thermister

checked 4th and 5th and 5th and 3rd,both circuits were open.cut off thermister on frozen coils and read 13.56 to 19.80.why were these circuits open,wrong wires for my model,thanks mike
model number ge-pss23sgna bs

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Answer

Hi

These are the correct wires for this model because you have the same board. The only thing I can think of is you are not getting the leads of the meter all the way to the wire for correct testing. If that isn’t the problem then you have a loose connection between the board and the thermistor, which will be a worse case scenario.

You more than likely have a bad defrost heater, check it and if it is open replace it. If it is not he heater then it can be the thermostat but typically if it is not the heater it will be the thermistor. In any case test the thermostat and if it is open replace it and if not go ahead and replace the thermistor. The main board is the last resort.

GE Refrigerator Not Cooling

How To Test A Thermistor On A GE Refrigerator

Thank you,
Shawn/administrator

Comments for
thermister

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Sep 17, 2012

GE fridge freeze/thaw problem
by: Moe

Hi Shawn;

First of all thank you so much for the excellent information’s and videos that you provide. I have a GE sidebyside fridge (model# GSL22JFPC BS) with the following problem:

Freezer seems to go through freeze thaw cycle periodically, signs are: ice cubes are stuck to each other and even few times I open the fridge at a thaw time and I could see water dripping from all over the freezer. Based on my observations the issue appears to be as a result of evap fan working all the time, so when the compressor is on everything is normal and cold air circulates but the problem occurs when compressor is off, then fan starts to blow warm air into the freezer and even worst is (I think) when defrost heater is on which turns the warm air into hot air and thaw process accelerates.
I have done your thermister and fan motor test and everything seems fine. Things I have replaced (before I found your website) are evap thermister and main board but problem is still there. BTW one of the two resistors that you mentioned in the fan motor video was burnt on the old main board.

Can you help me to diagnose the problem please?
Thanks

Sep 17, 2012

RE
by: Shawn/admin

If the resistor was burned then the fan is bad and the fan may have damaged your new board. Since the old board had the burned resistor and the fan wasn’t changed then my best advice is to replace the fan and replace the board again.

Also pull the back cover out the back of the freezer. Then look up at the housing that the cover was screwed to. Look behind where the screws screwed into if there is a piece of foam rubber. If so remove it because sometimes the thermistor can read moisture from this foam causing the defrost cycle to stay on too long. Note that this foam is only on some models and I am only talking about the foam directly behind where the cover screwed to (putting the foam directly across from the thermistor).

I hope this helps!

Sep 21, 2012

GE fridge freeze/thaw problem
by: Moe

Hi again,
I checked for the rubber foam and I couldn’t find any foam exactly where the screws screwed into, however there were two fairly big pieces of foam firmly attached to either side of the freeze coil and they seem to hold the coil. I didn’t those were ones you were talking about so I didn’t touch those. But I did replace the evap fan and replaced the main board again but unfortunately the problem is still there; evap fan runs almost all the time which I think causes the freezer to go through freeze / thaw process periodically. What else do you think could cause this?

Thanks

Sep 23, 2012

RE
by: Shawn/admin

Hi,

Yours must not have the foam.

With the refrigerator running (both fans on) take the evaporator cover off and look at the coils. Describe what you see. Is there a thin layer of frost along the coils? Is there a ball of ice on the coils? Is there heavy frost on the coils? Is there heavy frost at the top but none on the bottom?

What you should see is a light coat of frost all the way from top to bottom of the coils. (Assuming the refrigerator has been running for a while). If this is what you see there are a few more possible problems. The compressor could be overheating. If you had problems with the burned resistor on one of your boards then the fan next to the compressor may not be running. If not replace the fan. If the fan is running, check to see if the coils under the bottom are dirty. It takes a lot of dust to cause this but clean it just in case.

If you don’t find anything else you may want to try changing all thermisors even though they passed the test.

Thank you,
Shawn/admin

Sep 29, 2012

GE fridge freeze/thaw problem
by: Moe

I waited for few days to make sure that the problem is fixed and after the fifth day of freezer’s normal operation I am almost certain that fortunately my head scratching period is over. Interestingly enough, the problem turns out to be the damn fresh food door that had dropped on its hinge. So as you mention in your GE repair guide the door failed to switch off the door sensor when the door was closed. Compressor (along with everything else including evap fan) worked none stop until the compressor over heated and was shut down. But everything else including evap fan continued working and that’s when evap fan was blowing warm air. I didn’t catch this earlier because the light bulb in my fridge was burnt and I just replaced it few days ago and then I noticed food close to the bulb were too hot. And I read your article after the fact of course! But seriously why GE doesn’t make fresh food door like the freezer door non-adjustable?

Any how, 250 bucks later the problem was solved with a little piece of cardboard which I put on the top part of the fridge door so now the switch is pushed all the way in and the fridge operates normally. This, of course, is my temporary solution as I wasn’t sure that was going to work.

Regardless, I would like to thank you again for your awesome blog and service.

Best

Sep 30, 2012

RE
by: Shawn/admin

I have overlooked this problem once or twice so don’t feel bad. Now all you have to do is adjust the door back up. There is a bolt at the bottom of the door that adjusts the door back up. Before you turn it back up put a little lock-tight on the threads so maybe it won’t come down again.

Thank you,
Shawn

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