Maytag Dishwasher MDB4709PAM4 unresponsive after popping noises

[michael22]

Model Number

MDB4709PAM4

Brand

Maytag

Age

6-10 years

The other day I loaded my Maytag dishwasher as usual and started a normal wash/dry program. After about 20 minutes I heard two or three popping sounds coming from the dishwasher, then it started to emit a burning smell. Smelled like an electronic component burned out. I immediately went to trip the breaker and waited for half an hour.

Then I turned the breaker back on and noticed the Control Panel was unresponsive and had no lights on any of the buttons. I could not even press the Cancel button.

The dishwasher, however, automatically resumed the wash cycle. I let it run for about an hour but it was evidently stuck on the same washing cycle, i.e. did not attempt to drain the water at any point. I also caught a whiff of a burning smell again at some point, though a lot less intense than initially. My first guess is that either the Control Panel got damaged or perhaps he Main Control Board, which would be said as I've replaced both of them within the last 18 months.

If anyone has experienced a similar behavior or has any advice on how to pinpoint the issue to a particular component it would be greatly appreciated, thank you.

Added complete model number

 

[Jake]

Hi,

Your missing the last digit of your model number, we would need that first.

MDB4709PAM0
MDB4709PAM1
MDB4709PAM2
MDB4709PAM3
MDB4709PAM4

The model number tag is located inside the door on the tub frame.

Jake

 

[michael22]

Hi Jake, my mistake, it got cut off during copy-paste. It's MDB4709PAM4.

 

[Jake]

Thanks!

Yes, it sounds like the control board shorted out and is causing this problem.

Disconnect power to the dishwasher and look at your control board for burnt spots on it.

Here's the control board for your model:
W10595568 Electronic Control Board


This video gives you the general idea of how to access it:

Let us know what you find.

Jake

 

[michael22]

Good afternoon Jake, thank you for your response and step by step advice. I inspected the control board and indeed it sustained heavy burnt damage, however, unfortunately it appears burn damage was done to some of the wires that connect to the control board. I am attaching some pictures for reference. Do you know if these wires can be replaced as well or does this indicate a potential electrical issue with either my home's wiring or the dishwasher itself?

 

[Jake]

Yes, I see that. Its not a electrical issue in your home wiring, that's just caused by the control board itself.

They do make the complete wire harness but its currently out of stock: Harns-Wire W10496101

So you'd need a new control board and you can just go your local hardware store and buy 4 FEMALE wire terminal connectors, and cut the old plastic connector off, and strip the wire insulation back a little on each wire and crimp the new FEMALE terminals on the 4 wires directly to the new control board.

I use this wire stripping tool:
Wire Stripper

Jake

 

[michael22]

Jake, thank you for the recommendations and detailed next steps. Although I do not doubt that these steps would resolve my issue, I am leaning against pouring additional $300+ into what is clearly a problematic, old unit (I already had to replace the control board as well as the control panel in the last two years). I will most likely just replace it at this point.

If you have preferred/recommended brand(s) and/or model(s) of dishwashers that tend to have fewer issues than others based on your experience, I would be grateful for this information, otherwise thank you again for your help.

 

[Jake]

Yes, I understand completely.

I've always had Maytag dishwashers in my houses that's I've moved to other the last 35 years and never had any issues with any of them.

The least I service is Maytag actually as well when I run local service calls.

If you want to switch brands, I've heard Bosch is a good dishwasher too, even though I don't have any working or training on Bosch products.

Jake