TPS24BICEBS General Electric Refrigerator - Instructions

ordered drawer face - perfect part- snapped right in. done. order came within 10 days.
will order again if needed.

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.

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.

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.

------------- 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

Remove the one screw holding the unit in place, unplug it, slide in the replacement, plug and screw it in.

Part was perfect fit .Removed fan .three screws.replaced that s it

I removed the back panel of the freezer to troubleshoot and found the coils to be completely frosted over and the bottom of the freezer was a block of ice. The cold air was not allowed to circulate over to the refrigerator side. I put a meter on the defrost heater at the bottom (basically it's a wire filaments encased in a glass tube) and there was no continuity which meant it was bad. I also took the defrost sensor (small round sensor at the top above the coils) and put it in a working freezer then after awhile I took it out and put a meter on it until it warmed it up and it clicked so I knew that worked. The defrost sensor should show continuity (closed circuit) when cold and no continuity (open circuit) when warm.
So at this point I knew the problem was the defrost heater due to no continuity. I purchased the defrost heater assembly which also came with a new sensor. Unplug the old and plug in the new. Super simple. The defrost cycle works as it should and now the refrigerator works perfect.

Separately (from a different site) purchased new compressor fan and motor. I purchased the grommets here because the other site listed the grommets as temporarily out of stock. I did watch one of the videos on PartSelect about the grommet replacement. Repair was pretty simple, biggest challenge was getting to the screw on the far side of the motor. Removed the two screws holding the fan motor into place. Removed motor and blade. Reinstalled with new fan blade, new grommet and new motor.

Removed icemaker from freezer,
Removed 3 screws from cover plate, and removed screw securing main gear, removed gear.
Pulled back cover plate to expose switches and mechanism.
Removed screw holding switch to remove switch, and installed new switch.
I should have taken a pic of the cover plate, the interior mechanism and the wiring as I went along. It would have saved me 45 minutes in reassembly. Also, as luck would have it, I reversed the wiring on the switch. So off was on, and I had to remove it, switch wires and re-install.
But it works!

My husband took out the old icemaker in about 5 minutes. The new icemaker was a perfect fit even though the refrigerator was >10yrs old. The only difficult part was the plug extension that was needed so that it would fit into an older appliance. The part was included, it just made the cord about 3 inches longer than it needed to. After working with it for about 20 minutes we were able to fit it on the back side of the icemaker. Now it works great!!

Easy

Video is a great but still need to read the instuctions because there are parts you may need on the old ice maker. Saved myself a bit of money by not having to call a repairman. The process was very simple. I am glad I did it myself. Thank you Parts Select!

Unplug your refrigerator. Remove the shelves, light bulb shield and light bulb. Remove the two hex head screws to either side of the light bulb. Wiggle out the back panel. Locate the heater assembly hanging from the bottom of the coils secured with two screws. Remove both screws and lower out the heater. Unclip both connectors from either end of the heater. Take the new heater and replace both end clips. It only goes in one way, so you can't mix them up. Using the two screws, attach the new heater exactly like the original. Wiggle the back panel into place and replace the two hex screws. Put the light bulb and shield back in place and put back in the shelves. You are done.

Look at various pertenant DYI articles and videos on the internet. Replaced water filter with bypass plug. Checked water flow to icemaker water solenoid. Ran icemaker diagnostic test which failed. Ordered replacement. On receipt of replacement, began replacement work. To wit: Pulled fiidge from wall and unplugged. (Not necessary to shut water off.) Removed small freezer basket. Unloaded main freezer basket, removed it then removed the freezer door. (A screw on each side bolts the door rail of the chassis slide to the freezer chassis slide.) Loosened screws on rear, top of partition between icemaker and small freezer basket. Pushed up on partition front and popped out U-bar supporting partition bottom being carefull not to bend it. Removed same. Removed screws from partition and set aside. Removed grilled "thingy" between rear of icemaker and partition. Now have access to icemaker screws. Loosened the screws, pushed up and out and carefully let it hang by it's connector. Fiddled with the connector locking tabs and finally got it loose. Compared old and new icemaker. Have to keep the old water funnel. The new wiring harness was stiff and the connector had a different orientation. Twisted both the wiring harness and connector to align connector while the icemaker hung by it's cable being careful not to let the icemaer slip and fall to the bottom. After much fiddling, got the connector inserted and locked. Set icemaker over the two screws, pulled it down and tightend the screws. Put the old funnel into the new unit being very careful to get it right the first time. Put grilled "thingy and the partition and U-bar back in, put door back on, put the ice cube bin back, freezer drawers bac and reloaded the frozen food, plugged fridge in. Done! Time to replace icemaker was about 20 minutes and another 2 hours to do the rest ofthe work. Still required only a nutdriver and phillips.