TFX20JABGWW General Electric Refrigerator - Instructions

This is a repair INSIDE the freezer. Turned off unit.. Unplugged. Removed shelving on freezer side. Removed freezer draw rails (4 screws total.) Removed 2 screws that hold rear panel in place at rear of freezer side (this is inside the freezer). Carefully removed metal panel by pulling from the left (side that does not have shelving clips. As noted on this website and other users, the freezer coils were incased in ice. Thawed with a hair dryer (put towels in bottom of freezer-ice was pretty heavy in mine). When thawed, remove heater element by removing 2 screws that hold it to the aluminum bracket. Then remove wires on each end. Simply install the new emelment by attaching wires back on heater and screw new unit in place. (My original heating element was a single element-you could very easily see where the heating coil inside the glass tube had shorted out. My replacement heater was a 2 element unit. This did not pose any problem at all-installs in the same manner-good directions are provided.). Replace all parts in reverse order. It's that simple. Saved probably $150. This site is wonderful! Fast shipping and the users install tips/notes are fantastic!! Will shop here again if I have to (have a Maytag washer that isn't draining and going into spin-bet the fix is on here somewhere!

Fortunately while my refirgerator was still under warrant I had this same problem and watched the repairman fix it. To confrm my suspicions I cleaned out the freezer compartment, removed the back panel (2 screws), and used a hair dryer to defrost it. I suggest plugging the drain hole or laying a towel in the bottom of the compartment to catch the run off or your drain pan could over low. Once defrosted I was able to verify that the element on the defrost heater was burnt. Since it was Sunday I re-assembled and cranked it back up until I could get the part. I did a goggle search on Monday, found the part instantly using only the model number from the refrigerator at PartsSelect.com. The part arrived Wednesday as promised, I repeated the process from Sunday, removed the defective part (2 screws & 2 plug in type wire connections) and she works like a charm now. I do think the manufacture of the part should consider a new design since this is the second one my unit has needed in less than 5 years. At only $27.50 ea. I should have purchased a spare to have for the next time!

First I placed a 2x4 under the frig door to keep it in place while I removed the hinge on the bottom of the door. I removed two screws holding the hinge and one screw holding the washer in place. I also loosened a screw adjacent to the washer so that I could more easily remove and replace the washer. The parts went in easily. The repair took much less time than I anticipated.

First I removed the two screws that hold the element in place. I then pulled the element out about 3 inches and disconnected the two wires..

Parts select sugested checking the freezer side on the side by side if there was frost on the back panel. I took the back panel off on the freezer side inside the freezer. I found that the freezer coils were full of ice.Had to use a hair dryer to melt all the ice. The heater element was bad on the bottom of the freezer. I ordered a new defrost element an installed in 40 minutes and is running fine.You can still use the refrigerator until the new part comes in if you melt off the coils.It will last about 2 weeks.

Since the original part was a single element we had trouble locating the part we were replacing since it was replaced with a dual heater. Once located the repair went pretty well. We followed one of these wonderful postings that helped work through the difficulty.

The repair stories for this part are helpfull. The only problem I came accross was figuring out which part I needed to order. The parts diagram only showed one part labled 230, but when I used the drop down box to order the part there were 2 parts labled 230 for 2 diffrent prices. I called ge customer care and found out the less expencive part listed as 230 does not come with the wires etc. . The more expensive piece has the wire harness and every thing needed. I went with the more expensive part and it was a snap to install. . . .

Easy

1. Unplugged refrigerator from wall power socket.
2. Removed the 2 1/4'' screws and removed the back panel in the freezer section
3. Defrosted all of the ice off the coils and heater using a blower dryer which took about 10 minutes and lots of towels.
4. I replaced the defrost heater by following the provided instructions. I had a single element defroster which was replaced by a double element defroster. The instructions provided showed how to modify the wiring and were simple enough to follow.
5. Installed back panel and plugged in the refrigerator.

I checked on the defroster 1 week later and was pleased to see no ice on the coil. Problem solved.

Remove the hinge cap on top, the loosen the bolts, remove the hinge. Pick up the door from the lower hinge, lay it down and place the cam riser on the lower hinge. Replace the door, install the top hinge and check the alignment and you are done.

Removed the evaporator panel's cover. The ice covers up the defrost heater. Use heat gun to melt the ice on the defrost heater then removed the 2 screws, pull it out and check its resistance (it was open). After replaced the deforst heater, the refrig. works OK.

Take off the panel in the freezer side to expose the heater, defrost all the ice. Remove the screws that hold the heater in place and remove the wires from each end. Plug in the new unit and replace screws. Replace screws in the freezer panel, to complete the instulation. It will take the most time to defrost the ice, and clean up the water. To help defroct I used my wifes hair dryer. (She did not know it)

Disconnect the broken one and install the new one

removed the door hinge assembly & replaced it with the new assembly.

Not really sure of the age of this fridge, as we bought the house 2.5 yrs ago.

I'm one who if it can go wrong, it will, so not realizing how stable the door was from just having the top hinge and the magentic gasket, I declined to prop the door up on blocks the way some guys say the did, and instead removed the top hinge and lifted the whole door off the bottom hinge. I traced the outline of all parts with a felt pen before removing them, figuring I'd need witness marks to help with realignment after the install.
Nut driver might've been an easier choice than the socket set, but the only ones I have a brittle and I've broken the 5/16"...
All parts came out/off easily. The new bottom hinge and the old top hinge (both on the fridge side) practically aligned itself right on my marks, and the new cam (door side) just needed to be held while the screws were tightened. I used the extensioni rod off the ratchet to drive the screws most of the way (making a nutdriver out of it).
Parts were exactly as advertised, although there was a note in the package that stressed the need to replace both parts at the same time due to material differences in the original and replacement parts. Since the cam is sold separately without the hinge, it would be good for the website to reflect that before the purchase is made. Also, even though it was only the cam on the hinge and not the whole hinge that needed to be replaced, I could've bought hte two cams separately and drilled out the rivet as another person had done, but for the $5 difference in cost, why bother?
Door now closes itself as designed, albeit slower than the freezer side, but the Wife says it always did that.
Also interesting that when first assembled, the door DIDN'T close itself at first... not sure it it needed to wear a litle, or if it just needed the added weight of having items back in the door shelves.
Love the great website... just typed in the model number and the parts I needed, complete with drawings to make sure, were right there. Great UI.