Hi,
I have a kenmore dishwasher 665.13213k900 and the thermal fuse keeps blowing.
It is located on the control board.
I have replaced this fuse 3 times and it will last between 30 and 60 days and then it will blow again.
I used the pigtail harness when replacing the fuse.
I ran the diagnostics and it/I found no problems Heated Dry->Normal->Heated Dry->Normal
Is there something else I could check to see why it keeps blowing?

Hey thanks for your help, I had to wait for the long weekend to fix this dishwasher.

I ohmed out the heating element and got 13.7 ohms. I also found the schematic inside the lower floor plate. This schematic said that the heating element should be between 10 – 30 ohms. So I am ok there. The junction box wiring is fine.
I noticed that the heating element wires ran up to the control board and I looked at the connector and found that it was melted slightly and the PC board was discolored from heat. The only reason that there would be heat being generated at a connection is if the connection was not a good one. If the connection is a little loose then it acts as a very low ohm resistor and at 8 amps that would generate a lot of heat. So I cut off the connector and re-crimped on new 3M ¼” female spade connectors that have a plastic protection around them. They are good for about 220 degrees and 30 amps. After doing this I put the dishwaser back together just enough to turn it on and I connected an amp meter at the thermal fuse and got the following readings running the diagnostics cycle:
1st time heater on 1.7Amps
2nd time heater on 8 amps

I also measured the temperature at the new connections I made and it never got over 98 degrees. This is the area where the relays are for the motor and the heating element so the temp reading was coming from this area. The area where the thermal fuse is was only 88 degrees.

It seems to be running fine now at least for 2 days. I currently have a 10 amp fuse in place of the thermal fuse because those dam things are like $25
I ordered a new thermal fuse and it should be here this Friday and I will put it in and remove my 10 amp fuse.

After reading about this problem all over the internet I don’t understand why whirlpool or someone else can’t just tell everyone with the same problem that the real problem is the connector for the heating element. It should not melt. If it is melting at the connector then the connection is no good.

I wish I new the schematic was in the bottom plate the first time I change the fuse. I might of found the melted connector at that time.

I will post back in a couple weeks if the dishwasher is still running fine.
Thanks for your help

They already know it and Kenmore makes nothing it's a brand name sold at sears. Whirlpool is the manufactures of this and they know they have wiring harness/thermal fuse problems. When you buy the thermal fuse that's why they come with a piece of the wire harness that goes to the main board the the door switches. The contacts in this are loose or become bad over time and cause the thermal fuse to blow or wiring to spark or cause other issues because it arcs over in the connection and is not a good contact or loses contact over time.

This is a Kitchen Aid - KUDKO3CTSS

Never had an issue with this dishwasher (DW) in the past. 4 weeks ago it went dead, did the research and replaced the thermal fuse and associated wiring harness. Used a volt meter to confirm fuse was indeed blown and shorting across the fuse terminals energized the DW. So replaced and all was good until two weeks ago, same situation...no power and fuse was open just like first time.

I read the above discussion reviewed the two possible issues....1) not replacing the entire wire harness (I did replace the entire harness) and 2) loose spade connectors to the heating element that drew excess current causing wires/connectors to melt. Well I looked over the entire harness and found 1) no loose spade type connectors and no evidence of over heating wires.....this is a different make/model than what has been discussed.

When the fuse blows about an inch of water is left in the bottom of the DW.

There was mention of running a diagnostic cycle for the DW....I can't find any details on HOW to do this for a Kitchen Aid.

What are the next steps suggestions to run down causes to this fuse to keep blowing? Thanks!!

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KitchenAid, Maytag, Kenmore, Whirlpool, they are all the same dishwasher, made by Whirlpool, I think, and marketed under different brands. I discovered this when I replaced my control panel a year and a half ago. I had to research how to replace the panel and went to YouTube videos. Every dishwasher was the same (often identical) inside. Now my dishwasher has stopped working completely. No lights, no nothing. After some electrical sleuthing I discovered it's the fuse. I've ordered 2 new ones (Price was around $8.50 each.) and will check the wiring harness first. Thank you all for this discussion. Time to learn something new!