TFT28PFBAAA General Electric Refrigerator - Instructions

1. Turn off water supply, and electrical ( unplug it) to fridge.
2. Remove water line to valve. Watch for water to pour out of the line. Have a towel handy.
3. Remove the cardboard cover on the bottom of the fridge.
4. Remove the screws that hold the valve in place.
5. Remove the valve, be careful the waterlines are still attached.
6. Place a towel under valve to catch any water that leaks out from water lines.
7. Remove electrical lines, make sure to mark which went where. One is for the ice, and one is for the water. Make sure the power is off, there is 120 volts present at those connections.
- now my waterlines attached using a compression type fitting. The new valve I got used just a push in type of attachment. But, easy enough I just removed the pieces for the compression and the waterlines pushed right in and worked fine.
- the mounting harness for the valve was alittle different but the parts I need were in the right location and she fit in fine.
8. Attach water lines. They are different sizes so you can't get those mixed up.
9. Attach electrical lines.
- the new valve came with adaptors for my electrical connection. Just snapped them on and kept on going.
10. turn on watersupply for fridge. Plug it back in.
11. Test for leaks, and proper operation. ie. When you push the water does the water valve open?
12. Unplug fridge
13. Now is a good time to clean out any dust or dirt that has accumallated in under around your fridge.
14. reassemble, valve, then cover. move fridge back into place.
15. Plug fridge back in.
16. Take a clean glass.
17. Fill with water from the front.
18. Take full glass of water and go watch tv. You've earned it, and saved yourself probably $100.00 in labor costs. Good Job.

First of all, the larger white plastic tubes in this thing are 5/16" OD, which no plumbing store seems to stock. At the lower left rear end there are 2 tubes, one for water and one for ice, that are doomed to fail being in proximity of a heat source - they essentially get cooked to the point of becoming brittle and cracking. The smaller tube and union can be easily found, but do yourself a favor if the larger one cracks and order the plastic tube and water tube union here, and just cut off the brittle part and amend the old tube using the union.

Ordered parts from another vendor - got wrong parts (1/4 in parts instead of 5/16 in parts). With your parts, I just cut out the bad portion of the tubing, and replaced it using the 2 union connectors. Thanks.

Removed the ice bin and maker, then removed cover from the rear that covered the solenoid that controls the dispensing mechanism. Replace solenoid. The tricky part here is that there is a styrofoam cover around the solenoid pin that needs to be superglued into place and oriented properly during replacement. All electrical feeds snap out neatly and are easily replaced. Reassemble ice dispenser and bin, and viola, your back in business.

The problem is the common issue that the proximity of the plastic water lines that leave the electrically controlled valve near the compressor in the bottom back corner of the fridge, means they become brittle and crack/break. Both the line leaving to the ice-maker that runs diagonally across the outside back of the fridge, and the line that runs under the fridge to feed the water dispenser failed at the valve, breaking off just where they start at the valve.

The result was I noticed a big puddle coming out from under the fridge (too late for the poor wood floor).

The solution, replace the parts. For the ice maker line, it is one thin line - its easy to replace other than taking care to uncrimp and recrimp the connection up at the entry to the freezer.

For the thicker tube, the one that goes to the water dispenser, you replace the reservoir tank that sits inside the fridge. It has the two lines leaving it permanently attached to the tank, hence you replace the whole thing. There are separate lines and a splice/union that can be used to replace just the last 6 inches near the compressor, but I chose to replace the whole unit. This describes replacing that water chill tank unit.

The tank sits behind the bottom 2 drawers in the fridge.. you see it when you pull out the drawers. It has two lines permanently attached, one runs out of one hole in the bottom of the fridge and to the back of the fridge where it attaches to the exit on the electrical valve. The other runs out of the other hole in the bottom of the fridge and runs along the side, then along the front from the fridge to the freezer side. There is a union that connects that line to another line that then runs up the freezer door. Remove the front cover under the fridge to see this line and the union.

To replace the tank, you have to disconnect it from both ends, where its held in by plastic nuts/unions. Water remaining in the lines will drain out when you disconnect them. I unscrewed the valve assembly from the fridge body and then unplugged the plugs to the valves to do the work (but left the fridge plugged in).

To do this work, I needed to raise the fridge side edge of the appliance, since the hoses route along the underside of the fridge. After you disconnect the two ends (at the union on the freezer side bottom front egdge, and back side at the valve) you can pull the hoses up into the fridge. Routing the new hoses will require you have at least that one side off the floor to get your hands under it. I got two 6" tall 4x4 wood blocks and tipped the fridge slightly, raising the right (fridge) side off the ground and slid the blocks under the fridge rollers.

