Thermal fuse blows during heated water or drying cycle and leaves water inside the tub. Guess the heating element is defective. Is there a way to measure the resistance of the element to determine if it is defective and other parts that could cause this symptom. M/N kuds24seal3.

Thank you for your prompt reply, information, and tips. The service manual and schematics are very useful.

With the fuse blowing I thought the heater might be shorted somehow but since it is a resistive component they usually open up like your tip suggested. The fuse only blows when the heated water and heated drying cycles are selected. This means that the heating element is activated where it appears to be drawing too much current causing the fuse to open. One thought is that the post for the heating element is shorting to ground where this could cause an over current condition but possibly unlikely. It is wise to order the insulating washers with the heating element for replacement?

When I replaced the first thermal fuse I did not replace the wiring since it looked like the factory one with similar connections and wire sizes. I will replace it the next time I work on it. This might be the reason the fuse is blowing during the heated water cycle and heated drying cycle.

Thank you very much for your assistance.


07/11/2010

I just removed the element where it measured 17.7 ohms. Then I measured the new one - 16.7 ohms. It appears that I was sent a defective part where the ends were slightly bent during the shipment. The original one has some wear concerns from the use of it where the element has some circular marks on the underside. This could be the bubbling effect you spoke of.

The original part from the manufacturer is 9743159 where the one sent is 9743495. This appears to be the correct cross referenced part.

Any ideas on the discrepencies?

Thank you in advance for your time.