[H L]

This GE Rerigerator/Freezer is only 4 years old and now this horrible noise from freezer. My freezer is not packed, but this noise goes from bad to worse and seems to be surging. I unpacked, undid the back panel and watched what it did. The whole system froze with ice, the fan kept running with ice on it. Very dramatic, so what do I do ??? come on you guys, I need help. It's 100 to have someone come I really didn't understand, it;s like
the 100 will go towards the cost, so do I still pay 100 for labor. Oh dear, I
just want this 4 yr old freezer fixed. I do have a 12 yre old Maytag downstairs and it's perfecto but is missing a shelft or I'd move it right upstairs. So what about the fan and all coils that is the feathered look all freezing and what do I do???
Helen

[denman]

Here are your parts.
Replacement parts for General Electric GTL17JBSERBS Refrigerator | AppliancePartsPros.com

Sounds like you have a defrost problem.

The ice may have screwed up the fan so it may need replacing.
I would remove it from the unit and heat it up several times with a hair dryer.
What you are tying to do is evaporate out any water that may have entered the motor. A drop of oil on the bearing would not hurt but do the drying out first.
You could test it by hooking it up to a line cord or reinstalling it once you get your defrost problem sorted out.

Defrost Problem
First remove the evaporator cover in the freezer so you can see the coils.
Do not let them de-ice.
If they are heavily iced/frosted over you have a defrost problem.

If yes.
Manually force a defrost cycle by turning the defrost timer cam (Item 648 in Section 3) till the fans and compressor turn off.
There is usually a hole in the cover to let you turn the cam with a screwdriver.
Now check the defrost heater to see if it is on.
Be careful you do not want to burn your fingers.
If the heater is on then the timer needs replacing, re: it is probably stalling during it's rotation so is never getting into a defrost cycle.

If not on.
Unplug the unit.
Remove the wire for one side of the heating element (Item 621 in Section 3) from the wiring and measure it for continuity, usually around 20 ohms or so.
Your heater looks like a glass unit and often you can see where they burned out. It is not uncommon for they to blow.

If the heater is OK
Remove one wire to the defrost thermostat (Item 621 in Section 3) and measure it, should be 0 ohms when frozen. Note that it opens just above freezing so must be frozen to check it. Also inspect it, if it is bulged at all replace it even if it measures OK.

If both the above are OK then odds are the defrost timer contacts are toast.
Best way to test this is a live test to see if you have 120 volts across the heater/defrost thermostat combo.

If you do not own a meter, I would suggest you purchase a one. You can get a decent digital multimeter for under $20.00. You do not need fancy though it is nice if the leads are a couple feet long.
If it saves ordering one unnecessary part it has paid for itself and you end up owning a useful tool.
Most places will not let you return electrical parts so if you order it, you own it.
A couple things to watch when measuring ohms and continuity
1. Always remove power from the machine otherwise you could blow your meter.
2. Always disconnect at least one side of any device you are checking. This eliminates the possibility of measuring an alternate/parallel circuit path.
3. When checking for closed contacts and continuity use the lowest scale (Usually 200 ohms). Then try higher scales. This scale is 0 to 200 ohms so if the device you are measuring is 300 ohms this scale would show an open circuit which it is not, you are just measuring outside the scale's dynamic range.

There is a good STICKY at the start of this forum about it's use.