CFE28UP2MLS1 General Electric Refrigerator - Instructions

luckly i have a bit of experience in refrigeration im an hvac technician by trade. this repair was a bit tricky in that i did not know at first if it was a Temperature Sensor issue or the main control board. I had tested the defrost termination thermostat and the defrost heater and as i suspected they were ok. Next i wanted to test the thermistors (temp sensors) it is hard to find technical data on these fridges. I needed to test the thermistors resistance @ a certian temperature to ensure they were working properly but where do u get such data? I also wanted to know some information about the logic programmed into the board (i.e when do you initiate defrost etc. . .). I had no such luck so i figured since i tested the defrost heater and thermostat and they were ok and all of the evap fans and such were working i'd order a circuit board and new thermistors. Got the CORRECT PARTS from this site in 2 business days and my fridge is working great! changing the parts was really easy, figuring out which parts to change was the only difficult thing about this job.

Had to remove all the covers and fans to expose the condenser, which was difficult as the parts were frozen to it. The styrofoam covering the condenser made it almost impossible to defrost it. Therefore, I ripped the styrofoam off to expose the condenser. Was not really difficult to fix the styrofoam cover using metal tape. Replaced temperature sensor in aluminum block, and used butyl sealant to secure. Had to also re-install parts of ice-ball kit that were not well covered. Lots of parts to keep track of, but anyone could do it.

1. Removed and tested defrost heater, tests good. 2. Reinstalled defrost heater. 3. Removed and tested defrost over-temperature sensor, tests good. 4. Reinstalled over-temperature sensor using soldering iron, dielectric silicone grease, and heat-shrink tubing. 5. Removed the control printed circuit board and checked for blown fuse's, fuse's are all good. 6. Removed the defrost relay from the printed circuit board using soldering iron, bench tested the relay, it is good. 7. Soldered defrost relay back onto the circuit board, and reinstalled control board. 8. Removed and bench tested evaporator thermistor, the resistance is out of specification, ordered new thermister. 9. Installed new thermistor using soldering iron, dielectric silicone grease, and heat-shrink tubing. 10. Re-assembled refrigerator. 11. Installed temperature monitoring and recording instrumentation for 72 hour test. The defrost cycle is running correctly with a defrost termination temperature of around 90 deg-f. The defrost cycle ran twice while running the 72 hour test. 11. Removed test instrumentation and Put the unit back into service, The thermistor was the culprit. I bought the right part on the first shot, nice.

Unplugged the refrigerator first....then on the inside of the fridge, I popped the temp sensor cover off (upper LH side) and exposed the old sensor. I snipped off the old sensor about 3" down from the end and connected the new sensor (which I trimmed down to about 3" long) with some heat shrink wire nuts/connectors. Let the fridge run for a day or so and confirmed the problem was solved! Oh yeah, there was no way to tell the 2 wires apart (power vs. ground) on the sensor. However there was a manufacturer's stamp on the wires. So note the orientation of the text and mark one of the wires with a sharpie on both the old and new sensor before trimming. This will give you a reference for which wires to connect when adding the new sensor to the old wires.

After replacing the Defrost Thermostat, Defrost Heater Assembly, and the Main Board, I concluded that the problem must be the Defrost Thermistor, which I replaced in less than 10 minutes and it fixed the problem! I cut the wires on the old thermistor and connected the new one after stripping the wires and taped the new connections with electrical wire. Fast and easy repair (the last part anyway ;).

I started removing the switch by prying on the right side with a screwdriver, when it emerged enough I used pliers to finish removing it. I then unpluged rhe wires from the bad switch and pluged them on the new switch and "poped" it into the hole.

Connected the 2 wires and pushed in the switch until it clicked.

Easy. Followed the video instrucations. the part was right there next to the compressor.

per your instructions

Unplugged unit and removed vented cover over compressor section. The run capacitor is a simple fix 1 Phillips head screw and 2 spade wire connectors. For the temperature sensor I had to remove all drawers and the ice maker to remove the back cover to expose the condenser. Put a bowl at the drain stem in the rear of the unit and used a heat gun to defrost the coils on the condenser. Cut the wire about 3" from the sensor end . cut about the same off the new sensor stripped the wires put shrink wrap on each wire, attached butt connecors . heat gun for the shrink wrap and reassembled everything. Simple job that took about a half hour to do both. I will monitor the fridge for a couple of weeks to see if I need to change the control board.