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yesduhh
Apprentice Appliantologist
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Posted: Sun May 11th, 2008 17:12 |
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Hi, I have been browsing this site and getting "ideas" about what to do about this thing. This posting is more about informing others than getting help, though I could use some.
About a month ago I noticed the fridge was not as cold and the freezer seemed to be on the borderline of above freezing, the ice looked wet and stuff in there was not freezing rock solid.
Very reluctantly I took everything out, removed the panel covering the coils found them to be utterly frosted over.
I researched the situation on this site and elsewhere. It seemed very difficult to find relevant diagrams and information. In fact I finally found a repair mainual in spanish in PDF format form a place in Mexico. I downloaded that and found other opinons around the internet. From what I gathered, the problem could be a bad defrost heater, a bad defrost thermostat, bad sensors, or a bad pc board (main control panel).
I took out the defrost heater element and tested its electrical resistance, it was around 22 ohms and this was in line with what I had read elsewhere, so it seemed to be ok.
Then I read the the defrost thermostat could be a problem. I noticed that mine looked like it had already been replaced once by sombody so I figured this is a part that might have problems. I turned off the fridge and opened it and let it all melt to clear the coils, ordered the new defrost thermostat, and then installed it.
When I turned on the machine, the defrost heater came on (I could see the red glow) so it looked like the problem was solved. Everyting soon was very cool.
Within a week, tho, it was warming up again....
This time, I defrosted the coils with a hairdryer while my food was in a cooler with ice, and this bought me some time.
More research. No new info. So I decided to consider the PC mainboard, apparently this is a common problem, but I guess it seemed more intimidating and expensive to attempt not knowing what I was doing or if it would work. I looked at the price of about $100 and decided I better call a pro.
Reluctantly I contacted the official GE Repairs Service, on a Tuesday. Their online form indicated there was no chance for the repair guy to come out before saturday. Meanwhile food was thawing. The form allowed me to give detailed model info and addl info for the service call, and I explained the problem and what I had tried. On friday an automated call confirmed that the serviceman would come on Saturday, between 8 am and 5 pm, and he would call an hour in advance.
On saturday about noon he called me and said that my model was several years old and they did not carry all the parts in stock. You see, for $300 he would come and and do the standard repair: change the heater element, the sensors, the thermostat, and the the main pc board. He had everything in stocke except the sensors. It would be 4 or five days if he ordered them now, but he would check the other repairman to see if he had any. So now I am waiting till monday to see if I will have to wait another several days.
So, last night I ordered the pc board. This AM, Sunday, I took of the back cover to have a look. My mexican manual indicated that there are metal contacts to the line voltage and the heater, so I connected them with a piece of metal and now defrost heater on and melting the ice. This will buy me a few days. The part should come in a couple of days, I plan to cancel the service call, or postpone it... and try to put in the new control board myself. We shall see.....
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ROBBYRIG
Sublime Master of Appliantology
| Joined: | Sat Apr 26th, 2008 |
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Posted: Sun May 11th, 2008 18:14 |
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Don't fret, the boards are as easy to change as the heaters and you've already done that. 95 times out of a hundred it is the heater though. I'm surprised this didn't fix your issue. I'd take that defrost thermostat out and make sure that it is good and cold and ohm it out also. That is a far less expensive part to replace.
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yesduhh
Apprentice Appliantologist
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Posted: Mon May 12th, 2008 06:38 |
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| Thanks, for your reply. As I think I mentioned I put in a new defrost thermostat first, and have not changed the heater since I can make it work by "connecting the contacts to the line voltage and the heater" and the heater glowed brightly and defrosted for me. What if I get the new board in and it still does not defrost and it is not the defrost thermostat or the defrost heater that is broken?
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Samurai Appliance Repair Man
Fermented Grand Master of Appliantology
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Posted: Mon May 12th, 2008 13:34 |
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Not finding anything with that model number but some comments that may help you or others who come along and read this.
