TFT30PRDAWW General Electric Refrigerator - Instructions

Defrost heater turned black. Test showed infinite resistance. Problem went away after the heater was replaced.

The only difficult part was not knowing which parts had to be removed to gain access to the flapper to replace it. It appeared as if the frame around the control panel would have to be removed as well as the door handle; we tried but were not able to remove the frame. It turned out that the panel just popped out with the frame in place. Once we had access to the flapper, it was easy to replace it. The repair fixed the problem.

First I removed the electrical plug from the back of the freezer that plugs into the icemaker. I then removed the two hex head screws that hold the icemaker to the wall of the freezer and removed the icemaker. I removed the plastic cover, which incidentally protects the gears, by prying it off with a srewdriver. I removed three small nuts(7mm) which holds the internal cam in place. I removed the cam by pulling it off the shaft. Once I got the part from you folks I reversed the procedure that I just mentioned, and put the icemaker back together. It works great. The part with shipping was around $16.00. A new icemaker was roughly $159.00. If I would have called a technician it would have cost around $300.00 to repair.

Let me start by saying, I usually hire something like this out but figured I would give it a try. The install was fairly straight forward, however it would’ve been nice if the instructions would have been more useful. Instructing me to remove one screw to release the auger and solenoid enclosure wouldve been nice. There were 3 other screws that I didn’t need to remove and they were the ones holding the auger in place, which made assembling that much more difficult. Once to enclosure was removed, and the solenoid was exposed, it was a seemless process. I would however, recommend paying attention to or taking a picture of the connections on the solenoid. I was lucky to remember or got lucky. Regardless, I was able to complete the project successfully. If I had to do it again, I believe it can be done in 30 minutes or less.

There are Great videos on YouTube!!! Turned off power,Removed trim ring, Pushed a philips head screwdriver in one of the holes underneath the electrical panel with the selector push buttons. This releases the electrical panel. There are Three wire sets with plugs. I removed the plugs and took the electrical panel out. Removed four Phillips head screws and pulled out the big paddle switch. This then exposes the flapper. Replaced flapper with new one and reassembled everything. When I had everything apart, I cleaned with window cleaner. It was pretty moldy from the water leaking. Turned power back on and tested everything to make sure I didn't mess anything up. Works great

Replaced dispenser door flapper by following the do it yourself video in this site. It was really easy. Just be careful when removing the dispenser black bezel. I broke one of the little tabs when taking it off.

Turned the wire protector to the side. Turned out the old bulb and replaced it with the new. Turned the wire protector back in place and I'm like new.

------------- defrost heater replacement --------------------------
- unplug the refrigerator
- unload all shelves underneath ice maker
- move ice crem into the refrigerator section
- remove all shelves and the bottom tray.
- remove light bulb cover and the bulb
- unscrew two 1/8" screws on top corners of the back panel
- unclip the ground clip on top
- pull the back panel up; pull the left side toward yourself
- test 3 thermistors (see instructions below)
- test the thermostat (see instructions below)
- if either thermistors or the thermostat units are defective, they may be the reason for fan malfunction, not the fan itself.
- unscrew 2 philips screws on either side of the defrost heater
- pull it out and unplug the 2 wires on either end. Replace with a new part.
- putting together is the reverse of disassembly
- move ice cream back to the freezer


--- thermistor testing

- unplug the refrigerator
- locate thermistors to be tested. There's one on evaporating coils, one on bot. left of the freezer (behind deep tray, with white wires), 1 in fridge section (top left, in the corner, inside square white wire conduit; undo the top 1/8" screw ONLY and pull conduit up).
- without disconnecting from the circuit, place a thermistor in a cup of ice water. Wait for 5 minutes
- locate the main control board. Locate and unplug the J1 connector. The pinout, starting from the side with all wires connected:
* pin 5: ground
* pin 4: evaporator thermistor
* pin 3: freezer
* pins 2,1: fresh food thermistor
- use an ohmmeter to measure resistance. Push the needle of the ohmmeter into the socket, where the wire plugs in, without trying to remove the wire. It should be 16.3 kOhm +/- 5% (for 0 deg C)

to replace a thermistor
- cut out the old thermistor, leaving as much wire as possible
- strip the wires, twist them pairwise
- use a bell connector filled with RTV silicone, to ensure that no moisture can get to the connection
* others have also used butt splices and screw-on caps with electrical tape (for moisture isolation)
- using a proper crimping tool, squeeze the bell connector to secure the wire

------------- thermostat testing ---------------------------------
- it's a round quarter-sized cylinder w/ pink and orange wires
- check for bulging (= burnt)
- locate temperature ratings on the side of the thermostat. It should read e.g. 140-30F. This means it's switches to open circuit when >140F is reached and switches to closed circuit when <30F is reached.
- unplue the 6 pin connector that has thermostat.
- test the thermostat. Orange wire is in the 6-pin connector; pink wire can be disconnected from the defrost heater under the evaporation coil. It should read closed circuit (no R).
- place the thermostat into a cup of boiling water. It should open.
- if OK, reattach the thermostat

Replaced flapper. Followed the video. The lamp caused the removable plastic bracket (which supports the control panel and the ice chute) to fuse with the plastic frame in the door. Eventually broke the fused plastic, removed the bracket, and filed the rough broken plastic before reassembly.

It took me longer to remove all the shelving than it did to replace the part, at first I had a small short, [a bare wire was open, cut off too much casing,] thought it was faulty, but I cut back on the wire, wire caped it, then taped it with electrical tape, reinstalled, workes just fine now, at temp #6on dial. should have paid " MORE ATTENTION TO STEVE". I would highly recommend [ PARTS SELECT] TO ANYONE WHO NEEDS A PART, IF you pay attention to the video, you will find it not too difficult to repair.
Mr. PAUL KLUGH [KLU] THANK you PARTS SELECT. PS THEY would have replaced the part if need be.

Had to defrost the freezer to melt off all the ice before servicing. Once that was done the icemaker replacement only took about 15-30 minutes to complete. The new icemaker came with many accessories and adaptors that were not needed and the instructions were based on replacing an older model and not really clear for my model. They mentioned not being able to use the new stripper but it was exactly the same as the old one so I left the new one in place. All in all it was easy and did the job.

I didn’t do the repair because I ordered two grommets. When they arrived, one of the packages was empty! Instead of just sending me another one, they refunded the part so I still need one. By the way, I was not refunded half the shipping either which was more than the part itself.

Use small putty knife to cut internal sealant on ice maker door trim piece. Then you can easily remove it.

Remove front cover did not remove wires remove ice and water unit took off flapper put new one on 5 minutes back together

Researched on internet/you tube; ordered part, and did the repair. Easy to do and saved the cost of a service call.