- Model Number
- TPX24SIYFBS
- Brand
- GE
- Age
- More than 10 years
Visiting an aging-in-place parent over Easter to find that the freezer is frosted up (again) and the fridge isn't cold. This is an early 90's, best I can recall, side by side, no dispense but with an icemaker. Background- this happened a year ago, and I replaced both the defrost timer and the defrost heater/thermostat. The heater/thermostat (WR51X443) is a pre-wired combo. That wasn't the most structured of efforts (it took me too long to figure out the heater itself was the problem, not the thermostat or timer).
This time, I advanced the defrost timer to run a defrost cycle and noticed nothing happened as far as frost level (compressor/fan stopped in defrost cycle, though). Next, I took the freezer apart and defrosted it with the hairdryer. FYI, it was bad enough that no air was moving around the coils- everything on the shelves that was solidly frozen was still that way but I noticed a bag of flatbreads that wasn't as solid as I'm used to. With it defrosted, I noticed that the glass around one of the heater elements was broken near the end, but I couldn't find an obvious break in the heater coil.
Since putting the freezer side back together and putting the stuff back in, it has been keeping sufficiently cool. Icemaker has more-or-less filled its bin in the past 24 hours. That said, the fridge side doesn't appear to have fully cooled. I put a wired BBQ thermometer on a shelf with the base outside the fridge. It apparently was still reading ~50F today (I'm a couple hours away, so diagnosing remotely best I can). I'm going to get them to check that thermometer against an instant read that I trust more.
I'm ordering the heater/thermostat to replace it again, but the fridge temperature has me vexed. One thought I had was that one of the ducts between the sides had frosted up and I didn't get that defrosted in my efforts on Easter. Thoughts?
I was pretty frustrated to find that my previous fix didn't last (and that I was the one to figure it out by noticing that the top shelf beer wasn't cold Sat night). But I'm planning to make a return trip and fix again for a few bucks rather than replace for lots of bucks. Just want to make sure there isn't something I'm missing in the vent to the fridge side. Thanks!
This time, I advanced the defrost timer to run a defrost cycle and noticed nothing happened as far as frost level (compressor/fan stopped in defrost cycle, though). Next, I took the freezer apart and defrosted it with the hairdryer. FYI, it was bad enough that no air was moving around the coils- everything on the shelves that was solidly frozen was still that way but I noticed a bag of flatbreads that wasn't as solid as I'm used to. With it defrosted, I noticed that the glass around one of the heater elements was broken near the end, but I couldn't find an obvious break in the heater coil.
Since putting the freezer side back together and putting the stuff back in, it has been keeping sufficiently cool. Icemaker has more-or-less filled its bin in the past 24 hours. That said, the fridge side doesn't appear to have fully cooled. I put a wired BBQ thermometer on a shelf with the base outside the fridge. It apparently was still reading ~50F today (I'm a couple hours away, so diagnosing remotely best I can). I'm going to get them to check that thermometer against an instant read that I trust more.
I'm ordering the heater/thermostat to replace it again, but the fridge temperature has me vexed. One thought I had was that one of the ducts between the sides had frosted up and I didn't get that defrosted in my efforts on Easter. Thoughts?
I was pretty frustrated to find that my previous fix didn't last (and that I was the one to figure it out by noticing that the top shelf beer wasn't cold Sat night). But I'm planning to make a return trip and fix again for a few bucks rather than replace for lots of bucks. Just want to make sure there isn't something I'm missing in the vent to the fridge side. Thanks!
