Answer Hello Louis. The thermal fuse prevents power from getting to the control board if there is an overheating issue detected. This part could very well cause the entire appliance to stop working. If you need more help troubleshooting this unit you may want to visit the repair forum on our site. I will include a link to the forum in this message. I hope this info helps! http://forum.appliancepartspros.com Read More... Answered by AppliancePartsPros.com | Thursday, June 23, 2011