Z-Car

I have a Whirlpool Duet GEW9250PW1 that recently began to act up.  The symptoms were multiple, however the basic problem is that after running for a short period of time, the dryer would turn off and the control panel was no longer working.  It was not possible to turn it on.  This would happen randomly, although steadily got worse.  If I unplugged the dryer and tried again the next day, it would magically return to normal and work for some period of time before the problem returned.

Other internet stories have reported related symptoms, such as flickering or dim LED’s, various switches not working, only some cycles operational, etc.  All of these problems can usually be traced back to a flaky control panel (user interface).

This dryer is very similar to other Whirlpool models, such as the GEW 9200L and other Kenmore and Bosch models like the HE3.  They all share many common parts.  The following repair will often work on these models as well.

After a quick look around several of the appliance repair sites, the common suggestion is to replace part number AP3775548 (8546219) which is the control board.   This board controls all of the dryers operations, and the electronic control panel (also known as the touch pad user interface) plugs into it.  In general, if the dryer works, but the user interface responds only intermittently, then this control board is almost never the problem.  The core issue is the control panel, part number AP3775978 (8558753, 8530590, 8530589, 3980189, W10838692, 3979789, 1060819, AH973834, EA973834, PS973834)

Further research shows that the control panel has two common issues, the first is that the small micro-switches get small amounts of corrosion within them and only operate sporadically if at all.  The second issue is caused by the large number of LED’s that are used on the user interface.  These LED’s are not only used to provide feedback on what selections were made, they are also cleverly used to help multiplex the required signals back to the control board.  These LED’s are very susceptible to having poor soldered connections on the back of the control panel circuit board.

So, how to fix it?  It is actually fairly easy.  Refer to the Repair Manual for more detail on removing parts.

1. Remove the top cover of the dryer (three screws in back)
2. Remove the control panel.
3. Separate the electronic control from the control panel via various clips
4. Remove the plastic switches from the front of the panel.
5. Clean switches and both circuit boards with CRC electronic cleaner (or similar)
6. Carefully resolder EVERY LED connection on the back of the board (pictured above).  I also resoldered some of the switch contacts that looked suspect.
7. Reassemble dryer.

If successful, you will now have a dryer that turns on when the On button is pressed!