[ANiforos]

I have read some of the posts concerning the frig portion not cooling on my top freezer GE. The freezer portion seems to be fine. I am somewhat familiar with the defrost portion.

I just put all the food from the freezer into a cooler. I removed the icemaker. As I was removing the back panel in freezer, I could hear water hissing from dripping. I expected to see a lot of ice on the coils, but there was none. I could also feel a little heat as I removed the back panel.......so the heater/defroster seems to be working fine.

I think, but cannot be sure, that I replaced the thermostat a couple of years ago, that little nickel sized thing clipped onto the left side onto one of the coils. It could be that I just checked it all to see if the defroster was working properly, because last summer water was collecting in the bottom of the inside of the fridg. I did all the cleaning and unstopping of drains......and that problem seemed to correct itself when we got away from the humid days of summer.

Back to my problem now. If I am correct, the only thing left is the defrost timer? I looked on the schematics as per your suggestion, and I found the timer in the schematics.........but I'm not sure exactly where it is. It looks like might be under the plastic that houses the control knobs....the plastic is located in the top rear portion of the fridg. Is this correct? I didn't want to get into letting what little cool air is in the fridg looking for it there if it was not there.

Does it look like the problem is the timer?

Thanks for any help you can provide.

Alex

[libertyappl]

Your's doesn't sound like a defrost problem. Since there wasn't ice formed on the coils, but yes the defrost timer should be with the controls.

I would check to make sure the fan in the freezer is working if not then the air isn't circulating properly to cool as it should. This fan doesn't run while in defrost mode.

Nat

[ANiforos]

Hi Nat,

Thanks for your reply. The fan in the freezer is working fine, which I guess is a good thing. I'm wondering if just replacing the timer and the thermostat would fix the problem.

Thanks,

Alex

[abadfish66]

If it was a defrost problem, like the timer staying in defrost too long or such, you would notice a problem with your freezer not staying cold enough, or melting/defrosting things and refreezing... Since you said the fan is working, next thing I would check is the frost pattern on the coils. You should have frost covering all the coils, if that is ok, put everything back together and make sure you have air blowing into the fridge section with the freezer door closed of coarse.

[abadfish66]

Also make sure the condenser fan is working.

[libertyappl]

Just an addition to abadfish66, if you don't have a good frost pattern and it's not cooling properly you probably are having a sealed system issue and that's a much more expensive fix.

Nat

[ANiforos]

First off, I want to thank everyone who offered their suggestions to my question. This is a wonderful place to offer and receive help. I have always been one who not only enjoys fixing my own stuff for the pure satisfaction of just doing it, but I enjoy the savings to my wallet also. Being a homeowner has provided me ample opportunities to fix things, build things and occasionally make the really stupid mistake that I can usually laugh at later.
So goes the case here............

After I checked all that I thought that could be checked, I was ready to remove the cover inside the rear top part of the fridg.....the part where the defrost timer is located. When I started to move some of the things on the top shelf, I realized that a plastic package of soft flour tortillas was jammed on top of some jars and pushed towards the back. Yes, the plastic was blocking the bottom vent where cold air comes out from the freezer to cool the fridg. As soon as I saw this, I moved it and could immediately feel cold air coming back into the fridg. You would have thought I just won a small lottery......because even though I had wasted my morning taking everything out of my freezer and removing the ice maker and the back panel, I was glad my "fix" really didn't cost me anything. I'm sure I'm not the only one who as ever done this, but I post it so other "junior members" here can learn from my mistake.

Again, thanks to all who offered their time and advice.

Alex

[abadfish66]

You are definatly not the first a will not be the last, Do you know how many service calls I run on dead dishwashers only to get to the customers house and find it unplugged....