As I mentioned, my Dishwasher is a Whirlpool DU920PFGQ3. It's 28 or so years old! I've lived here for over 20 years, and I believe it's original to my home. However, I use my dishwasher far less than average...perhaps one time every 10 days, if that.

I'd be especially grateful if experts weigh-in, but I'm open to help from anyone!
Thanks in advance everyone!!!

Sincerely,
~hmhmp

 

Hello, and first, I'm no expert, but there are some very knowledgeable folks reading these posts. But I have a very similar problem going on with my Whirlpool DW. Mine is a 2010 model, but it shuts itself off after about half hour into the cycle, maybe 40 minutes. No lights, no power, nothing. Turning off the breaker and then back on after any amount of time doesn't do anything, but if I remove the screws on the door panel and open the control box, then unhook the thermal cut-off fuse sitting in the control board, and then reconnect, close everything up, it lights back up, seemingly where it left off. The rinse light is on, I can hit the blinking start button, close the door and the machine will finish like it's supposed to. This is all on normal wash. On China, it has worked as designed for me. But I want to fix it so I have a new thermal cut-off for the control panel and a new thermostat for under the tub and plan on replacing them. I'm also going to look at the float switch. I can let you know my results. This seems to be pretty common problem, but finding the cause of the thermal cut-off engaging is the hard part. It could be a lot of things. Other websites state the thermal cut-off engages when the ambient temp around the switch hits the number and then will reset after the temp goes down, but for some reason, mine doesn't do that. I have to manually unplug it. I have a post on this site but haven't heard back yet.

 

Whirlpool has put a thermal fuse inside the door typically near the control area. This is a device that blows itself open when the load running thru it causes excessive heat and it opens. It's basically a thermal fuse. It requires GOOD connections between it and the wiring. If the thermal fuse terminals are loose or corroded.... the heat generated will cause it to melt open. A poor design and still in use.

You need to replace the contacts to the device when you replace the device.
Some thermal fuses come with a wiring harness. Get that one.

 

The following may have additional info for you,

Watch the video and read the Q&A etc,
Whirlpool 675813 Thermal Fuse (AP3115186) - AppliancePartsPros.com

 

PJmax,

Thank you for your reply! Is the wire harness you mention consist of 2 or 3 fairly short wires?

Sincerely,
~hmhmp

 

Two wires.... one for each end.