[FredC]

Hello all, Im new here. A quick question for you pros.
THE HISTORY: I just replaced the defrost heaters and thermostat in my GE side by side freezer. Had the old warm fridge, cool freezer problem. Opened everything up and found the heaters were not working when in defrost mode. Tested everything found that the timer was good but tubes were bad (even melted the connectors some). Ok replaced both heater tubes, thermostat and wire loom. Of course I had to make a couple of changes as the new parts were a little different from the old. I had to change the metal housings, as the screw holes did not line up, and had to cut off a connector and splice the new wires to the old. Wires were all the same colors and was really pretty straight forward.
THE QUESTION: After letting everything cool down about 30 mins., I tripped the defrost timer to check the heaters. Only one heater, the bottom, glowed. Now does current have to pass from the upper tube (blue wire) to the lower tube (pink wire) since there is a common wire between the two? Seems to me, so I'm thinking both tubes are good and this is a normal condition since it wasnt really frosted and cold. Is it safe to put everything back together or do I still have a problem??? Thanks in advance! Fred

[FredC]

Well perhaps I stumped the pros. Well anyway, here is what is going on. After making my post, I put everything back together and left town Thursday. Now today (Sunday) I came home, checked the fridge and all appears well. NO FROST at all in the freezer, temp. about 0 to -10 F and fridge about 30 F. I guess it's fixed and didn't let things cool enough for the defrost circut to kick all the way in.

Thank you everyone who gave a look, and thank you all for helping me fix the problem right the first time!

[Gene]

Hi Fred,

Both heaters should be connected in series. The wire included in the kit connects the heaters together and the wires from the refrigerator harness should be connected to the end terminals on each heater. If you did it that way then you fixed it. Good job!

Gene.