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Mark Stephens Posted on Oct 25, 2017
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GE TBX25R refrigerator not cooling. Found thick ice on freezer coils on the mid to upper half. The defrost heater is working, no ice closest to coils and tested the element. Help!

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Vernon Taylor

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  • GE Master 7,446 Answers
  • Posted on Oct 25, 2017
 Vernon Taylor
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Joined: Oct 05, 2008
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You say the defrost heater is working, but does it switch off at the end of the defrost cycle?

A refrigerator is a closed box and the only water vapour to condense and freeze to produce ice should be from the food and the opening of the door. Remember the days before auto defrost when a fridge in good order needed defrosting only a couple or three of times each year? That is a normal ice build up.
A freezer needed less deicing than that.

Excessive ice signals the possibility of an insulation failure (search for cold areas on the outer casing) a bad door seal, an auto defrost malfunction or possibly a general decline in the efficiency of the cooling system due to a worn compressor or lack of refrigerant - an ice build up in the freezer only means the temperature is below freezing, you didn't mention what the freezer temperature actually is but I wager it is far above the minus 18 - 27 degrees C of an efficient freezer.

One method of judging the efficiency of a refrigeration system - the purpose of which is to move heat from the inside of the cabinet to the outside where it is dispersed by the condenser which will naturally become quite warm. If the condenser isn't as warm or even almost hot as usual while the compressor is running then it isn't efficiently moving heat from inside the cabinet.

Generally a lack of efficiency tends towards longer than usual compressor cycling and even constant running.

5 Related Answers

Anonymous

  • 213 Answers
  • Posted on Nov 28, 2007

SOURCE: refrigerator stopped cooling

the back panel inside the freezer has screws in it. take out the screws to remove that panel. the coils are behind that. melt all the frost. youll see one or 2 heating elements in there also. replace the elements. its a common ge problem. this will fix the problem

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Anonymous

  • 828 Answers
  • Posted on Apr 30, 2008

SOURCE: GE Profile SxS Refrigerator wont defrost after new heater installed

If one coil was burnt out and you replaced the heaters and defrost terminator switch I would recheck the continuity through the defrost heaters. You can do this with an Ohm meter with the refrigerator unplugged. If you had an open coil in one of the heaters you did not have to replace the thermo disk. If you have a complete circuit through the heaters try using the old thermo disk. If you have a meter you can check the voltage from the heater connection on one side to the inlet side of the thermo disk with the refrigerator running in the defrost mode. You should read 115-125 Volts on the meter. This reading tells you that the defrost timer is supplying power to the heater circuit.

Anonymous

  • 1 Answer
  • Posted on Jun 25, 2008

SOURCE: GE GSL22JFPH BS refrigerator, coils icing up

I'm in the process of fixing the same problem on a GSS22JEPDWW right now. There are several parts in the defrost circuit that I can tell:
1) Defrost Heater
2) DefrostThermostat
3) Temp Sensor (Thermistor)
4) Main Control Board
I've replaced the Defrost Heater (remove back panel of freezer section - it's a stainless steel bracket that has a glass bulb in it) and it still doesn't work. The main control card provides power to the heater 4 times every 24 hrs for 25 minutes or so to defrost the evaporator coils. If all items are working, you'll see water in the drip catch at the bottom inside of the freezer compartment. Better yet, pull the refer away from the wall for 24 hrs and check if water is gathering below the plastic drain on the right rear of the refer in the pan. The water drips into a pan and the fan for the condensor coil evaporates it. Go to the www.ge.com website and look in the service section to find the parts diagram for your refer. You can then get a part number to buy the parts you need from a local parts store or the Internet.
I just bought the thermostat a few minutes ago and will try that next. Heater was $37, thermostat was $15. Sensor is about $20 and the control card is $140 (you can find on line for $95). I'm going down that path. If none of this works, it'll be in the dump in a week.
I've learned on-line GE refers are bad news. The control cards can fail repeartedly, althoough mine has worked for over 4 years. But, I won't ever buy another one since refers should last at least 15 years in my book. After $200, it doesn't pay to throw more good money after bad. I'll keep you posted on my results.
TM

Anonymous

  • 50 Answers
  • Posted on Jul 21, 2008

SOURCE: GE refrigerator TBX25zpk coils Freezing

It's almost always the defrost heater. If you have volts to the defrost thermostat the defrost control is working. Set your meter to check ohms and remove the wiring from the heater. If anything changes when you touch the meter leads to the heater terminals then the heater is probably good, but my guess is nothing will change, which means you've got a bad heater.

Anonymous

  • 143 Answers
  • Posted on Jul 23, 2008

SOURCE: Maytag Model MZD2766GEW iced coils

This sounds like a defrosting problem. There is a defrost timer, a heater element, and a therm-o- disk thing that shuts the heater off when the frost is melted. These are the things to check, but it's usually the heater that is burnt out.

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