Here are your parts
Replacement parts for General Electric PDS18SBMBRBS Refrigerator | AppliancePartsPros.com

Also here is a good site with basic fridge repair info
http://www.applianceaid.com/frig.html

First remove the evaporator cover in the freezer so you can see the coils.
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 (Item 47 in Section 3) 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 (Item 11 in Section 3) 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 (Item 10 in Section 3) 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.

[COLOR="Blue"]To get to my second questionI was wondering how long does it take from the time the thermostat closes until the heater comes on. [/COLOR]
Heater should come on right away. I am assuming you are referring to the defrost thermostat which should be closed as long as the coils are frozer.
Most thermostats open around 40 degrees F.

[COLOR="Blue"]I am just trying to figure out if the timer is stalling.[/COLOR]
Mark a spot on the timer cam and then a corresponding spot on the timer case or cover then you will be able to tell if the timer is stopping somewhere.
Timer is 35 minutes of defrost every 10 hours so I would say it is 10 hours for one revolution. I do not have tech data on this unit so I cannot say if the timer is continuous (always advances) or cumulative (only advances when the compressor is on).

Hello all back again with the same fridge, the ge profile pds18sbmbrbs. I had the problem of the coils freezing about 3 yrs ago and with help of the site and posts from the valued members here I got it fixed.

Well now I am having another problem. About every three weeks to a month I have to go in and pull out the veggie draws and the vent plate the get the frozen defrost water out the "drain channel". I made sure the "u" shaped drain is clear and the timer is working and defrost thermostat is working. I have no clue how to get the water to stop freezing. I have the fridge and freezer dials turned all the way up abd then put them both back to mfgr recommended settings and still the same result of the water freezing and not draining.

The fridge is a great unit and would really hate to throw it away or spend money on a repair tech as the unit was free to me.

I want to also add that the fridge is in my garage. The garage is on the side of the house that gets the setting sun. We only keep drinks and beer in the fridge and some frozen items in the freezer. I don't know if it being in the garage would have an effect on it being as this has been happening only for the last 10 months and the fridge has been in the garage for the last 3 yrs.

Thanks in advance for your help

Steve

I checked the drain tube and blew it out with 80 psi from my air compressor. Nothing came out and it was clear. The garage gets about 40 degrees Fahrenheit at its coldest I'm in south Mississippi and we had a mild winter

How does the drain tube actually work? Is the water supposed to evaporate from the tube?
If I set the fan blade on the the blower motor at the wrong spot, too far forward or backward will that have an effect?


I will put a thermometer in the freezer and check the temp to let you know.

Ok I'll pull the drain tube today and clear it out just to be on the safe side.

No not having problems with the fan just wondering if it would creat any sort of turbulence keeping to Sartre from draining properly.