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I have a GE Profile refrigerator side by side only 3 yrs old # PSC25SGSA SS. Problem I have is the moisture condenses on to the evaporator on the Fresh food side (It has separate evaporators for 2 sides). It becomes ice and the Fresh food side stop cooling optimally I can see the recommended temp of 37 slowly creeping up to 44 and 53.
I have to power off the appliance and let the ice melt overnight and restart the
appliance and will work fine for approx one week only to start the problem all over again. Interestingly moisture does not condense or frost any other part of fresh food side but only on the evaporator. Last time I took off the cover from the evaporator and saw that
the Trough drain (metal channel that drains water under the evaporator) was all corroded and rusty. Do you think localized condensation may be due to the metal drain or the evaporator malfunctioning?:mad:
I have 3 children :eek: and they do open the refrigerator doors frequently, although, we did not have this problem until recently.
I will appreciate any input in this regard, thanks
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Your refrigerator section evaporator is supposed to act as a chiller as the coils must have sufficient airflow to stay above freezing temperature just like the Samsung units.
I would check the return airflow path behind the fridg crisper drawers, probably iced up.
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The fresh food coil has a defrost cycle just like the freezer section only there isn’t a defrost thermostat or heater. The main board and the thermistor on the evaporator control defrost cycle of this coil. What happens is the main board will stop coolant flow to the fresh food evaporator coil by closing off a valve. Then the main board monitors the thermistor until it determines that the coil has defrosted only then will it allow coolant to reenter the evaporator coils. This way the compressor can still run and cool the freezer while the fresh food coils are defrosting.
If the thermistor, main board or valve is bad then the coils will frost up. The thermistor will be the most common. It could be the main board but it is not common and that valve almost never fails. GE Refrigerator Repair Guide
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Well, I'm glad you know this fridg. and I learned a lot. Seems rather easy to fix with only one electronic control, thanks for jumping in here Applianceman.
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Well I just went to a service school on the dual evaporator models because I think this is what GE is going to with all there side-by-sides soon. The reason I say that is this was something only on high-end models $2000+. But now there is a dual evaporator model for $1000 or less. So I believe it is only a matter of time before all GE side-by-sides will have the dual evaporator. I haven’t actually heard this from GE but it is what I think is going to happen. In any case glad I could help.
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Appreciate your input Rich and Applianceman. This eveporator has a fan and I have checked it is working fine. So as you said, problem is likely on main board and/or thermistor? and that would have to be replaced ?
Could you narrow down if main board or thermistor. I am novice in refrigeration, although otherwise quite techincal and fix a problem if know
the steps. Is it possible you can lay down steps to fix this. I do have printout illustration of parts to this model. OR you think, I should not venture and call service person. Also do you believe this should be covered by GE even though original waranty is probabaly expired? :confused:
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I am hoping you fix this fridg so I can learn more about it. Most repair people would not know how to fix this, except for a authorized GE trained one, who would probably charge a lot to fix it.
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It will be hard to tell if the thermistor is bad unless you take it out and do a bench test. However it is so hard to get to and the thermistor is so cheap you will be better off just replacing it. You can check the thermistor from the main board but you will not know what the ohm reading should be. You can’t go by the temperature in the refrigerator because that thermistor is behind the evaporator and will be a different from the rest of the refrigerator. You will have to access the evaporator and gently rotate it out and reach behind to get the thermistor out. Make sure that the new thermistor goes back in position same as the old one or it will be sending the board incorrect readings. This thermistor is a pain to replace so if you access it go ahead and replace it to see if it works. Assuming the board is doing what it is suppose to do and the fan is running. It has got to be the thermistor and it is out of range rather than shorted or opened because if it is shorted or open the main board ignores its input and goes for a fixed defrost cycle. I forgot to mention the fan it runs on low during normal defrost to aid in the ice melting.It doesn’t matter how many time the door is opened the coil should not frost up. This refrigerator has a normal fresh food defrost cycle which is done each time the fresh food thermistor is “tells the main board it is cold enough here” and a forced defrost cycle which happens if the fresh food is being cooled for 45 minutes without a normal defrost. Also normal defrost can be extended two times if need be. With that being said it will only defrost for 5 minutes if the thermistor “tells the main board hey all the ice is melted here” so to speak. If that is not the case then the evaporator will freeze up. This page tells how to do the bench test I talked about Testing A Refrigerator Thermistor On A GE RefrigeratorScroll down to where it is titled “A Simpler Way To Check A Refrigerator Thermistor” Note that this page tells how to test thermistors from the main board but this it wasn’t written for dual evaporator models but the bench test will be the same.
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Like I said it could also be the refrigeratant coolant valve also but they almost never give trouble.
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I have browsed the link yu sent me and was very helpful. Now the question is how many thermistor are in the freshfood side in this model. I have identified one which is esily reachable and is on the sidewall sharing with freezer. Just opposite to the one on freezer side about midway from top to bottom as seen below. Do you think there is another one behind the eveporator and that may be the one needing replcement? or both?. o you think, GE wil have picture illustrations for this model showig locations of all the thermistor. Also, if one is located behind the evaporator, rotating evaporator forward on its 2 coils going out of the appliance will not break the coils or its connections? or there is another way to do this? Hey, thanks for great help so far. 
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