Hello Forum, This is my first post, but not my first time visiting. Thank you for all the previous information that I have pillaged off of here during my time as a lurker. Jake: Thank you for this low cost service that you provide.
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On to my problem:
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I have a GE SidexSide, Model # GSS20IEPJWW. I purchased it used, but was generally happy with it for several months. Then the Howling began (from the freezer fan). I looked on this forum and decided that it was probably the mother board that was causing my problem. We lived with the Howling for some time, because it was infrequent and we did not have the extra cash to spend at the time.
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Then came the day when the fridge side quit being cold. I read around about it on the forum and decided that it was not defrosting. I opened the back of the freezer compartment and found a very excessive buildup of frost (not ice). I defrosted with the hairdryer and cleaned out the compressor fan cage and everything on the back of the unit since there was a lot of dust buildup. Plugged back in and the fridge returned to normal
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In little over a week it frosted back up again. So I decided to purchase a new motherboard (to stop the howling and hoping it would cure the defrost issue), which I obtained from appliancepartspro (part number WR55X10656). It was piece of cake to install, and stopped the howling noise (the fan still runs, but is running like normal now), but another week and the frost built up again.
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So this time I searched around on the forum and decided to replace the sensor temp on the top of the freezer coils (part WR55X10025) and the defrost thermostat (part WR50X10068). Again I ordered from apliancepartpro and replaced them by cutting the lines and wiring them onto the old lines with (wire nuts???) the plastic things that you twist onto the spliced wires. The thermostat was easy as the wires were color coded, but on the sensor temp the wires were exactly the same with no differentiation that I could find so I assumed it didn’t matter. I reattached these items to the exact areas in the compartment where the old ones were attached.
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Now another week and it has frosted back up again. I am getting frustrated. Is my next step to replace the heater apparatus itself? It is of course more expensive. I worried about it being the freezer fan, but it seems to work. It is on about 80 percent of the time…..who knows for sure, but it blows the cold air back into the fridge area after I have done the defrost.
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Is there another part that would cause this problem? Like maybe a separate board on my model just for controlling the defrost? Where is the defrost timer located on my model?
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Please any help would be great as the manual defrost is driving me nuts and I have done it sooooo many times now that I am going insane.
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Thank you!

Hi John,

Yes, the motherboard in the back of your refrigerator has the defrost timer integrated into it, so there isn't anything else that controls it.

So with you replacing the motherboard and defrost thermostat and temp. sensor, its possibly your defrost heater going bad.

(With power off-refrigerator unplugged) the resistance of the heating element - it should measure
under 100 ohms (31 ohms typical). If it reads this then the heater is good. If not, you would need to replace the heater assembly.
(The manufacturer has replaced part number WR51x10053 with this item, part number WR51X10101.) (Manufacturer part number WR51X10101 is RepairClinic item number 1399613.)


Let me know what you find.

Jake

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Jake's Appliance Repair Nov. 2005-present

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So how do i check the ohm on the heater element. Do i just unplug the plugs on each side and then check it right on the little metal deals where the plug goes?

Also i am wondering, it shows a double element in the one you posted (when i click on it and go to their site) How does that work with only the plugins for the single element that are currently on my fridge? Does it come with some type of adapter?

I will check the ohm soon and let you know what i find.

Thanks again.

Exactly.

Its been re-designed to use 2 now:
*Note* Redesigned heater kit now uses two heating elements to give a better defrost cycle. It replaces the single element that was used on some models.

Jake

__________________
Appliance Repair School 1987-1988
Star Appliance Tech. 2 yrs. 1988-1990
Wards Appliance Tech. 11 yrs. 1990-2001
Sears Appliance Tech. 4 yrs. 2001-Oct. 2005
Jake's Appliance Repair Nov. 2005-present

If you need more repair advice help on your appliance, click Here

Look-Up & Order Parts

Shop Home Appliances