Thread: [FIXED] GE side by side fridge side not cold

It's what you don't see behind the back wall of the freezer.

Rick is correct, you will need to remove the back panel inside the freezer and look at the evaporator coils for frost build-up on them, normal would be just a thin layer of frost on all the coils.

Jake

Hello everyone! I see this is a long time running thread, so I am hoping I can get some quick guidance on what part of my fridge to check, and where to check it. I have a GE Side By Side, Model GSS22JERE BB, Serial: AH253287. The unit is pushing 7 years old, and a few weeks back we had an issue where the fridge side wasnt cold, but the freezer seemed ok. Took everything out, found the coils in the freezer section where completely iced from top to bottom. We thought we had left the door open because of a package that wasn't letting the door close by itself, so I completely defrosted the unit, turned it back on, and all seemed well for the past few weeks. Until this morning that is. Woke up to the same issue, freezer cold, fridge not. Can anyone tell me if my model is a electronically controlled defroster? If it isnt, where is the defrost timer? What other things are likely the cause? I have not had a chance to unload everything to see how bad the coils are this time, but I will later. I am just trying to figure out if this is something I can successfully fix on my own, or if I just need to bite the bullet and have a repairman come out.

Remove the back wall of the freezer section or evaporator cover. You'll need a VOM to check continuity on the defrost heater and defrost thermostat. Check the defrost thermostat while it's frosty. It should read closed below 40*F. If they both check good replace the motherboard. Replacing any of these parts is an easy repair. Once you determine which part is faulty, defrost the coils with a hair dryer and be sure to get all the frost and ice out of there. Here are the parts for your machine and a few videos you might find helpful:

http://www.repairclinic.com/PartDeta...=%20WR50X10054




http://www.repairclinic.com/PartDeta...=%20WR51X10053




http://www.repairclinic.com/PartDeta...=%20WR55X10473

Originally Posted by rickgburton

Remove the back wall of the freezer section or evaporator cover. You'll need a VOM to check continuity on the defrost heater and defrost thermostat. Check the defrost thermostat while it's frosty. It should read closed below 40*F. If they both check good replace the motherboard. Replacing any of these parts is an easy repair. Once you determine which part is faulty, defrost the coils with a hair dryer and be sure to get all the frost and ice out of there. Here are the parts for your machine and a few videos you might find helpful:

Awesome! Thank you so much for all of that info! I will test that stuff this evening, and report back!

Hi,
I have read through many pages of this forum and have followed the steps as outlined. When I tested the defrost timer to do a manual defrost, the heating elements did not turn on. So we tested the heating elements with the multimeter and found them not to be working. I read on another site that if the defrost timer didn't turn the fridge back on twenty minutes, that the timer was broken. Is that correct? Thank you.

Between 20 and 30 minutes for a mechanical defrost timer.

One more thing I would like to add to my situation is that after we defrosted the freezer and got everything working again, it seemed like it would never shut off, or would shut off only briefly. Not sure if that points to a problem with a specific part more than another, but wanted to check. I am really hoping this is not an issue with the control board, but it wouldnt surprise me as I have already had to replace that board once since we got the fridge.

It's important that when you defrost it all the ice and frost is removed and not just most of it.