GE Fridge conking out...

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ironrite

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About a 12 year old GE Profile side by side fridge. Noticed Friday that the apples I keep in it didn't seem real cold. By tonight, Sunday, while getting stuff ready for a BBQ really noticed the fridge side is not real cold at all. The freezer side appears to be keeping stuff still frozen and still making ice. So I turned up the slider on the fridge side. It's running though the air from the back seems cool rather than the usual warm are.

Think the beast is worth fixing? Something easy to fix? Or just look for a new one. Did go out tonight and looked at some new fridges. There are space limitations so checked out a Whirlpool side by side. Smaller one, with the ice storage in the door instead of taking up a whole shelf. It seems like a good idea. Any thoughts are appreciated.
 
Check the back wall of the freezer section near the bottom...do you see any frost or snow? If so, then the refrig is not defrosting. That will restrict air movement to the fresh food section. Could be defrost heaters or defrost thermo. Hope this helps!
 
Well,

how do you feel about this fridge? Do you love it? Like it? Find it a pain in the sitter?

I would have a guy (not necessarily GE) out to look at it, and go from there. It it is a cheap-ish fix, I would. If the fix would be over 150-200, it would probably not be worth it. Unless you otherwise loved it.

Just my .02

Lawrence/Maytagbear
 
Frost In the Back

Thank you Coldspot66, just took a look see. Yes I do see frost on the back wall and appears some of the vents along it are blocked with frost. Hmmmmm...then maybe worth a call for a service person.

Two years ago had to replace the water valve as the ice maker started going out and had a ton of water freeze up on the coils back there. Was about a $125.00 repair as had it done by repairperson.

What I'd love to do is rip out the cabinet above the fridge so can get a normal sized one if we had to. This and the stove are the last of the GE appliances in the place. So far they've been ok, but am thinking 12 years might be the end of the cycle for this one.
 
For Bob,

The height can't be over 67 inches, 36 for width and roughly 30 for depth. She's still running as of this morning. Apparently has been running all weekend nonstop! Freezer is still good, fridge is cool though not cold.

The tag inside this one claims to be 23 cubic ft. Replacement would be a side by side w/ice-water in the door feature. It appears there may be a new GE that would fit, though haven't been able to see one in person. Home Depot can order it, but they don't stock it. Whirlpool makes one, also under the Kitchenaid badge, that would fit. That one was at Lowes.
 
You may want to consider also those new French Door thingies with a bottom-mount freezer. These have two doors for the refrigerator section (left and right) over a full-width refrigerator compartment.

Best of both worlds: You can store a tray of cooked or uncooked foood right in it (as opposed to a side-by side in which one can not); And the doors are not massive, in case you have a galley kitchen. With a top-mounted refrigerator seciton, less bending over. (Can that be considered a blessing?)

Let us know which way you go... er I mean what you decide. *LOL*
 
French Door Thingies...

My niece bought one of these about 6 months ago and really loves it. She loves the flexibility of being able to get large cookie sheet kinds of things into it without a problem. She also loves the bottom freezer.

I have a bottom freezer that I really love. The only recommendation I would have it don't get a drawer style bottom freezer, get the door style. Many may not agree with me on this but I think you can get more in the door style. You loose space with the drawer style as well as you have to be careful how you pack it because every time you open it, you move everything in the freezer. Just my 2 cents worth.
 
Defrost heater and defrost thermo replacement sounds like the problem. You might call a local repair shop and inquire as to a ballpark cost.I would say $175.00 approx. Make sure you give model & serial #. The fridge will run constantly unless this is repaired. never gets cold enough in the fresh food section to satisfy the cold control. BTW bottom freezer refrig's ROCK!!!!
 
Clean condenser

Michael, in these 12 years of use, have you regularly cleaned the condenser coils? These coils are located in the bottom of the unit. Unmount the toe plate, reach with a long brush (sold at Sears) and vacuum as far back as you can. Can you pull out the unit from its wall niche? If so, roll out, take out the bottom plate and ensure the condenser fan is running properly. Vacuum and clean the whole area, including the fan. Replace bottom cover before moving back (essential for a proper operation!). Replace toe plate.
 
Open door

Michael, is there any chance that before the problem appeared you accidentally left partially open one of both refrigerator doors for a long period of time, say like overnight or during a weekend? In humid or warm room temperature conditions the freezing coil would completely fill with frost, and this situation could overwhelm the automatic defrost capacity of the unit. From then on it would be a matter of time till all air passages would be almost completely blocked by frost/ice. The only possible solution is to unplug the unit and let it naturally defrost during up to 48 hours with both doors open, or unplug the unit and help the defrosting process with a hair dryer, carefully directing the warm air flow through the blocked passages.
 
I have a bottom...

...freezer Sub-Zero and love it! I can understand that you might be able to get a bit more in the door-freezer models, saving the space for the tracks and rollers of the drawer-type, but I like having the ice bin roll out with the drawer and not having to reach down and inside the freezer to for ice - which we use a lot of. Having the fridge section on the top is really the best I've ever used. I never thought I would care much until I replaced my top-freezer Hotpoint with this Sub-Z, now I'll never go back! The shelves are nice and wide, accomodating larger items with ease, however, the Sub-Z and other "cabinet-depth" units are bit shallower than standard models which limits the capacity somewhat.
 
A dirty old thing...

Sort of like wearing old underwear to the doctor's office. The tech recommended cleaning the bottom coils twice a year. Apparently he found another Doberman hiding under there. Then a complete redo of the heater, thermostat and timer unit. It's busy now cracking and defrosting away. The fridge side is getting colder. He also installed a shutoff to the water line. Was about $225.00 total, so not a bad deal out here. I'm just glad someone showed up.

Perhaps if the kitchen gets redone I may pull the rather useless cabinet above the fridge, so I can get a taller one. Did look at many of those lovely new things, French doors included. Unfortunately, just don't have the room for one.

And as always, thank you all for your help. It's what helped me decide to try to repair it, rather than a new fridge at this time.
 
Only 12 years old?

Wow that is a young set of GE appliances you have there! My set was given to me by my parents when they upgraded to Whirlpool. My stove and refrigerator came with the new house my parents bought in 1983! So this makes them both 23 years old. The frigde is still humming nicely and my dad "made" bottom shelves out of metal some years ago. It is a common top freezer model in almond. My stove has a black front with no window and is also a matching almond. The self clean works but the timer is "iffy". The buzzer gave out years ago. The bottom drawer will not stay in for anything so it sits on the floor and I slide it out that way to get the pans. Oh...the lights for the burners...called the "jewels"...my father replaced with light brite pegs in red of course! They do not function now. Nice try dad.

They both work...are in good appearance...should I replace them? What should I replace them with? Any thoughts?

--Tom
 
It's bad luck to replace an appliance that's behaving itself.

The older GE stuff is ok but the price of GE parts is out of this world! I remember about 10 years ago paying $120 for an evaporator fan motor that was made in Singapore.

Ken
 
My Heart Will Go On

Hmmm, it was getting colder, but still not really cooling. Took the back panel off the freezer back and though appears parts were replaced, they didn't defrost the coils!

With hairdryer in hand and a few towels, finally success, after I melted the Titanic size iceberg in coils. She chilled down to 38-40 in the fridge and 0 in the freezer and is cycling on and off. So fingers crossed again. I'll keep an eye on the temperatures.

Unfortunately, I'm the "technical" one here, and wasn't home when the repairs were done. So just have the repair bill to go over.
 

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