Refrigerator help

[m8man]

Refrigerator help is needed here, didn’t know where to ask

My fridge a GE French door w freezer on the bottom has issues AGAIN. 4 years old…

Everything is frozen, temp set to 42 degrees. Ice maker quit again (put 2 new ice makers in after I bought it). Repair guy told me mother board/control board was shot so I bought one had it installed and it seemed to work ok for a couple months. Ice maker quit again ( might be froze up) and now everything in the fridge is frozen and it seems to be running constantly. Repair guy was here 2x and now can’t get him back. We are pretty rural and no real option to go to another place for repairs. I’ve called another guy a few times over the last month and no return calls . I have a spare control board….they sent 2 on accident!
Anyway, GE has not been good for me, multiple appliance failures in last 2 years and all about 5 years old. Losing faith in the place I’ve spent big bucks on appliances and furnishings over the last 25 years.

Should I cut my losses and headaches and just go buy a new one? Or mess with it?

I swore I’d fix my 4 year old GE washer a year ago and I tried for a few weeks but ended up buying a new set after I almost lost my mind….
Indo think most are junk now a days but cripes they don’t last.

Any advice?

 

[m8man]

Since it’s the off-season I thought I’d post a Q here

 

[hermie]

Can't hurt to try to replace the control board again if you have a spare. You are correct they just don't make things like they use 2. I think many things have gotten to complicated and all of these fancy electronics just don't hold up. Based on what is happening it either the mother board or perhaps the stat has gone bad and it's not reading the temperature correctly.

 

[m8man]

Thanks

 

[pclark]

Sucks, have you tried raising the temperature in the fridge to the highest number on the dial? Or I guess I would assume it’s digital temperature readings.

 

[dfattack]

Depends on how much time and patience you have. For me, I’d move on based on what you’ve already done. Probably try the main board replacement again since you have one but after that get another one and move on. You get what you pay for so maybe a little more up front for a better one but hopefully won’t have the same issues. Reliable dealer /installer is helpful too.

 

[garageguy]

Make sure all the fans are running make sure the defrost timer is working and sending it into defrost

 

[mezz]

The fridge is cooled by the freezer, check the back of the freezer cavity inside & see if there is frost/ice built up on the back wall. It may be a blocked condensation drain tube causing the freezer to run the cold air to the fridge area excessively in an attempt to defrost itself. Have you tried unplugging it for a minute & plugging it back in to reset the control board? You might also try lowering the freezer temp & increasing the fridge temp, or, pull the contents of the freezer out & try defrosting it. If that fails change out the control board, you have it, nothing ventured nothing gained. At 5 years old it shouldn't be crap just yet. I know someone you may want to try out if needed, he use to do this for a living, now he does this as a side line, been good to me & he's knowledgeable & reliable.

 

[garageguy]

I'd empty all the contents into cooler or another fridge. Unplug fridge for a day with doors open. Plug back in if operation returns to normal board is fine. Your problem is ice build up caused by ice maker or defrost timer is not allowing it to defrost

 

[gary_in_neenah]

All good advice. I'd shut it down, at least overnight and restart. Sometimes that's all it takes to clear the memory, circuit boards, etc.

We all enjoy the convenience of modern appliances but you have to wonder if "less is more." We have an old Frigidaire from around 1999, no ice maker, ice box/freezer on top and it's never missed a day. On the other hand, our last furnace only lasted 13 years as the circuit board was no longer made.

 

[hermie]

Not a bad idea by garage guy and Gary. Definitely worth a try. On my Samsung we had ice get built up in the fridge. I took off the covers and got the ice out and fridge has been fine since. If you have a place to store everything then unplugging it and letting defrost would be much easier. As far as the defrost timer I believe that is built in the motherboard these days but I could be wrong on that.

 

[m8man]

The fridge is cooled by the freezer, check the back of the freezer cavity inside & see if there is frost/ice built up on the back wall. It may be a blocked condensation drain tube causing the freezer to run the cold air to the fridge area excessively in an attempt to defrost itself. Have you tried unplugging it for a minute & plugging it back in to reset the control board? You might also try lowering the freezer temp & increasing the fridge temp, or, pull the contents of the freezer out & try defrosting it. If that fails change out the control board, you have it, nothing ventured nothing gained. At 5 years old it shouldn't be crap just yet. I know someone you may want to try out if needed, he use to do this for a living, now he does this as a side line, been good to me & he's knowledgeable & reliable.

