Whirlpool AWG 874 strong burning smell

[leg]

for the last few weeks I thought I got a faint waft of burning when the washing machine was running...I run it around 3 times per week...but the OH said he couldnt smell anything 'cept washing liquid and Dettol!
Last night it had a load in at 60, not much - a half load at max, we heard a bang and sure enough the washing machine reeked of smoke and had blown the fuse.
It was, prior to last night, running seemingly fine, no noises out of the ordinary...pumping spinning and washing perfectly well.
Its around 5 years old.
Any ideas on potential cause/ problem part?...need some idea of where to start looking.

 

[Steve]

No idea until you open it up and see if theres any burn marks in it. But if one component has blown up, chances are its taken the control board with it - it takes a good 50-100 amps to blow a 13 amp fuse immediately.

 

[leg]

so its open, cant see any burn marks anywhere though. Puzzling.

 

[leg]

Aha! Hold the phone! Found some non too friendly looking smudges of melted 'stuff', on what I take to be the control board.

 

[leg]

oh dear. this is what we found:
View media item 21777 burnt melted area is centre top.
View media item 21779 top and back view.
View media item 21778 the wire which seems to be at the centre of the burn connects to this black circular connection point, its the top wire of the 4, (its grey, does this matter for any other reason than I am a girl!)

So, I guess I need a new one of these boards. Is that economically viable and do-able even?
Also, should I look further to the cause...like the heating element getting too hot or some such thing? ( not even sure if thats how it works...please excuse)
Help most welcome!

 

[rocks1]

Ask yourself this ,pcb will cost at poss 100.00 it my need programming ,melted wires need to be repaired ,wot caused it to melt,will it go again ,have you got test equipment to check heater motor ,how long would it take to get parts ,it's 5 years old , honest opinion scrap it new mcs only 200.00 .

 

[leg]

yep, am also a little concerned about what caused it to melt, but to be honest after 18months of unemployment every penny counts, and really thought a washer should last a bit more than 5 years with minimal use. The man is good with wires, so am quite keen to try to repair even if it means we only get another year or 2 from it.
Will it be like getting blood from a stone to get a new board you think?

 

[Leccy758]

If you want to try another board after fixing the connectors (usually just crimp on new female spade connectors) you can contact these in UK

http://www.emwelec.co.uk/index.php?action=category&id=2&subid=25

Sometimes this happens if one of the contacts is loose or has a poor connection on the PCB (High resistance joint, gets hot and melts the insulation then shorts between live and neutral or earth)

 

[leg]

thanks for that, will check out the site.