TFF20RCM General Electric Refrigerator - Instructions

Turned off power, removed cover from Ice maker, checked resistance across thermostat for zero (read open), all other switches read proper value (when activated). Ordered and received thermostat. Removed Ice Maker from freezer, removed two screws holding ice tray to Control Assembly. Removed Thermostat and replaced with new one. Applied Silicone Sealant to face of Thermostat for adhesion to ice tray when assembled. Remounted Ice Tray to Control Assembly and remounted in freezer. Works Great...

It took me about 15 minutes to complete the repair, 1st I emptied the ice maker, then I removed 4 screws from the rear of the ice maker tray and took the plastic piece off of the auger. I reversed the steps and put it back together.

First I turned the refrigerator and water line off. Then moved to the freezer section, followed the directions, removed the two screws. Directions state to not remove them but I had to in this case. Unplugged the ice maker and removed it from the freezer. I installed the two mounting screws then tried to plug the electrical connection back in but had to use the adaptor cord furnished in the kit. The cord was a little long but I tucked it in and mounted the ice maker. Turned it on then turned the refrigerator and water back on and in a few hours had ice! Very easy to do!

Initially I talked to local refrig repair man who told me to defrost the refrigerator and freezer for 6 hrs as well as to use a hot air dryer on the back wall of the freezer to defrost the freezer coils. I defrosted the refrigerator and freezer for twelve hours by unpluging it from the wall and using a fan to blow warm air into the frig/freezer. After 12 hrs., about 1 gallon of water collected in the pan below the refrigerator and I thought it was long enough.(I had defrosted the refrig well. The collection of water in the pan told me that the drainage tubes from the freezer and refrig compartments was working well and not obstructed. This made me think tthat one of three parts on the "no Frost" cycle may be defective and so ordered the Control, Thermostat and Heat assembly from PartSelect for our refrig/Freezer.
They have the most reasonable prices.
I then plugged in the refrigerator and monitored the temp. in the freezer compartment every twelve hours for the next three weeks and noted the temperature in the freezer compartment varied from o degrees to 10 degrees which is what it should do. I also watched for any frost build up in the freezer compartment and to date have not seen any.
The temp in the refrigerator compartment is as it should be. My impression is that all components are actually working as they should now and that the cause for our problem with the Hotpoint was due to the fact that the door was left open overnight. We will try to avoid doing that again.
I am holding the parts for one more week. If the refrig coninues to function normally till then, I plan to return the parts to partselect.com because they said I could do so.

Moving the frig out and cleaning was the hardest part of this job - lots of dust collected over the 17 years the frig was in place. Once all the cleaning was done, with the frig out and back cover off (10 -12 screws taken off with nutdriver),I plugged the frig in and observed the the problem was a noisy fan motor. The motor is at the very back of the frig with easy access to the 3 brackets holding it in place.
Pull off the electrical clip. Remove the screw holding the bracket to the frame on the front bracket, leaving the bracket attacked to the fan. The other two screws remove from the fan, leaving the brackets in place.
Reverse the procedure when you receive the new part from PartSelect(great company to deal with)!

First turn off the power, remove the ice tray, remove the two screws holding the ice maker to the side of the freezer, use the screw driver to gently open the electrical clip for the power cord inside the freezer, remove the complete unit from freezer, bend the old stripper from the holding pin- it is flexible- it will bend, replace the new stripper on the holding pin and bend into the slot to hold it firmly, no water will come out from the fill cup into the freezer, plug in the power cord, mount back to side of freezer, you are done.

removed 3 screws unplug and remove old unit. install two screws install new ice maker, tighten screws plug in and turn on. had ice in 20 min.

as described, I used a thin screwdriver to wedge in and pull down existing, broken switch. I was able to pull it down about a 1/4 inch, but wasn't quit able to disegage it until I gripped it with pliers. I then pulled it out, unplugged the old switch, plugged in the new switch, and carefully tucked the wires back into the fridge and snapped the new switch into place.

10 minutes total.

I weged a block of wood under the door to hold the weight then used a nutdriver to removed the two screws attaching the bottom hinge to the refrigerator. The plastic closing cam was broken and preventing the door from closing. I found some plastic washers in my junk drawer to install on the lower hinge as a temporary fix to keep the appliance operational until the correct replacement parts could be tracked down. I then called local appliance stores in search of the closing cam and learned that none of them had the part in stock. I then hit the internet and within minutes found a picture of exactly what I needed at PartsSelect.com and had it on order a couple minutes later. A couple days after that, the new hinge was delivered, Again, I proped up the door, removed the lower hinge and replaced it with the new the new one that included the new closing cam. I was very happy to have saved lots of time and money and my wife was even happier to have the refrigerator working properly again. :)

Bing , Bang, Boom.

Unplugged fridge removed the three screws that held fan on to fan frame unplugged condensor fan removed brackets from old fan and put them on new fan installed new fan plugged in fridge and now it works great!

I stacked three 2x4's that were approximately as wide as the door in length. This required lifting the door about 1/4" but it also got the weight of the door off the cam so the bracket assembly that the cam was attached to could be removed. I drilled out the rivet that held the old cam in place and like previous DIY's had to use a small bolt and nut to secure the new cam in place. Reattached the bracket with the new cam and that was it. The only problem was that the head of the bolt I used was not flat enough to allow proper clearance for the door to swing freely without feeling some drag and the wife noticed that immediately. I told her to wait until the weekend and I would again remove the door and file down the head of the bolt to allow the required clearance. After a few days of use, the door itself ground enough material off the head of the bolt so that the door began to open and close properly. So now she's happy, I'm happy and the dog is happy.

The door closing cam on the refrigerator door was a snap to replace. However, I'm still baffled on how to replace the freezer door side. The condensation tube from the door runs through the door pivot and joins to a compression fitting behind the bottom trim piece. The compression ring is behind a formed lip on the tube and won't slide off. I could cut the tube but I really didn't want to do that. If anyone has done this and knows the trick to replace it, I would appreciate it.

Ed. Please post your question at our repair forums, forums.partselect.com.

Door cam disintegrated after 20 years. This was a terrific site for suggested repairs. My problem was not paying attention to how the door shim, cam and spacer were placed on the hinge. Most of the site's instructions did not forewarn the obvious...pay attention when doing repairs!!

Instructions from others were generally pretty good but as adept as I am at D-I-Y I still did not pay attention to how I took something apart so it could be assembled properly.

I don't think that ordering an entire door hinge set is necessary. It does not appear that shims and/or spacer come with the hinge assembly. Door cam was all that was needed. I thought about replacing the cam on the freezer side but won't do it until absolutely necessary.

This is a very good website and my thanks to all of the posts for the instructions!!

At first it appeared all was lost since the sales and sevice facility said parts for our GE refrigerator were no longer avalible. We were looking at a $1200 dollar purchase. We decided however to research the internet and see if parts could be obtained. We found Parts Select and to our suprise parts were readily available. We order the drawer side rails and received them within days. The repairs were completed in minutes and for less the twenty bucks.
Steven