Defrost system problems are common and easy to diagnose. Typically, you're dealing with a failure of one of three components: defrost heater, defrost thermostat, and defrost timer (or ADC, if so equipped). The first two are easily and quickly checked with a simple continuity measurement. If they have continuity, they're good. In the case of the defrost thermostat, just be sure to check continuity at freezer temp, not room temp. If both of those check good then, by elimination, that leaves the defrost timer (or ADC board). In rare cases, there could be a bad wire connection, but this is the exception, not the rule. In this case, the odds are greatly with you if you just replace the defrost timer (or ADC-- in your case, the mutha board).
Another tip: if you buy the parts here and that doesn't fix it, you can return it for a refund, less shipping. You can also find interactive parts breakdown diagrams there to help you find your way around your fridges' innards. And lots more help in the Refrigerator FAQ section at my site.
Moral of the story: Apprentice Appliantologists change parts they can prove are bad, either directly or by elimination; monkey boys guess and throw parts at problems, hoping to get lucky. 
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yesduhh
Apprentice Appliantologist
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Posted: Mon May 12th, 2008 14:22 |
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Hi, as I mentioned, the I have checked the heater, it is ok. It is my understanding (from the GE repair tech on the phone) that the DEF thermostat is there to keep the heater from OVER defrosting, that is, it is a safety valve, and so how cold does my faulty freezer have to be for me to check the def thermostat. Remember, the freezer is getting to only about 32 F, (makes ice but food is not frozen solid like in the past.) thanks.
If the def tstat is ok, the you are saying it is likely the pc board. Today is monday, the repair guy (see first post) MIGHT call today to schedule the $300 repair for today after 3 if the found the sensors in stock that he wants to replace (also heater, tstat and pc board, all or nothing with these guys). I expect the pc board that I ORDERED to arrive tomorrow. Do you think therefore that I should cancel (or postpone till later in the week) the GE Repair Guy? Thanks
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Samurai Appliance Repair Man
Fermented Grand Master of Appliantology
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Posted: Mon May 12th, 2008 14:33 |
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yesduhh wrote:
Hi, as I mentioned, the I have checked the heater, it is ok. It is my understanding (from the GE repair tech on the phone) that the DEF thermostat is there to keep the heater from OVER defrosting, that is, it is a safety valve, and so how cold does my faulty freezer have to be for me to check the def thermostat. Remember, the freezer is getting to only about 32 F, (makes ice but food is not frozen solid like in the past.) thanks.
I was aware of what you'd already said; my comments were aimed at outlining the troubleshooting strategy for the benefit of others reading this topic and to help them avoid the common novice mistake of playing "parts changing roulette."
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yesduhh
Apprentice Appliantologist
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Posted: Mon May 12th, 2008 21:07 |
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Thank you Grand Master. Please don't be angry with me. 
Do you think that 32F is cold enough to check the def thermostat?
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RegUS_PatOff
Fellow, Academy of Sublime Masters of Appliantology
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Posted: Mon May 12th, 2008 21:26 |
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yesduhh wrote: Do you think that 32F is cold enough to check the def thermostat?
yes, the defrost thermostat opens if it overheats to 140F and closes again at 110F.Last edited on Mon May 12th, 2008 21:28 by RegUS_PatOff
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RTFM
Master Appliantologist
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Posted: Fri May 16th, 2008 01:41 |
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Ge likes to use a thermister for the defrost cycle, its located near the defrost thermostat, its the white thingy with wires, clipped onto the big copper line above the evaporator. it tells the cpu its warm enough to stop defrost ( usually 70 F). if its fails the heater falls back on the thermostat, a dead give away if thats happening is the seals on the back plate are all melted toward the bottom and/or it keeps burning up heaters. if you can jumper the heater on you either have a bad cpu board or thermister. thermisters go bad but not often, the board is the more likely culprit. The only way to test a thermister is to read its resistance value/know the temprature its at and then compare that value to a look up table for that thermister/model (or call tech line). i believe you are on the right track though.
