Hi everyone, I am reaching out for some guidance on a problem with my KDP19. It recently went through a very bad short-out (the thermostat grounded out via an exposed wire). The machine still works, but there is an issue with the power; after a cycle is finished and the door handle is raised the timer clicks over to the beginning of the Soak & Scrub cycle and the Wash light comes on. The timer motor also is running (in fact it never turns off, unless it's in a heating period). If you press the Cancel button the rapid advance motor never stops; it clicks through the off position and starts the process over again.
Additionally,, it has the following symptoms: *the machine will run with the door open and a cycle button pressed *when the thermostat is satisfied in the water heating periods it is not activating the timer; manually advancing the timer through this point gets the timer motor going again. The thermostat is working.
I replaced the timer with a new one I had, and also the sequence light package, but the symptoms/issues are still present. That leaves the program switch. I have not been able to locate a replacement on-line. I would attempt to repair the damage, but before I undertake that process I was wondering if anyone has a suggestion on anything else I should check? I know the shot is bypassing the door switch, but not sure where.
So I've been working on this problem, trying to diagnose the source of the short. First, a big thank you to Steve T for his advice on additional things to check. I really appreciate it!!
I first decided to swap out the program switch for a KDS19 one. They are basically the same except for the presence of two additional terminals for the additional cycles (Heavy Wash & Fast Wash). However, no luck, still having the same problems.
I then decided to trace every wire under the machine to the transition block in the door frame to see if any wires had grounded out to the frame or one another. All fine there.
I then traced the wires back from the program switch to the timer & noticed a few wires terminated at the same point in the Molex plugs on the timer body. I went back and removed the two plugs and examined each one really closely. And then I found it! One of the common lines had shorted itself to a hot line causing a loop back to the timer motor through the program switch. Basically this circuit was bypassing the program switch "open" circuit for timer motor (& RA motor on the "Cancel" program). I've attached some pics for reference.
I removed the two terminals and cleaned up the openings of any residual carbon. I cleaned up the terminal connectors as best I could, and wrapped insulating tape around the wires and reinserted them into the plug block. Success!! The machine appears to be moving through the cycles normally, and it does not advance to the start position when the door is opened after finishing. I still have a couple more cycles to test, but I'm very relieved it's not the program switch. They are NLA and extremely hard to find.
I will make a more permanent repair to the wiring harness once I can get replacement terminals and the tool to install them properly in the block.