[motuman]

I have a Kenmore Gas Dryer, model 110.73942101 and I experienced the infamous control board failure earlier this week. - i.e. you push the start button and the dryer starts, but stops as soon as you release the button. FYI - my original control board failed while still under warranty. This is the second board and it lasted about 6 years.

I replaced the control board (orig. Kenmore part #3978949, now W10116565) and it fixed the problem, for one whole day, then broke again. Now I am back to square one, the dryer will start when you press the button, but stops and soon as you release.

• Is it possible my new board failed prematurely?
• Or is there another problem with the dryer that caused the new board to fail? Possibly the motor start relay drawing too much current, for example?

I don't want to install another board only to have it blow, and I don't want to invest too much more $$$ in this Kenmore lemon. I could have bought a new dryer with all the repair money spent so far. (something breaks once or twice a year)

Thanks to all!

[denman]

Here is the tech sheet, which by the sound of it you may already have.
http://www.servicematters.com/docs/w...%203979706.pdf

• Is it possible my new board failed prematurely?
Yes but could be be a bad relay.
How did you determine that the board was bad in the first place?

• Or is there another problem with the dryer that caused the new board to fail?
Again always a possibility but it is doubtful that 2 boards would both fail the same way unless there is an external cause.

Possibly the motor start relay drawing too much current, for example?
The tech sheet does not show the relay coil resistance but I believe the two relays are the same so pull the heater relay and check it's coil resistance and then check that the motor relay is the same.
You could also try swapping the relay to check if a bad relay is the problem.

[motuman]

Hey, thanks for the reply.

• Is it possible my new board failed prematurely?
Yes but could be be a bad relay.
How did you determine that the board was bad in the first place?


From the symptoms of the dryer. The dryer stopping when I released the start button sounded like the classic control board problem. When I pulled the control board there was a little dark spot (maybe burned, maybe not) on one of the contacts. So I replaced the board and it fixed the problem right away.

The motor and heater relays and pictured differently on the schematic, but I'll pull the dryer apart and see if they are actually the same. If so, I can measure resistance and/or swap the relays. (But if my new board is blown, won't learn much by swapping relays).

Thanks again, any other ideas are appreciated.