My old GE fridge: first the grinding, now the warm food

[wendy]

Let me put it this way: Help!

A couple of weeks ago I heard an awful grinding noise from my 22-year-old GE PDS18SBMALBS refrigerator. It didn't last long, reappeared a few days later, and again didn't last long. Not knowing much about refrigerators, and being ever the optimist, I let it ride...until today, when I noticed that although the freezer (this is a bottom freezer model) is keeping temperature, the main food compartment isn't. At all.

I managed to remove the plastic bottom under the crisper drawers, where I can see the coils pretty much iced up. I have access to the evaporator fan. I think I could manage to replace it, but is that likely to fix the problem? What does the ice buildup indicate?

Much appreciation for any help tossed my way.

 

[combo52]

Canadian built GE 18 ft.³ bottom freezer refrigerator

Hi Wendy, what did you see when you remove the bottom? Was the fan still running properly?

One of several things could have happened. The drains often clog on this model and the ice will build up and block the fan from turning and they may make noise for several days before this happens, if this is what seems to have happened clean out the drain try pouring hot water down the drain right behind the fan and see if it runs down to the pan underneath quickly.

The other possibility is the fan motor itself wore out if the bearing is loose it rattle and make noise or may not run at All, the good news is in either case this is a pretty easy fix. You don't have to buy a new refrigerator. These were actually pretty reliable refrigerators. There was no computer in it. The slightly bigger and larger GE bottom freezer refrigerators were made cooperation with Samsung in Mexico and those give a lot more trouble.

John

 

[wendy]

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll check that out in the morning and report back. Great to have your help.

 

[wendy]

At latest inspection I see that the fan blade was locked solid in ice. I melted enough of it so that now the blade turns properly. That's the good news: I won't need a new fan.

Now I have to figure out how to clear whatever was blocking the defrost water. I'm going to try pouring in some hot water, but if that doesn't do the job it seems I'll have to remove the fan to get back to where the water is supposed to drain. Am I right? Is that where any clog might be? And if so, the fan seems to be held in place by two Phillips screws. Do I remove those, and will that let me slide the fan out of the way and get to the drain entry? Or do I just pour hot water in the general area and hope for the best? I can't really see behind the fan to know if there's a drain entry.

 

[combo52]

Clogged GE refrigerator defrost drain

You have to get the drain defrosted and cleared. The blockage is usually at the bottom of the drain tube in the rear.

Pull the refrigerator away from the wall unscrew the cardboard lower cover on the right side you'll see probably a black plastic tube coming down with a J band at the bottom it's usually clogged there Many times you can just remove this tube and then flush it out of the sink.

You need to shut the refrigerator down and pour enough boiling water back by the fan to get it to melt all the iceand start flowing through the tube. This can take some time because it's full of ice and it's inside Styrofoam. It takes a while to melt if you have the time you can just leave it unplugged for a day or so or you can just keep working at it with boiling water.

In the field, when we have to do this, we use a plastic squeeze bottle with a long flexible tube on it and you can push it through the ice by melting the ice with the hot water in the bottle.

John

 

[wendy]

Well, a hairdryer targeted at the general area melted the ice, and a few cups of hot water poured into the channel that leads under the fan seems to have cleared it.

I let the machine work for a few hours and then looked again. There's frost build-up on the coils but so far no more than that, which may be normal. Hard for me to guess what's going on, but I think I ought to let it work for a day to see if the thermostat or defrost heater may have failed or if it was indeed a clog, in which case it'll be time for a wire hanger, I guess.

If I do have to gain access to the rear of the unit, it won't be easy. It'll mean emptying the box and then hoping I can move wheels that haven't been moved in 22 years, and into a very tight space.

I am not looking forward to putting it all back together. The foam sheet that sits above the coils and under the plastic bottom of the fresh food portion of the refrigerator broke in a few places when I removed it and will have to be taped back together. And fitting the plastic bottom back in place over it is going to be a nightmare, with little pieces of foam this and that above and on either side of the fan. I don't think these things were designed with an inexperienced DIY service tech in mind.

 

[rp2813]

Hi Wendy,

 

I'm not the expert that John is, but I think it would be wise to retain access to the evaporator coils until you can determine whether the defrost cycle is actually happening and the heating element is melting the condensate. 

 

Also, I had a +/- 1970 Whirlpool frostless top freezer model garage fridge that would accumulate ice like yours, but there was no blockage.  I did some research and found a recommendation to wrap a length of copper wire (#10 or 12 gauge should work) around the heating element and let the other end extend a bit into the drain.  This ensures that the drain opening won't freeze over.  I never had another problem after I did that.

 

[wendy]

Well, I thawed and all seemed OK but now, six weeks later, it clogged and backed up again with enough ice to block the fan blades. Something is blocking the drain line--crumbs of loose food, bits of Styrofoam, or some mystery substance--and that has to go. For this model, PDS18SBMALBS, how do I get to it? Only by pulling the unit away from the wall, or maybe through the inside back wall or floor of the freezer compartment? I can't seem to find trustable info on that question.

 

[combo52]

Clogged defrost drain

When you fold it out, could you easily pour a quart or more of hot water down the drain and not have it back up ?

If not, pull the refrigerator away from the wall there’s a U-shaped fitting on the end of the drain tube clean that out with a pipe cleaner or something similar and then from the inside of the freezer pour a lot of very hot water down until you have water going down the drain otherwise it will just keep happening again. You’ve got to fix the problem, good luck,

John L

 

[wendy]

If I can get to the top of the tube by removing the fan I'll see how a flexible wire and/or a jolt of air or water does. If not, I'll try to pull the thing out from the wall (not optimistic that I can do it without clearing out the entire inside) and access the bottom of the hose from the back of the unit, which I'm sure is the better approach. Anyway, I'll do what I can and eventually report back. Thanks again.