GTS22WCMBRBB General Electric Refrigerator - Instructions

Thanks to the very fine posts on this site, and availablity of parts, I didn't have to call in a repair man. Due to the near-10 year age of unit, I first ordered a new fridge for the kitchen and moved the GE to the garage. Let it manually defrost. Figured based upon comments posted here I was dealing with the defrost system problem so ordered the temperature sensors for top and botton, the defrost thermostat, and the defrost heater. As a wise poster said, if I am going to pull the damn thing apart, I'm going to make sure I have all three parts in case I need a particular one. Do not have the skill or gauges to troubleshoot electrical components. Parts arrived from Parts Select in great time, and excellent packaging protection. Parts Select also has great diagrams of the unit, although I could not find written repair instructions anywhere. At first I was going to wait for the parts to arrive and replace everything, but since there was a dely in getting the new fridge in, and the freezer section of the old fridge worked fine, once I had defrosted the old fridge, and cleaned up a few of the rusted over connections, I put everything back together, to await new fridge and receipt of parts for old fridge. Well, as is the story of my Karmic life, once fridge defrosted, and I put everything back together, plugged old unit in inside garage, everything came back up working perfectly on the recommended settings for both freezer and fridge sections. Has continued to maintain correct temps for over a week now. Also have new fridge. Don't recommend the top freezer Maytag one for about $700, as construction is cheap, and temps fluctuate all over the place. Had Home Depot exchange out for the LG $740 top freezer model, and am really impressed with its construction and performance so far. (Both units are recommended buys by ConsumerRepots.Org) Not sure how long old unit will keep running correctly, nor what caused it to come back to life after the defrost. Perhaps a simple clogged drain tube, or shorted out rusted electrical connections that I cleaned. Anyway, am keeping Part Select parts on hand for possible future breakdown, and enjoying having both fridges running. We needed additional freezer space, and got the peace of mind of a new unit for the kitchen.

First, we called Sears Repair and had a technician come to our home. He stated the motherboard had gone bad probably due to a power surge (we had no surge protector on the appliance). His price for repair was $465.00. We opted to go online for the part and found it for $165.00 through PartSelect.com. It was a very simple procedure of removing the old and installing the new. A few turns with the nut driver to uncover the part, a few tugs with the pliers to disconnect and voila!.. The fridge was back to cooling in no time.

Remove rear plate. Remove fan bracket. Replace fan gaskets, blade and motor. Replace bracket. Replace rear plate. Very simple. Fixed the problem.

I visually inspected the compressor and narrowed down the source of the noise to the freezer area. Then I removed the doors and the screws securing the divider panel. Next I removed the bottom panel of the freezer, the styrofoam insullation panel and the evaporator motor. The motor is mounted between two grommets. I replaced the grommet facing the fan blades. The aluminum reflector below the styrofoam insulation panel had also come loose. I reattached it and reassembled the refrigerator in reverse order. The noise is gone!

Only tool I used was 1/4 inch socket. Using the 1/4 inch socket, the screws were removed from the panel covering the control board. (this is on the back in the lower right corner). When this panel is off you are looking at the control board. Next remove all the plug in connectors. Don't worry about remembering where they go. They all are different and can only go in their specific place. After removing the connectors, pull the board out. Replace the plug in connectors before putting the new board back in , then snap the board back into place.(held in by four pins). Replace the cover.

Replaced defrost thermostat along with temp sensor watched the video on this page simple fix

I used pliers to pull lightly on the head of the switch, while I inserted a small flat head screw driver into the base of switch and gently worked around the edges to free it from the panel.

I tried to quite the noisey evap motor with special liquid motor grease from Radio Shack. It did not work, so I ordered the evap motor. My freezer motor was wired slightly different than the motor I received. The replacement motor had a male plug attached to the four wires, the original motor was different, so I cut the wires and spliced them into the original freezer wires (colors were the same). Remounted motor. Works great, and no more groaning motor
Peter

Ordered the icemaker replacement. unplugged the unit, followed the simple instructions and got it done in less than 30 minutes. It did take a LONG time to start making ice. But it's working now.

Was concerned that new icemaker was quite a bit different than the one we were replacing. Called GE to confirm it was correct.

Went ahead and installed the unit, using the supplied electric cable adapter.

A little difficult to deal with the extra cable, but everything worked OK and it's making ice normally.

We have an older model refrigerator and thought it would be impossible to find a replacement ice bucket for the freezer. Not only did you have the exact part but it came unbelieveably fast. I would use your website again!

I read stories from the website how others did it so I figured I would give it a try. I put all the frozen stuff in the refrigerator piled up. Took out the shelves. Took out 2 screws with a socket extension ( nut driver will work fine.) Remove the light bulb. lifted up on the back panel...it came right out. Saw the coils and on top the sensor. Took it off, cut the wires, spliced in the color coded new one ( pink to pink, orange to orange) Stuck it in the top coil in the original position and crossed my fingers! I put all the pieces back easily, restocked the freezer and waited. HOORAY!! My ice cubes are all separate and free. NO frost inside. A very easy fix for $20.

Note: If there is a large amount of ice build up on your coils a hair dryer works great. The drain is on the bottom anyway. Also , you may want to seal around the wire nuts to keep moisture out. I did

Everything looked to be working but the compressor. As a pro checked every thing came down to a relay on the main board.

Just removed cover from back top left. marked and removed all wires. removed old board and installed new board very easy. Must read paper sent with it,
you may need to cut wires on some models.

first i removed the three screws that covered the circuit board that was bad. then i removed the 6 connectors that went from the refrigerator to the board then popped out the old board , popped in the new board reconnected the circuit connectors covered everything back up and my refrigerator is back on line. this all took about 10 to 15 minutes time ... thank you for your product it really did the job..

I ordered the wrong part, the ice maker assembly, because your diagram was not marked properly. I returned the part and you credited my account. Thanks. Ordered the new bucket. It worked fine. Now I have ice and crushed Ice whenever I want. Thanks.

p.s. I didnt use any tools, but to satisfy you I select nut driver.