GSS20DBTECC General Electric Refrigerator - Instructions

Unplug the fridge, then:
1) Remove food and shelves from freezer
2) Remove rear panel from inside freezer (panel that covers the evaporator coils)
3)Stare at all the ice covering the coils for 10 seconds!
4) Plug the drain hole in the bottom left side of the freezer (cork or plug made from rolled up paper towel), and place a big towel in the bottom of the freezer compartment to absorb the melting ice
5) Plug in a table fan and leave it blowing into the freezer compartment, at the iced-over coils. Come back in 30 minutes.
6) Ice should be all melted. Place the wet towel in a bucket.
7) Remove the little clip attached to the green wire from the top of the panel., and then remove the two top screws on either side of the panel covering the coils. Take out the panel.
8) Removed the two screws that hold the heater element in place at the bottom of the coils. Pull the element out about 3 inches and disconnected the two wires.
9) Connect the wires to the new heater element, and screw it back into place. Put panel back, shelves in, turn fridge on. Fixed

I ordered the defrost heater and replaced that, also ordered the defrost thermostat but the old one looked fine so I did not replace that. Fridge and freezer have been working great, no more icing problems.

Thank You PartSelect!

First I defrosted the evaporator core with a hair drier, making sure to disconnect the power before hand. I pretty much followed the directions included with the part, which by the way were excellent, and very detailed. The alternatives were call a repair man for around $300.00 plus parts or take less than a $40.00 gamble. Or even replace the refrigerator at $1400.00. It was the diagnostic portion of your website that convinced me that I had found the problem and that I could repair it myself with a minimum of effort. Needless to say I will come to this site in the future before calling a repair person. The refrigerator is working just fine now. I had my parts in three days, thank you for your attention to detail and a all around positive repair experience. George Day

i had to improvise And relocate ground wire to get a proper ground .. That's all , the video was a GREAT HELP...

removed freezer door / shelf /ice maker pulled back panel off and removed fan

First I disconnected the Power from the unit. Pulled out the freezer drawers and the ice machine used a 1/4 inch nut driver and removed the sheet metal from the back of the freezer exposing the evaporator coils. I defrosted the coils. Then I removed the two screws holding the defrost heater braket assembly and removed the two electrical connections from it. I then installed the new heater put everything back together(reverse of installation)and it works like a brand new fridge and freezer.

I followed the partselect videos for the temp sensor and defrost thermostat and the refrigerator has been working well for a about a week now. The refrigerator is old enough that I was just going to replace it. When I called the repair company I use, they said it would cost $200 to $300 for the repair, but I didn't want to put that money into an old refrigerator. I did a little research, found this site and figured it would be worth buying about $20 in parts and giving it a try. I have absolutely no experience working on refrigerators, but the videos were so easy to follow, everything went smoothly. The old thermostat was definitely broken when I checked it with a meter, so I'm pretty confident that the problem is fixed.

Removed the back cover over the control board, and made sure that the board was the same. It didn't look exactly the same, but figured that it was the same, just updated. Took out the board, moved the wires to the new board and reinstalled. Plugged it in and it came on, so I reinstalled the cover. Seems to be working to this day.

The repair did not go exactly the way it was described in the YouTube video, but basically it was similar. After unplugging the power cord, emptying the freezer, removing the shelves and the ice reservoir, I removed the ice maker assembly by unscrewing a Philips head screw and unplugging the power connector. The connector had little retaining tabs on each side that I pried open with a straight blade screwdriver. Then the ice maker lifted right out. Next I removed one screw holding the auger motor assembly, unplugged the power connector, and lifted out the assembly. This where things got difficult. After flailing around a bit, I removed the panel on the back wall of the freezer below the evaporator fan assembly, exposing the evaporator coil. I saw that the fan assembly was attached with two screws at the top and two screws at the bottom. The top screws were easily removed, but when I removed the bottom screws, which were situated in very tight quarters, I DROPPED BOTH SCREWS DOWN BEHIND THE EVAPORATOR COIL. Be prepared with a magnetic nutdriver so this doesn't happen to you. I could not retrieve the lost screws, but fortunately it appears that the top screws hold the assembly securely enough. The assembly was loose, but it was still attached by a power cord that I could not disconnect. I removed the tracks on the side walls for the ice bucket, and then I could maneuver the fan motor assembly just enough that I could reach over the top of it, grab and pull off the old fan blade, and slide the new fan blade onto the shaft. Reassembly was straightforward, replacing each part (except two lost screws) in reverse order to disassembly. After getting everything put back in and plugging in the power cord, I was amazed at how quiet it ran.

