Bosch control panel troubleshooting

[the_baldguy]

Hi - 

I posted here a while back dealing with a dishwasher that would power itself on and off repeatedly both during a cycle and at random times throughout the day and night, even powering itself on from an off state.  We have dealt with it for a while longer now, but it is getting so it needs to be restarted multiple times to complete a cycle and I am over it taking the entire day and 5 restarts to finish.

I found that torquing the control panel and/or the entire top of the door could illicit the behavior, but it was always inconsistent.  There wasnt one twist or bend that would always turn it on or off.

I finally purchased and replaced the operating module (Not sure if that is the name, the white box and buttons housing the control board at the top of the door)

The new module did in fact remedy the issue, so my guess is that the old panel was somehow being triggered by moisture/pressure/short in and around the capacitive switches or on the board itself.

But I am now presented with another conundrum.

The new issue is that the new control panel switches are not able to be triggered with the top silver plastic fascia panel clipped onto the plastic housing.

No amount of pressing/holding/rubbing fingers on the plastic panel triggers the new control buttons.  The buttons register touch and the dishwasher works perfectly and completes cycles without hesitation with the fascia panel off.

It is unresponsive with the fascia on.

The guy at my local shop is insistent that the buttons are pressure buttons and that the panel is somehow defective and not allowing the buttons to be pressed.   I am reasonably certain the buttons are capacitive or something similar (resistive, etc) since they can only be triggered by a finger or other similar material, and will not trigger by pressing with a wood dowel or other non conductive material.

He wants to sell me a new fascia and housing at $70.  Since the part is only sold (that I can find) as an entire piece (housing and fascia) I am stuck with replacing the whole thing.

I am hoping someone has had experience with this machine or touch panels in general and can speak to one piece of plastic allowing more transmission of field over another and let me know if this is a realistic next troubleshooting step.  To me it just seems like I would be replacing one piece of bulk manufactured plastic with another, and assuming consistent manufacturing, the transmission of my finger touch to the underlying button would be similar enough to the point of not resolving the issue.  (Note that there is no visible damage in my current fascia, no cracks or other noticeable irregularities)

It seems more likely (to me anyway) that the triggering threshold is different in the two boards I have, the original to the point of being super sensitive, and the new one being just below what can be registered through the plastic fascia.  But I dont see any way that the threshold can be adjusted on the board/buttons.

Anyone have any thoughts for me?

I can provide pictures, video, etc if anyone is willing to think through this with me.

The machine is about 4 years old.  Model SHX68T55UC/07

Thanks