I had no heat, so I opened the cabinet just enough to test the t-stats. The control stat doesn’t have continuity on the small terminals, so I ordered a new one. The problem is that I can’t get to the retaining screw without completely disassembling the cabinet rear, and the heating coil unit, I think. Can anyone tell me if there is an easier way to access the t-stats on this model? I have considered drilling a hole in the rear panel to reach through to the screw, but I don’t think this is what GE had in mind.
As far as I know you have to take the unit apart so you could try your mod to get at it.
Design engineers very seldom design units so they are easy to repair.
I doubt that the thermostat is your problem assuming that the large connectors read 0 ohms.
The small connectors on the thermostat are for a built in heater.
This is turned on for lower heat settings and adds heat to the thermostat so it cycles more often resulting in a lower main heating element output.
It may have read open if your meter was set on too low of a scale, try the 200K scale usually they are around 7,000 ohms.
I cannot give you an exact value as I cannot get a wiring diagram as GE likes to keep everything a secret.
If I am correct on this I would check the power to the unit first.
Try flipping the breaker off/on slowly a couple times.
Sometimes you can loose half the line without actually tripping the breaker.
If this does nothing, check the voltage at the plug
L1 to L2 should be 240 volts
L1 to Neutral and L2 to Neutral, both should be 120 volts.
If OK
Unplug the unit and check the wires at the terminal strip in the machine to make sure none are loose or burned out
If OK
Check the power at the terminal strip.
Do this with the heater off and on.
[COLOR=“Red”]Be careful as 240 volts is lethal !!![/COLOR]