Brand: GE Model Number: PFSS5RKZA SS Main Symptom: Intermittent and dim LEDs and inoperable ice dispenser. What happens & when:
Age: More than 10 years
History: Main control board (WR55X11098) replaced ~5 years ago at more than 10 years old.
Physical Check: Dispenser door harness and connector look good.
Hypothesis: Intermittent power or control fault possibly the control or display board
I am hoping someone can help me diagnose the problem. I’m comfortable jumping circuits/components and testing with analog and digital meters.
Symptoms
Interior LEDs dim + intermittent
Water is intermittent, ice dispenser is inoperative, and light works.
Display flashes “0” and “-1 34” from time-to-time and when the water, ice and light buttons are pushed.
An intermittent muffled winding/surging noise heard from time-to-time when the house is quiet was not present this evening until I started pushing the buttons.
Behavioral Clues
Fridge sat idle 2 hrs prior to my “testing” and note taking.
LEDs turn on when the freezer door is opening and off upon being closed.
Tapping near water filter kills LEDs
Thanks!
Error Code (if any): N/A
Parts or tests already tried: Harness at dispenser door looks good.
Photos / video link:
Do the LEDs in the fridge section every come on fully or are they always dim when they actually illuminate? And do the freezer lights always seem to work properly?
This sounds like a low voltage DC drag on the system.
If accessing the service diagnostics mode requires the display panel, I have a problem. On Wednesday while pushing buttons on the display panel, the panel went completely dormant.
The fridge and freezer are not cooling as expected and now have dry ice in each.
In today’s appliances we are using fan motors and other loads made to work using D/C Voltage. This creates a phenomena known as loading down.This can make the appliance to shut down completely or affect other D/C loads.This also can cause erratic behaviors of other D/C loads. Try unplugging D/C one at a time on the main board.Like on the J2 connector that operates some of those components.
Unplug refrigerator remove J2 connector Power back up and see if the lights dimming goes away. Also see if that fixes the water dispenser. Unplugging J2 this removes a lot of D/C fan motors out of the equation.if that does not work go to J3 then J4.shut power off each time and reinstall each connector after each separate test. Look at light’s and dispenser after test and see if any of that gives your light’s on full power or dispenser works again.
In my thread titled “Is the Interface Dispenser Assembly (WR55X11092) critical for a GE Profile Refrigerator?”, you asked about the top-left dispenser door switch and connector.
Well, earlier this evening, I unplugged the refrigerator, then I unplugged the bottom-left dispenser door connector and the top-left dispenser door connector.
5 minutes later, I plugged in the two connectors and the refrigerator.
For 3-4 seconds, the display flashed a series of “racing” zeros, then stopped.
The refrigerator started running and sounded like it used to sound.
In my other thread “Is the Interface Dispenser Assembly (WR55X11092) critical for a GE Profile Refrigerator? ”, you posted…
I inspected the upper and lower hinge connectors on the dispenser door.
When you asked, “I guess you look under the left fresh food door hinge on the top of the door as there maybe a connection there,” what specific action did you want me to take?
I probably should have followed up more promptly and asked more relevant questions. Perhaps this would have resulted in more productive process and successful outcome. In the end, I had a pro tech visit my home diagnose the problem almost immediately… a bad main control board. Ordered, installed, and working perfectly. Thanks for trying!
