Thought I should start a new thread specific to my problem rather than post in the sticky. Here’s the rundown:
- Started hearing a higher-pitched, constant hum from the fridge a little over a week ago. I cleaned the dust from the coils in the back, but noise continued.
- I isolated the noise to the fan area just below the ice maker and tried turning down the freezer temp control dial a notch or two (but still to about 6 or 7) and the noise stopped. Did a little research and thought I’d be replacing the evaporator fan motor when I returned in a week from my trip. I kept the temp control dial at that 6 or 7 to keep it from straining so much while I was gone.
- I returned to find no ice in the freezer and nothing frozen, but the freezer was still cool like a refrigerator.
- I went to begin removing the evaporator fan motor so I could test it but then learned at this link that I could test it at the control board:
GE Refrigerator Fan Motor Diagnostics - I went to follow those diagnostics and when I plugged the fridge in, the fan started turning without any noise. The voltage at the board tested fine once I figured out my meter
- This morning I noticed things were mostly frozen but popsicles were slightly soft (temp control dial was at max). I tried the same diagnostic procedure as in the link but noticed that the fan didn’t turn on after the doors were open a while. During this period I got no voltage reading at the board.
- I pushed the fan blades with my finger and it started right up. Now the voltage at the board reads fine while the fan is running. No noise from the fan.
- I took readings at the fan connector itself and got no voltage but the recommended resistance at the red/white and red/yellow wires as per the sticky.
- Plugged in the connector and the fan started right up on its own and continued to run without any noise.
- I pulled off the lower back panel and found some frost but not as much as there was a year and a half ago when I had to replace the defrost heater.
Questions: 1) Why did the noise disappear and why do things appear to be mostly functional (although temp doesn’t seem as cold as it normally would be on the max setting)? 2) Do I have a partially but not fully failed board, evaporator fan motor, both, or something else? 3) If the board is bad but the fan motor is not, do I still need to replace the fan motor?
A million thanks!