Gene,

Thanks so much for the reply.

I just got a call from Kitchen Aid. Despite the unit no longer being under warranty, they said they would send someone out at no charge to do an evaluation of the unit based on safety concerns. They did mention they would not be covering the cost of repair, just the evaluation.

I had a couple questions for you. I assume Whirlpool and Kitchen Aid are one in the same? And, do you think the replacement of the control unit is something I can do knowing I am reasonably handle (but in no way an appliance repair professional). I assume no soldering is necessary?

Thanks again

Hi Gene,

We got our visit from the appliance repair person that KitchenAid sent out. His claim was that both the control board AND the touch panel should be replaced. I went into this thinking it was just the control board based on my observations I mentioned earlier so I pressed this guy to find out why he suspected also the touch panel. He gave a general answer from other units. He did not connect anything to it to test it. I suspect it is likely only the control board. Here is the catch. He gave prices...they are a bit higher than your price, but he claimed that KitchenAid is picking up the labor.

I would like to get your feel on things before I make a decision.

If I replace the control board myself it will be 1/2 the price. If I go with this guy it will be $724 with both parts including the taxes. Again, with KitchenAid (Whirlpool) picking up the labor..otherwise would have been around $850. If I replace the control board and find out I also need the touch panel, is that also relatively easy to install?

Thank you.

Hi Gene,

Looks like the labor would be guaranteed for 90 days according to the paperwork.

The unit is white.

If the control panel is bad do you have a part number for that? How easy to install that one?

Thanks again.

Gene,

Thank you. I will certainly take your advice and investigate the part guarantee question. If I have to guess right now it looks like the estimate paper indicates 90 days. Is that standard?

I agree what you are saying about Whirlpool. They are done. They won't assist further is my guess.

My thinking right now is that I will find the answers to the guarantee questions then may likely move forward to have the repair place do the work...but, only on the control board. The reason? The price for that with installation is within $10 if I buy it on this site (including shipping charges) and I would be doing the install. Sure, it's possible at that point the control panel may need to be replaced. If that happens I will order that from this site and do it myself. The difference in price there is about $60.

Well, we had the repair place out here yesterday (1/2/2011) to replace the control board only. That seemed to go smoothly. He did mention that the control panel seemed ok. We turned on the power to the oven and things looked good. We preceded to turn on the convection oven and heated to 300 degrees. Then, shut it down by hitting the Lower Oven Cancel button. It responded. Some time later the oven cooled to a point that the fan stopped running (as it should). Repair dude departed. About 20 minutes later the oven fan came on. Seemed to be hot in the oven again indicating it came back on. Nothing special on the display (as in things looked normal when the oven is turned off).

At this point I'm at a loss. The repair guy felt the control panel seemed ok. We were not able to get in touch with him since by the time the issue came back it was Saturday afternoon. We did leave a message. Since then we have the oven powered off at the circuit breaker. I'm guessing these guys are going to want to replace the control panel.....but, I am frustrated. Seems the control board did not do the trick. And...what else could it realistically be??

Thank you.