Hello,

My beer in my shop has a problem. Therefore I have a problem.

My GE TBE21DRS refrigerator (freezer on top, fridge below) has a defrost problem. The coils at the bottom of the freezer section frost up solid. I can thaw them out and the fridge and freezer both work properly for a few days until the coils frost up again. After educating myself I learned I apparantly have a failure of either the defrost heater, the defrost timer or the defrost thermometer. I checked the resistance of the heater and it is 20.2 ohms. I don't have the service manual but I'm assuming this is OK unless someone tells me otherwise. Therefore I assume my problem is with the defrost timer or the defrost thermometer. Unfortunately I can't find the defrost timer. I've attempted to follow wires from the defrost heater out of the freezer but the trim prevents me from doing that. I can't confidently remove the trim without damaging it so all I can do currently is look elsewhere for the defrost timer. I've looked below the fridge, behind the fridge and in the fridge temperature control area but haven't found anything I suspect is the timer. What I believe to be the defrost thermometer is located on the tray the freezer coils sit on. It has 2 wires and is attached directly to the tray. It's wiring only goes a few inches before going behind the trim that I'm not comfortable trying to remove. This device appears riveted to the tray as opposed to being bolted.

So here are my questions:

Am I correct that the heater is probably fine since it reads 20.2 ohms?

There is a small white device on the upper left wall of the freezer with green, white, red and black wires. What is it?

Where should the defrost timer be located so I can test it?

Any help would be appreciated.