I have a 4 year old GE side by side refrigerator. The evaporator coils
freeze-up about once a month. We have to un-plug the 'fridge and let the
coils thaw out for the unit tro run properly.

One other symptom, one of the two light bulbs (the upper one) in the
refrigator side of the unit will not work. A new bulb will not work, the
switch is good, the second bulb works.

I have a basic understanding of the system. I thawed out the coils two days
ago and vacuumed out the area under the 'frige, behind the bottom grill.
Where do I start the troubleshooting?

Thanx

Frank

On Jan 28, 2:12 pm, "Frank from Deeeetroit"
wrote:
I have a 4 year old GE side by side refrigerator. The evaporator coils
freeze-up about once a month. We have to un-plug the 'fridge and let the
coils thaw out for the unit to run properly.

One other symptom, one of the two light bulbs (the upper one) in the
refrigerator side of the unit will not work. A new bulb will not work, the
switch is good, the second bulb works.

I have a basic understanding of the system. I thawed out the coils two days
ago and vacuumed out the area under the 'fridge, behind the bottom grill.
Where do I start the troubleshooting?

If understand correctly the coils in the freezer side ice up?
Maybe the automatic defrost circuit is not working? It usually
comprises a timer switch, and heaters that thaw out the ice so it runs
away through a drain.
Many years ago our defrost timer stopped working (the little clock
motor that ran it went open); cos otherwise i might have been able to
repair the timer switch.
It took Sears and myself a couple of weeks to bring in a replacement
and myself to install it. In meantime we wired a temporary manual
switch in place of the timer. Had to remember to not leave it in the
defrost mode before going to bed!
It's worked now for at least 15 or more years.

"terry" wrote in message
oups.com...


On Jan 28, 2:12 pm, "Frank from Deeeetroit"
wrote:
I have a 4 year old GE side by side refrigerator. The evaporator coils
freeze-up about once a month. We have to un-plug the 'fridge and let the
coils thaw out for the unit to run properly.

One other symptom, one of the two light bulbs (the upper one) in the
refrigerator side of the unit will not work. A new bulb will not work,
the
switch is good, the second bulb works.

I have a basic understanding of the system. I thawed out the coils two
days
ago and vacuumed out the area under the 'fridge, behind the bottom grill.
Where do I start the troubleshooting?

If understand correctly the coils in the freezer side ice up?

That is correct.

Maybe the automatic defrost circuit is not working? It usually
comprises a timer switch, and heaters that thaw out the ice so it runs
away through a drain.

I suspect that is the problem, but what part is brokern in the system.

Many years ago our defrost timer stopped working (the little clock
motor that ran it went open); cos otherwise i might have been able to
repair the timer switch.
It took Sears and myself a couple of weeks to bring in a replacement
and myself to install it. In meantime we wired a temporary manual
switch in place of the timer. Had to remember to not leave it in the
defrost mode before going to bed!
It's worked now for at least 15 or more years.


The way I undestand the system, there is a mother board that controls
everything, a defrost timer, and the defrost heating element. Just
wondering where to start testing first with my volt/ohm meter.

thanx

Frank

Frank from Deeeetroit wrote:
"terry" wrote in message
oups.com...

On Jan 28, 2:12 pm, "Frank from Deeeetroit"
wrote:
I have a 4 year old GE side by side refrigerator. The evaporator coils
freeze-up about once a month. We have to un-plug the 'fridge and let the
coils thaw out for the unit to run properly.

One other symptom, one of the two light bulbs (the upper one) in the
refrigerator side of the unit will not work. A new bulb will not work,
the
switch is good, the second bulb works.

I have a basic understanding of the system. I thawed out the coils two
days
ago and vacuumed out the area under the 'fridge, behind the bottom grill.
Where do I start the troubleshooting?

If understand correctly the coils in the freezer side ice up?

That is correct.

Maybe the automatic defrost circuit is not working? It usually
comprises a timer switch, and heaters that thaw out the ice so it runs
away through a drain.

I suspect that is the problem, but what part is brokern in the system.

Many years ago our defrost timer stopped working (the little clock
motor that ran it went open); cos otherwise i might have been able to
repair the timer switch.
It took Sears and myself a couple of weeks to bring in a replacement
and myself to install it. In meantime we wired a temporary manual
switch in place of the timer. Had to remember to not leave it in the
defrost mode before going to bed!
It's worked now for at least 15 or more years.


