Dishwasher fire

[Tom41]

I couldn't find a forum to post stuff like this (it's not really a PSU), so I'm posting it here - hope its ok.

Yesterday just before midnight, we noticed a faint smell percolating into the room, the cats were frightened, then the wifi internet suddenly went off. A few minutes later, we went into the kitchen to find smoke in the air and blackening around the dishwasher door.

It soon became apparent that the dishwasher's electronics had caught fire, and eventually the high current tripped the circuit breaker shutting off power. The wifi access point is also on the same mains ring, explaining why the Internet suddenly died.

We've ordered a new dishwasher now, but I took the opportunity to have a look inside the control panel. It appears the fire started in the electromechanical programming control, or the connectors leading to it (photos attached).

What could have caused a perfectly normal dishwasher, working perfectly 20 minutes ago (when I was last in the kitchen), to suddenly catch fire and cut off? If there had been mail or other papers lying on the counter above the dishwasher (as there sometimes is), we could have had a serious fire on our hands...
More to the point, is there anything I can do to ensure the replacement dishwasher doesn't also catch fire more seriously?

[PCBONEZ]

Sometimes things just break.

Might want to research the make/model for other people having the same problem.
That would indicate a defective model and you might have legal recourse.
.

[yyonline]

Make sure to fill out all the registration information for the new one. That way, if there's any recall, you will be notified. That happened a few months ago when a large number of Maytag dishwashers were recalled. My family's dishwasher was on the list (and several neighbors', my aunt's, my grandmother's dishwashers too...apparently it was a popular model).

[delaware74b]

You might want to research make and model for recalls. GE/Hotpoint had a major recall of dishwashers here in the US. It seems they had a problem with one of the control switches failing and letting out too much magical smoke.

Had the dishwasher been running prior to the fire? Any hint of door gasket failure that would allow water to leak?

[Tom41]

The dishwasher was running perfectly last time I passed it; we'd just set it going for the nightly wash.

What seems to have happened is a fire started (possibly due to direct resistance heating from a corroded wire), then the heat of the fire caused the metal of the door to bend inwards, exposing the electronics. I'm guessing some water from the interior of the dishwasher got into the electronics cavity, extinguishing the fire and also shorting out the power wires - causing the circuit breaker to trip.

[seanc]

What model was it? I know Watchdog featured Indesit D63 machines having fire problems quite some years ago...

[Krankshaft]

Sounds like that dishwasher was recalled over the years we've had 2 dishwashers recalled for the same issue overheating look up the model number.

[japlytic]

I've read that a common cause of dishwasher fires is a leaky rinse-aid compartment, of which leaks onto the electrics.

[Trinite]

Our old dishwasher had a small fire due to one of the wire connectors coming loose and grounding itself. Fortunately, it was contained to a metal junction box and only required replacement of the offending wire.