[4JS]

Hi Have A Ge Pro File Tfx27prbe Freeze Is Not Defrosting And Ref Part Is Not Real Cold Shut Off And Hairdryer Coils And Turn On 2day Later Ice Build On Coil Is It Heater Or Timer Or Theromsate Which One Should Be Repace First Thats John Ps I Miss My Cold Beer

[denman]

Here is the parts breakdown
Replacement parts for TFX27PRBE models | AppliancePartsPros.com

Hi Have A Ge Pro File Tfx27prbe Freeze Is Not Defrosting And Ref Part Is Not Real Cold Shut Off And Hairdryer Coils And Turn On 2day Later Ice Build On Coil
Seems awful fast at icing up but that depends on the humidity where you live. You may want to checl the door seals to be sure they are sealing correctly.

The defrost timer is Item 257 in Section 4. There is usually a hole in the cover to let you force a defrost cycle.

First remove the evaporator cover in the freezer so you can see the coils.
Not 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 till the fans and compressor turn off.
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 from the wiring and measure it for continuity, usually around 20 ohms or so.

If the heater is OK
Remove one wire to the defrost thermostat 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.

[4JS]

I Turned Screw On Time Unit Went Off Heat Did Not Go On I Used A Hair Dryer To Defrost When All Ice Came Off Unit Went Back On Is It The Heater

[denman]

You cannot tell for sure if it is the just the heater.

Best way is to measure the heater and defrost thermostat with a meter.
Often with the glass type heater you can see where it has burned out.

One thing to note is that it may even be the timer re: the contacts which switch in the heater are toast but this is rare. So if both the thermostat and heater measure OK then it is probably the timer.