This Kenmore model is based on the Whirlpool "Point Voyager" Dishwasher,
as far as I can tell (that Service Manual seems to correspond very closely).

Some time after starting the wash cycle yesterday, smelled strong smell of burnt circuit board and cut the power. Opened-up the door today to find that there was a large burnt "pit" in the bottom of the control circuit board and lots of soot.

The pit is about 1/4"-3/8" in diameter and goes all the way through the circuit board, so a lot of energy was released.

The pit is centered on the connection from K2 to P6, the R-W wire to the heating element.

We _always_ run the dishwasher with "no heat" dry, and yesterday was no different, but from the "Common Cycle Chart" in the Service Manual it looks like the heater might get turned on anyway during the "thermal hold intervals", if I'm not mistaken.

With the door switch closed, the resistance from P6 to P7 (across heating element + hi-limit thermostat) is about 14 ohm, in line with the 10-30 ohm specified in the service data.

It doesn't look like any water got into the control board area.

Anyway, I'm prepared to replace the control board but would like to make sure (as much as possible) that I won't immediately blow the new one because of I didn't fix the root-cause problem.

Any suggestions what else to check, or what might have caused this, or anything else?

Thanks!
MV