Whirlpool Duet F11 and F-DL Codes
The F11 and D/L error codes are common to main board problems. We have had our washer since 2005. It started having D/L problems in 2006. Looking online at that time we learned to jiggle the wire harness. That worked sporadically, until we solved the problem by leaving the washing machine metal top cover off entirely, taking the plastic cover off the main board box, and taping the main board tray to the top rear of the washer. Putting the plastic cover back on the main board box always seemed to cause a problem.
Unwilling to face the ugliness anymore, we wanted to put the cover back on the washing machine two days ago. With everything back in place, we hit a wall of F11 errors. We were way past warranty phase, and badly in need of doing laundry on the weekend. No appliance repair shop or person was available for a fix.
The Motor Control Unit Power connector at the main board was loose, so I decided to see if re-soldering would do the trick. I removed the main board and looked at all solder connections under high power magnifying glass for glaring problems. All four pins of the Motor Control connector had visibly separated from their solder, and there was one pair of pins belonging to the big red resistor in line with the Motor Control connector that had a similar look. In fact there were slight vestiges of solder blowout originating from one of those pins calling attention to it. I re-soldered all those pins and put the board back in place. It worked for awhile, but we started getting D/L errors and F11 errors again. Oddly, they appeared when putting the main board box cover back on.
The main box cover has plastic pegs designed to push down on the main board when snapped on place. I cut the pegs shorter, but that did not help. Looking closer, the pegs are offset inward on the board, and one peg pushes into the black resistor in line with the Line Filter Connector. I figured with all the machine vibration, the black resistor would be affected by the tight tolerance.
I removed the main board again and looked even more closely at the solder around all pins. Sure enough, the solder at one of the black resistor pins showed signs of cracking. The pin could be seen moving up and down slightly with rocking of the resistor above. The Door Lock connector also pins showed signs of fatigue. Soldering all these distressed connections firmly back in place seems to do the trick .... for now. We need to order a replacement board, and keep it handy in case of final board failure.
Getting rid of mildew - Consumer Reports suggests leaving the door slightly ajar on all front loading washers. That has worked for us.
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