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The Handyguys discuss modern refrigerator troubleshooting. Many of these tips apply regardless of who makes your refrigerator.

Paul’s GE side by side refrigerator is not cooling correctly (model gss25tsre.ss). In this audio podcast The Handyguys discuss how to track down the issues.

Some common problems with modern refrigerators include:

• Ice maker does not work
• Water line for ice dispenser freezes up
• Water line or water tank leaks
• Water valve unit on back of refrigerator can go bad
• The main control board can go bad or just do dumb things.

Paul’s Ge refrigerator stopped cooling correctly. His freezer temperature rose a little above freezing and his refrigerator was not keeping the milk cool. Paul looked to the back inside wall of his freezer for a solution. A panel can be removed to expose the evaporator coil. When his refrigerator was not working well he noticed that these coils were frozen which prevents the fan properly cooling the freezer (and therefore the refrigerator as well).

The initial fix was to melt the ice on the evaporator coil to allow the unit to operate. This fix lasted about a month before it froze up again. The reason the defrost unit fails is usually the result of a bad defrost heater, defrost thermostat or thermistor. Some older models also have a defrost timer but this feature is handled by the main control board on his model (at least he thinks it is…he’s just a handyguy!).

Paul tested the heater for continuity and it appeared to be working fine. He also tested and replaced his thermistor. He has a new thermostat if needed but could not wait for this problem to occur again so he just went ahead and replaced the entire control board. Time will tell if this fix worked (it has been about 3 weeks).

Paul highly recommends the forums at http://www.applianceblog.com/mainforums/ for advice and feedback on your appliance repairs.

Listen to the podcast for all the gory details.

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