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Originally Posted by: amadc01  I have a friend who owns an appliance sales and repair business and asked him what could be wrong with my GE fridge. I came home one day to find the freezer defrosting and the fridge warming. My fridge is only 7 years old and this is the first ever issue we have had with it. After researching many online DIY appliance repair forums I thought I had the answer. My issue was everything except the compressor was working on my fridge. I removed panels from inside and the back of the fridge and the fans were turning, inside the air was blowing and all of the lights worked, just no compressor sound. It was cool to the touch. After speaking with my appliance pro buddy, he said it's common on these appliances for the main board control to be the issue. He said unplug the fridge and remove the screws to the main board cover. On my fridge the cover is located on the back top left. After removing the cover carefully depress the 4 white pionty plastic nips holding the board in place. I detatched the plugged in wires before removing the board, made it much easier. After removing it look for any burn marks on the back where the compressor relay connects to the board. The relay is on black and soldered onto the front. On the back of my board was a burn mark and no solder connecting the relay to the board. I was told that this is a common issue, because with the strain of the compressor switching on and off with the power surges and heat generated from that the solder sometimes pops off. Apparently, GE doesn't believe in using enough solder.
After cleaning it up and re-soldering the relay to the board, I plugged the wires back into the board and turned on my fridge. It worked! my compressor turned on and my fridge is now working once more. Saved over $350. avoiding a service call with parts and labor. Better yet, saved even more then buying a new fridge. I have attached photos of what mine looked like. I sure hope this will help someone else with the same problem. I had this exact issue and followed your instructions. Works fine again. I soldered the 3-4 little connections together. Thank you.
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Same here.
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Originally Posted by: camdam1956 I would like to thank you for your post. My refrigerator quit sometime in the night. It did the same thing yours did. I followed your directions to fix it like you did. It is now working just as good as new. In these tough times I was wondering how I was going to get it fixed or get another one but because of you I now do not have to. I just want to say again thank you! I am so happy that my post helped you get your fridge working again. You are welcome! :)
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When they wave soldered the board there was not enough heat to make the relay solder sufficiently thick, so the thin solder around the relay pins acted as a fuse and blew open on a power transient. Make sure to heat the area up good with a soldering iron and use sufficient solder.
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Originally Posted by: amadc01 I have a friend who owns an appliance sales and repair business and asked him what could be wrong with my GE fridge. I came home one day to find the freezer defrosting and the fridge warming. My fridge is only 7 years old and this is the first ever issue we have had with it. After researching many online DIY appliance repair forums I thought I had the answer. My issue was everything except the compressor was working on my fridge. I removed panels from inside and the back of the fridge and the fans were turning, inside the air was blowing and all of the lights worked, just no compressor sound. It was cool to the touch. After speaking with my appliance pro buddy, he said it's common on these appliances for the main board control to be the issue. He said unplug the fridge and remove the screws to the main board cover. On my fridge the cover is located on the back top left. After removing the cover carefully depress the 4 white pionty plastic nips holding the board in place. I detatched the plugged in wires before removing the board, made it much easier. After removing it look for any burn marks on the back where the compressor relay connects to the board. The relay is on black and soldered onto the front. On the back of my board was a burn mark and no solder connecting the relay to the board. I was told that this is a common issue, because with the strain of the compressor switching on and off with the power surges and heat generated from that the solder sometimes pops off. Apparently, GE doesn't believe in using enough solder.
After cleaning it up and re-soldering the relay to the board, I plugged the wires back into the board and turned on my fridge. It worked! my compressor turned on and my fridge is now working once more. Saved over $350. avoiding a service call with parts and labor. Better yet, saved even more then buying a new fridge. I have attached photos of what mine looked like. I sure hope this will help someone else with the same problem. I would like to thank you for your post. My refrigerator quit sometime in the night. It did the same thing yours did. I followed your directions to fix it like you did. It is now working just as good as new. In these tough times I was wondering how I was going to get it fixed or get another one but because of you I now do not have to. I just want to say again thank you!
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Originally Posted by: Steeltrain Hello! I've read the thread and I have the same exact problem! The burn mark is not as bad, but I need to know what to solder to! Please help! I can send a pic if that helps!! Unfortunatelly, the photos I posted did not load correctly and I had already deleted them from my camera. After carefully pushing in the white tabs on the legs holding the curcuit board in place, pull off the board and turn it over. On the back you should see a burnt mark and an area where solder is missing or melted. Those contacts need to be re-soldered to the board. It shouldn't take much solder to accomplish this task. Once the solder is back in place and cooled, replace the board and plug your fridge in. It'll take about 12 - 24 hours for your fridge acclimate and reach it's cooling temp. Good luck.
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Hello! I've read the thread and I have the same exact problem! The burn mark is not as bad, but I need to know what to solder to! Please help! I can send a pic if that helps!!
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Fortunately, the ribbon around the power relay is easy to re-solder, even repairable if a ribbon section is open.
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I have a friend who owns an appliance sales and repair business and asked him what could be wrong with my GE fridge. I came home one day to find the freezer defrosting and the fridge warming. My fridge is only 7 years old and this is the first ever issue we have had with it. After researching many online DIY appliance repair forums I thought I had the answer. My issue was everything except the compressor was working on my fridge. I removed panels from inside and the back of the fridge and the fans were turning, inside the air was blowing and all of the lights worked, just no compressor sound. It was cool to the touch. After speaking with my appliance pro buddy, he said it's common on these appliances for the main board control to be the issue. He said unplug the fridge and remove the screws to the main board cover. On my fridge the cover is located on the back top left. After removing the cover carefully depress the 4 white pionty plastic nips holding the board in place. I detatched the plugged in wires before removing the board, made it much easier. After removing it look for any burn marks on the back where the compressor relay connects to the board. The relay is on black and soldered onto the front. On the back of my board was a burn mark and no solder connecting the relay to the board. I was told that this is a common issue, because with the strain of the compressor switching on and off with the power surges and heat generated from that the solder sometimes pops off. Apparently, GE doesn't believe in using enough solder.
After cleaning it up and re-soldering the relay to the board, I plugged the wires back into the board and turned on my fridge. It worked! my compressor turned on and my fridge is now working once more. Saved over $350. avoiding a service call with parts and labor. Better yet, saved even more then buying a new fridge. I have attached photos of what mine looked like. I sure hope this will help someone else with the same problem.
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Since the coils are not blocked with ice and the fresh food section is getting at least some cool air I would say it is the fan, compressor short cycling or a refrigeration problem. Some of these top freezers the air flow to the fresh food section is controlled by fan speed only. Not a damper. If the fan working at all? If not this page will help with diagnostics of the fan. GE Refrigerator Fan Motor DiagnosticsIf the fan isn’t running fast enough the thermistor could be bad. But the main board is more likely. Is the fan seems to be running properly look at the coils. There should be a thin layer of ice across the entire coils if the compressor has been running for at least an hour. The compressor may be short cycling. Sometimes the control board will get a loose/ bad solder joint causing an intermitting problem with the compressor getting power. Sometimes it will run enough to cool some but not enough. Hope this helps!This page may help as well GE Refrigerator Repair Guide
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