BTW- easist way to check the defrost circuit resistance is to check the blue wire in the 3 wire connector to the orange wire in the (7?) connector harness, both are located at the bottom of the board. if you read 20-ish ohms when nice and cold the defrost circuits good. if higher you got a bad heater (99.9%).
dont forget to hook up the ground and read the destructions that come with the board, some models require a wire modification, not doing so can result in the FF damper door not functioning.
good luck
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yesduhh
Apprentice Appliantologist
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Posted: Fri May 16th, 2008 04:19 |
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Thanks very much for the additional information. Oddly, after I jumped the heater on the main board (as mentioned above, and it heated nicely till I disconnected it again) the defrost cycle seems to be working now! That is, the problems seems to evaporated. The coils (still uncovered so I can see ) have frost that comes and goes and I have seen the heater glowing. Meanwhile the new pc board arrived and I have not installed it. I am thinking I will keep it until the problem occurs again. I don't know how jumping the heater could have "fixed" the problem (whatever it was). I have a hypothesis that maybe it un-stuck a stuck relay on the mainboard somehow. Who knows... I will watch and wait. I have a party on friday and want that beast to be working.   Thank you again for your input!
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RTFM
Master Appliantologist
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Posted: Fri May 16th, 2008 05:02 |
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G.E. did have a "rework" issued for the main board on some fridges made around 2005. the boards developed an intermittant problem with defrost as well as host of other 12volt problems due to a crappy regulation circuit on the board. rework = replace board. might wanna snoop around and find out if yours is in that catagory, if it is you can weedle a free service call out of GE...
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yesduhh
Apprentice Appliantologist
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Posted: Mon Jun 30th, 2008 15:16 |
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The defrost problem disappeared as after I bought the new main board, but never installed it. I manually shorted the contacts on the current board for the defrost heater (to see if it worked) and it did, and has been working normally since. Weird. I still have the new mainboard just in case.
Meanwhile, a new problem: the ice maker dispenser wont push out the ice. The icemaker makes ice, but the rotating pronged turner that inserts into the ice bin does not turn, even when the ice bin is removed. I can hear a faint noise like a motor trying to turn. Any ideas? Thanks
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RTFM
Master Appliantologist
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Posted: Tue Jul 1st, 2008 01:03 |
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make sure the the auger is even trying to work, open the freezer door, with the ice bin out, hold the freezer door switch closed (tape works wonders) and press the ice dispenser lever. you should hear a growl if the auger is trying to turn, just to be sure, change the ice type at the dispenser and try again. the noise you may be hearing is the selector solonoid engaging, its only powered in the cubed ice setting if i remember right. if you hear it in both settings then your auger is frozen up, if you only hear it in one setting then the auger is D.O.A or the relay on the control board burnt up.
the auger motor freezing up is a common problem with G.E.'s, . all you have to do is remove the auger motor/ selector solonoid assembly and thaw out the auger motor. the 4 screws in each corner and a connector should be all thats required to remove it. you may wanna raise the temp in the freezer section a few degrees, or make some kind of baffle to block the the air hitting the auger. G.E. makes a boot just for this problem ( if its chronic), i cant remember the part number though.
good luck
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yesduhh
Apprentice Appliantologist
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Posted: Sun Nov 30th, 2008 18:44 |
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It has been about 6 months since I first posted this problem. I would be grateful for any comments on this update.
As I said, I bought a new main board and never installed it 'cause the no-defrost problem went away. The next time it happened I installed the board, about 2 months ago. Everything seemed fine till now, same :  no defrost. Again, I shorted the jumpers on the main board to light up the defrost heater and defrosted the beast.
I guess the original defrost panel was NOT the defrost thermostat (($10 wasted for that replacement) and was NOT the main board ($120 wasted).
So, I am wondering, what ELSE could be causing this issue? The defrost heater is good, it's a new circuit board, so any suggestions?
Thank you.
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