I’ve pulled everything out a couple times and defrosted it and there has been ice build up before and after board replacement.

fridge is set on highest digital setting of 42 degrees. Yes unplugged and let thaw totally another time. If u got a guy Mezz maybe u can text me the info or call me. hopefully not the same guy I left a few messages for and no return call.

ive been here 18 years and I’m on my 4th set of washer/dryer, 2nd stove, 3rd dishwasher, 3rd fridge, no more GE for me, going to research brands…. No clue on decent brands but cripes! I need a 40 year old fridge probably runs fine lol

 

[Sweep800]

I had this happen on a side by side. turned out to be the little flapper door between the fridge and freezer was broken. Kinda like what Mezz said but mine was broken, ordered a new one and worked fine. The repair shop I got it from also said I could just put duct tape over a portion of the hole and would probably do the trick but I opted for fixing it the right way. Not sure how a top/bottom works but I gotta believe it's similar! just have to find it. The one I had it happen on was in my garage and think it froze up and broke over a cold winter. Hope it helps

 

[whitedust]

I’ve pulled everything out a couple times and defrosted it and there has been ice build up before and after board replacement.

fridge is set on highest digital setting of 42 degrees. Yes unplugged and let thaw totally another time. If u got a guy Mezz maybe u can text me the info or call me. hopefully not the same guy I left a few messages for and no return call.

ive been here 18 years and I’m on my 4th set of washer/dryer, 2nd stove, 3rd dishwasher, 3rd fridge, no more GE for me, going to research brands…. No clue on decent brands but cripes! I need a 40 year old fridge probably runs fine lol

I feel the same way about GE haven’t bought their products in years. Everything including Furnaces are new here in last 5 years the dishwasher control board kept getting jammed up so put a protector on it stopped the bugs. Might want to try that with all your appliances who knows if spikes are coming in and bugging your boards.

 

[hermie]

Whitedust may be on to something here based on all the problems you are having. You may be getting voltage spikes coming in on your lines. May want to get a surge protector. You have a lot of trees up that way that end up breaking branches hitting the lines causing a spike. Also just could be bad voltage from your electric company or spikes from lightning strikes. Might be worth a try. Far as finding better brands good luck they all have there issues.

 

[favoritos]

I’ve pulled everything out a couple times and defrosted it and there has been ice build up before and after board replacement.

fridge is set on highest digital setting of 42 degrees. Yes unplugged and let thaw totally another time. If u got a guy Mezz maybe u can text me the info or call me. hopefully not the same guy I left a few messages for and no return call.

ive been here 18 years and I’m on my 4th set of washer/dryer, 2nd stove, 3rd dishwasher, 3rd fridge, no more GE for me, going to research brands…. No clue on decent brands but cripes! I need a 40 year old fridge probably runs fine lol

Something doesn't sound right. That is a crazy failure rate.
I know clean power is a big deal with some stuff. I can't imagine that you are getting that much dirty power, but board failures sure suggest that may be an issue. Have they all been board failures?
I don't feel comfortable saying any brand is the cure all ticket. A lot of them are the same basic unit relabeled. There are also plenty of high price units that do it all and fail quite nicely as well.

The current issue sure sounds like the defrost heater isn't working properly. It also sounds like it's not just board related. See if you can verify that the heater is actually working. I know the icemaker is nice to have, but turn it off and see if that helps. Go out and get one of those cheapo countertop jobbers if you need ice.

 

[heckler56]

Hi, my name is heckler and I have a frig that is a POS. (Maybe we can start a thread like they start AA meetings )

There are only a couple manufactures out there, they just rebrand the name on the front. Same for home furnace and a/c. What I have been told by an EE (more like and EE’s EE), since much of the electronics were taken offshore the quality in the boards has diminished. They showed examples of what they called “spiders” where the sealing on a board ultimately leaks/corrodes a path to another section on the board causing a short.
Like you we bought a frig that the wife wanted and within a couple years multiple repairs in particular the ice maker. It began leaking a year ago and delaminating the outside panels on it however it does keep the inside temps consistent. I dread the day she wants to replace it as we will have the battle again over buying fancy or going basic.

 

[mezz]

Tried to call you, went to vm, sent you an email, hope that will help.

 

[m8man]

Thanks dude, at an annual fundraiser for local food pantries today

 

[ezra]

All modern appliances are junk from the chitty 300buck apartment fridge to the 24k twin unit sub zero to the modern pretty much fake comercial wolf all junk
And do not I repeat do not buy a GE with ice and h20 in the door . I see at least call a yr that the h20 just starts pouring out on its own . And 9 out of 10 times hone owner is not home and comes home to a chit show . They know and don't care has been a ge issue for at least 10 yrs now