The way I undestand the system, there is a mother board that controls
everything, a defrost timer, and the defrost heating element. Just
wondering where to start testing first with my volt/ohm meter.

thanx

Frank
It's tough when they use fancy
electronic (microprocessors or pic chips)
to control a simple function. One other
thing, there might be a temperature
senor to turn off the defrost heater
element once the coil temperature reaches
thaw. This is probably to conserve
energy and not put extra heat into
the freezer, only to have to run the
compressor to take it out later. With a
simple meter you should be able to check
out the heater resistance. I should
be rather low, like under a few hundred
ohms or even much lower.
The temperature sensor, if there is one,
could be open or closed depending
on the design and the temperature at the
time of reading. A schematic would
be of tremendous help. Check the back
inside of the unit, behind the panel,
etc. Or, search for it on the internet.

"Art Todesco" wrote in message
. net...
Frank from Deeeetroit wrote:
"terry" wrote in message
oups.com...

On Jan 28, 2:12 pm, "Frank from Deeeetroit"
wrote:
I have a 4 year old GE side by side refrigerator. The evaporator coils
freeze-up about once a month. We have to un-plug the 'fridge and let
the
coils thaw out for the unit to run properly.

One other symptom, one of the two light bulbs (the upper one) in the
refrigerator side of the unit will not work. A new bulb will not work,
the
switch is good, the second bulb works.

I have a basic understanding of the system. I thawed out the coils two
days
ago and vacuumed out the area under the 'fridge, behind the bottom
grill.
Where do I start the troubleshooting?

If understand correctly the coils in the freezer side ice up?

That is correct.

Maybe the automatic defrost circuit is not working? It usually
comprises a timer switch, and heaters that thaw out the ice so it runs
away through a drain.

I suspect that is the problem, but what part is brokern in the system.

Many years ago our defrost timer stopped working (the little clock
motor that ran it went open); cos otherwise i might have been able to
repair the timer switch.
It took Sears and myself a couple of weeks to bring in a replacement
and myself to install it. In meantime we wired a temporary manual
switch in place of the timer. Had to remember to not leave it in the
defrost mode before going to bed!
It's worked now for at least 15 or more years.


The way I undestand the system, there is a mother board that controls
everything, a defrost timer, and the defrost heating element. Just
wondering where to start testing first with my volt/ohm meter.

thanx

Frank
It's tough when they use fancy electronic (microprocessors or pic chips)
to control a simple function. One other thing, there might be a
temperature
senor to turn off the defrost heater element once the coil temperature
reaches
thaw. This is probably to conserve energy and not put extra heat into
the freezer, only to have to run the compressor to take it out later.
With a
simple meter you should be able to check out the heater resistance. I
should
be rather low, like under a few hundred ohms or even much lower.
The temperature sensor, if there is one, could be open or closed depending
on the design and the temperature at the time of reading. A schematic
would
be of tremendous help. Check the back inside of the unit, behind the
panel,
etc. Or, search for it on the internet.


Art,

Thanx for the info, will check out the schematic and go from there.

Frank

I have not read the other posts, but had a similar experience w/i the year.

I have an Amana bottom freezer.

There is a defrost timer in series with a thermostat in series with the
heater element. My thermostat was bad. I had 110v to the thermostat, but
0v to the heater element when the defrost timer was on. I suppose there are
many ways out there to do this, it will depend on your unit. The mfg or
retailer might be able to give you the diagram.


"Frank from Deeeetroit" wrote in message
...
I have a 4 year old GE side by side refrigerator. The evaporator coils
freeze-up about once a month. We have to un-plug the 'fridge and let the
coils thaw out for the unit tro run properly.

One other symptom, one of the two light bulbs (the upper one) in the
refrigator side of the unit will not work. A new bulb will not work, the
switch is good, the second bulb works.

I have a basic understanding of the system. I thawed out the coils two
days
ago and vacuumed out the area under the 'frige, behind the bottom grill.
Where do I start the troubleshooting?

Thanx

Frank

The first question, if you have electronic defrost timer, or
mechanical. There are three components which frequently go bad on
frost frees. The timer, the heater element, and the termination
thermostat. The challenge is to figure out which one, and then
replace it.

If it's a mechanical timer, it's likely in the box with the
control knobs.

Heater and termination thermostat are in the freezer section,
behind the back wall. You'll need a screw driver or nut driver to
get the back wall off.

--

Christopher A. Young
You can't shout down a troll.
You have to starve them.
..

"Frank from Deeeetroit" wrote in message
...
I have a 4 year old GE side by side refrigerator. The
evaporator coils
freeze-up about once a month. We have to un-plug the 'fridge
and let the
coils thaw out for the unit tro run properly.

One other symptom, one of the two light bulbs (the upper one)
in the
refrigator side of the unit will not work. A new bulb will not
work, the
switch is good, the second bulb works.

I have a basic understanding of the system. I thawed out the
coils two days
ago and vacuumed out the area under the 'frige, behind the
bottom grill.
Where do I start the troubleshooting?

Thanx

Frank