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Tact  
#1 Posted : Monday, August 12, 2013 4:27:05 AM(UTC)
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Tact

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Joined: 8/12/2013(UTC)
Posts: 1

My GE side by side ref/freezer of 11 years suddenly slowed down on freezing foods in the freezer. Just noticed it yesterday as food was becoming thawed. This is one that I've kept in the garage for the past six years.

Coils are clean and no ice buildup, but I noticed that the condenser fan is turning slowly. I'm not sure what speed it's supposed to turn, but it appears to be slow, not pushing much air. Kind of similar to a ceiling fan on low speed. It turns free and is not binding or rubbing, but it just appears to be slower than optimal. How fast should it be blowing?

I'm thinking on replacing the motor as it is not too expensive and what appears to be an easy swap, but I've heard that if I swap the motor I also need to swap the circuit board. UserPostedImage

Anyone seen a slow blowing fan being the problem of a freezer not freezing? Any recommendation on just switching the fan motor and not the circuit board at the same time? What else should I look for?

Compressor is HOT to the touch. Normal?

I vacuumed around the fan and the baffle behind the fan appeared to be full of dirt and lint. I sucked the debris as best I could, but couldn't reach the front portion. Fan still appeared to be turning too slowly. Maybe the speed is normal. :confused:

So I put a cup of ice in the freezer and left it over night. This morning the ice was still frozen and none had thawed.
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applianceman  
#2 Posted : Tuesday, August 13, 2013 7:55:43 AM(UTC)
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applianceman

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Posts: 1,648

Yes the condenser fan can cause the freezer to thaw.

You don’t have to change both the fan and the board all the time. The reason you hear this is because the evaporator fans have been known to cause a board failure and possibly the condenser motors could do the same. However this is not as common as it seems when you are reading on the Internet. Don’t get me wrong I have seen this happen and if you ever get burnt by this (not changing both) you won’t be happy. In the field I only change both, if the fan resistors are burnt or damaged, which is an indication that the fan shorted out. I do this to try to keep the repair cost for my customers as low as possible. But the risk is yours and you can replace both to be on the safe side.

In your case it is likely the fan isn’t bad but that the board isn’t sending it the correct voltage and there is a good chance the fan in the freezer is also running slow which would mean for sure the board is bad.

The compressor is always hot but if the fan is running slow it will be hotter than normal.

This page shows how to test voltage and where to find the fan resistors on the board.
GE Refrigerator Fan Motor Diagnostics
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