Refrigeration Troubleshooting.doc (645kb) downloaded 19 time(s).Originally Posted by: usna87 This worked for me too...
This morning, wife said "ice cubes are melting"...same symptoms as everyone else in this thread. Was about to shell out $150 to order a board and then looked closer. 2 470uF caps near the top right heat sink were bulging a bit. Ran to the local electronics shop and picked up a couple new ones for $5. Everything is humming along smoothly now. This board is a life saver! Thanks to all of you!
(June 4, 2010)
Just to back up what the above poster and others have said, replacement of the two 470uF electrolytic capacitors located next to the heat sink worked for me as well.
My GE model number is: GSH22J FRE WW. It's about 6-7 years old and I've previously disassembled the entire freezer, searching for the source of an annoying howl or whining that seems to happen during the defrost cycle. Total waste of time and effort! Seems as though that poorly designed main FPC (motherboard) is to blame for most problems in these GE's.
Yesterday morning the refrigerator died completely-no cooling in either refrige or freezer. I could hear a rythmic clicking sound coming from the rear of the unit. It seemed to be loudest around the main circuit board compartment, which is really easy to access, by the way-a few screws, a plate and there it is, big green and ugly.
I noticed that every time it clicked, the condenser fan would move a bit and then stop (the fan would spin freely when I moved it with my finger, so it wasn't jammed or seized up).
At that point, I did a Google, found this thread, called GE and made an appointment, Unfortunately, the fastest they could get here was in 4 days and the estimated cost was $189.00 for the part plus "labor". Not an option!
I immediately returned to this site and decided to try the fix mentioned by several members, even though I'm no electrician. Had to do it, otherwise all the food would be toast, including the bread! I could clearly see that two of the caps were bulging out on top and one of the outer jackets appeared to be half slid off, so it was a no brainer.
If you've ever used a soldering iron, even if it was to burn doodles on wood as a kid, I would strongly suggest attempting this repair! It's that easy. Soldering iron costs $10. 2 caps (272-1030 Shack pt #) cost $4. You do the math. If you're afraid to remove a few plugs, and release pins to get the board off (with the refrige unplugged first, thanks) then forget it, just call GE or a local guy and hope they get there before all your food goes South.
I'm going to try to include a few pictures here that might help, but not sure if this site allows pix....I've circled the defective caps on the main board before removal and the next pic shows them removed and replaced with the new blue R Shack parts, which were a slightly different size and voltage (300v, not 250v), but were 470uF, just like the defective ones and there was no problem fitting them in. I tried to keep them as far away from the heat sink as possible, since that's what probably killed them in the first place.
The sound of that fridge starting right up after this fix is a beautiful thing! Thanks to all the previous posters here who figured this one out! IOU!
BTW, I ordered the main board from this site today anyway, even though the refridge is working because I don't trust the buggy, poorly designed nature of the thing. They've redesigned it multiple times since mine was made and judging by what others have said here, it's responsible for way too many opperational errors to be trusted as is, despite my fix. I'd rather not have to worry about losing everything in the unit sometime down the road. It cost me $129.54 including shipping, which is less than GE would have charged me for the part alone. Good deal, efficient people in the order department and definately a great site and thread. Thanks again!
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