Dishwasher Control Panel Redo

I saw that some of the repairs of cracks had failed because of the stress they experience through use. You can see four of them in the video below.

Rather than attempting to again repair the cracks with epoxy, I found the video below which explains how to repair plastic and decided to follow the procedure described.

I bought a 12" x 12" sheet of 1/16" ABS plastic and from it cut four pieces to lay across the cracks. I then used Plastruct to attach the pieces of ABS plastic to the control panel.

I also repaired three cracks from the rear of the control panel.

Besides the previous repairs of the cracks that failed, there was also the previous repair of the post shown below.

Upon close inspection I saw that there were two cracks in the piece that had broken off. The picture below shows one of the cracks.

I used an X-ACTO knife to remove the epoxy, put some Plastruct in the crack, and then held the crack closed with a binder clip.

After the repair of the first crack had set, I followed the same procedure with the second crack. After the repair of the second crack had set, I used Plastruct to attach the piece that had broken off to the bottom of the post.

Unfortunately the repair of the post failed when I reassembled the dishwasher.

There were cracks in the three supports of the vent through which warm moist air exits the dishwasher.

From the sheet of ABS plastic I cut three pieces, each a little wider than the supports they would reinforce...

...and then used Plastruct to attach the three pieces. Here's the view from inside the control panel...

...and here's the view from outside.

Before I did any of the repairs described above I reattached with epoxy one of the pieces of wood I had added to the back of the control panel. All the other pieces of wood I had added were secure.

My final task was to remove the residue of the adhesive on the gaffer's tape that for several years had held the control panel together.

Here are the tools and solvents I collected to removed the residue. I worked outside because I didn't want to inhale the fumes of the solvents.

I tried all the solvents but only Goo Gone was effective in loosening the residue, which I then scraped with the blade, which proved to be the most effective tool. Wiping the surfaces with isopropyl alcohol removed the last traces of residue.

As B.B. King sang, the residue is gone!

The repair of the control panel is complete and the dishwasher is back in operation. I'm optimistic that this round of repairs will hold.

Thank you, David Brorein, for guidance through this repair, and John from The Lucky Needle for the video showing how to bond ABS plastic.

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