For troubleshooting, I took off rear panel inside of the freezer compartment & determined that icing of the coils was not the problem & it did not apprear to be a defroster malfunction. All components appeared to be working properly except the compressor would not turn on and only room temperature air was being circulated by the fan. After narrowing the probable causes down to a faulty Main control board by reading as many similar posts as possible,I ordered the new control board. When it arrived the following morning via UPS(less than 24 hours!), I unplugged the wiring connections attached to the old board, (which was somewhat different in appearance), and then gently popped the circuit board off of the plastic retainer studs by pushing in the little retaining clip part of the studs in with a small screwdriver so the board could be released easier as I pulled outward. I popped the new board on the studs by gently & evenly pushing with a larger hut driver over the studs until it was locked in, being careful not to damage or over stress/bend the board. I placed the wiring connecters onto the pins on the board.....every connecter had a different amount of pins so improper connection was not possible. I placed the ground wire connection of the new board between the metal cover plate @ an adjacent screw location to ensure grounding to the back of the fridge sheet metal. I plugged in the refrigerator and was quite relieved when I heard the compressor start up after a second or two! Within moments the temp began to fall until it reached the proper temp in both compartments. Success!

used prior reviews, was good, I was not sure how to remove fan blade. It just pulls off.
space is tight but every thing went ok.

Removed back wall cover over coil. Defrost all ice with a hair dryer. Cut white wires and replaced Temperature Sensor. It has been working for a week and no trouble at this time. If you have this system on your GE refrigerator do this before replacing the motherboard. I must admit I was thinking that was the trouble. Motherboard was replaced after 5 years old now 5 years later my thinking is this a 5 year problem. So try the Temperature Sensor.

1 opened door 2. pryed cover off from cieling 3.cut and stripped wires on 4. sodered wires from old wires to new sensor. 5 insulated conection.6 put cover back on. This did not fix the problem it was the control moduel.

I bought the GE Refrigerator about 4 years ago for about $1500. The defrost Heater failed about one year ago. Then I called local repair guy, he replaced the Defrost Heater and charged me about $250. Now it happened again. I think we should try it to fix it by myself. I found the parts from partselect.com, it costs me $50 with 2-3 days shipping. After it replaced, it works fine again.

Note: Symtom: cannot make cool air, Frozen area with frost on the wall. Regeriator "leaking water" on floor since iced food started to melt...

Solution: open the cover of the wall inside of frozen zone, use hot water to defrost it gradually. removed the failed Defrost Heater and replaced it with new one.

Note: after you defrost the area inside of the wall, your refrigerator will work normally without the Defrost heater without any issue about week while you are waiting for the parts coming.

Diagnosis of symptoms was condenser fan not running, due to faulty main board.

First: removed the cover over the main board, which was too hot to touch. Bad design flaw, no ventilation for the board, which I believe made it fail. We got another year of service with the cover removed.

Second: after reading people's experiences here, ordered the board and popped it in. (Note: needed a pliers to compress each of the 4 plastic studs holding the board in.) Works like a champ.

Third: did NOT replace the cover. At our altitude the air can't conduct enough heat to prevent cooking the board. Need to allow circulation.

Ordered a new Main circuit Board. It arrived next day. Unplug the fridge to take away electrical power. Unscrewed the panel on the back of the fridge near the top. I then pulled the wire connectors off the circuit board. Gently pull the board off the plastic tabs. Push the new board onto the tabs. Reconnect the wire connectors. Screw the panel back on.