To remove the tank, before you raise the edge of the fridge, there are two screws that you need to remove (top side and left side) from the storage tank.

I recommend that in addition to removing the bottom two drawers, you remove all the bins hanging in the fridge door, since you need to work in there with gravity wanting to shut the door on you. Once you have the tank unscrewed (and the hose ends disconnected) note which hose(based on where it connects to the tank) goes to which hole in the bottom of the fridge. Pull up the hoses from the inside the fridge. The tank is free..go put it in the sink and drain the water out.

Installing the new tank, remove any hose end caps and route the hoses back through the lower drawer support frame you pulled them out of, and feed the correct hoses back through the holes in the bottom of the fridge. I found it better to feed the longer one first, which leads to the water dispenser/front. I could then pull that one up front from under the raised fridge and clip it in place and then route the other hose fully though its hole and route it to the back of the fridge to the valve. This way I ensured I was sending the right hose to the right destination.

You will likely have to trim the hoses once the tank is reattached as they are slightly long. Be sure

Unplugged refrigerator, removed three screws to take out part, disconnected the wires and removed bad unit. Removed fan blade from old unit and attached to the new unit. Attached wires, placed the new motor back in. Plugged it back in, within 20 minutes panel between freezer and refrigerator was cool to touch.

This problem had already occurred in 2008. Repairman replaced dual water valve. Cost $190.00. We decided to do it ourselves this time. The repairs were actually made in three phases. First, when I pulled the fridge out from the wall, unplugged it, and turned the water valve back on I discovered that the plastic tubing from water supply into the fridge had long cracks in it and water was spraying out everywhere. I turned water off, went to Lowe's and bought the kit for that repair. Of course I didn't have to use all of the parts in the kit because the water supply was already there from the valve that came up through the floor. After turning the water back on and plugging the fridge back in, my husband and I tested it by trying the water dispenser. We found that water was leaking from somewhere inside the fridge, but didn't know where. After UNPLUGGING it, and turning the water off again, I took the metal back off at the bottom. It was leaking from the bigger plastic tubing (5/16"). It was just hanging, not connected into the dual water valve. Figured it had just broken. So I thought I just needed 5/16" tubing. I went on the GE website and it was very hard to get answers to my problem because I couldn't find the plastic tubing that it looked like. I ended up ordering the plastic tubing that goes up that back of the fridge to the icemaker. They sent me two of those, not one for the freezer and the bigger clear one (5/16") that I thought I needed. Then, I found this website! This PartSelect website is great!! After reading about other consumer repairs, I knew how to disconnect the dual water valve and found out that the smaller plastic tubing that goes up the back of the fridge to the icemaker had been pinched where it connects to the dual water value, barley hanging on. Just quick disconnected it from the valve by pushing up on the outside where the tubing comes out while pulling on the tubing. It came out, and I had to use needle nose pliers to pull some of it out where it had broken off inside. Then, pushed the new tubing into the valve and ran it up the back of the fridge, unscrewed the plate that goes over the clamp that holds the tubing, loosened the clamp a little, pulled the old tubing out, pushed the new tubing in, (the clamp was still tight enough) put the metal plate back on and replaced the screws. Then I re-connected the dual water valve to the electric clips, connected the 5/16" tubing to the right side of the valve. (The black tubing that goes up the back of the fridge goes into the left side of the valve.) put it back into place and screwed it back against the body of the fridge where it goes, put the back on and plugged it back in. We tested it again, and water was leaking, but not from where I made my first repair. I reversed everything again, and discovered that where the 5/16" tubing goes into the dual water value, it seemed more loose than it should have been. That is where the water was leaking from! I ordered the dual water valve, the 5/16" plastic tubing and the water tube union. I replaced the dual water valve-very easy! MAKE SURE YOU UNPLUG THE FRIDGE, turn the water supply off, disconnect the small tubing from the dual water valve, disconnect the electric connections to the valve, and reverse the process. What I did was replace the 5/16" tubing the comes out of valve & goes up into the storage tank behind crisper drawer. Used union there. Put everything back together and it works!!

The repair is easy, just pop the grill off around the ice and water door, then there are 4 screwws to take out so the touch pad can be moved out of the way to unsnap the old door assm. and snap in the new one and wait about a year and a hald to order another one!!!!!

The icemaker's valve is easy to inspect and test. First, gently pull the refrigerator away from the wall, and unplug it. Turn off the water supply to the icemaker by closing the shut-off valve in the copper waterline leading to the valve. Use a screwdriver or nutdriver to remove the rear lower access panel from the refrigerator's back.

Next, remove the fill tubing from the water valve. Use a wrench to loosen the flare nut on the brass fitting on the inlet side of the valve (above). Place a container or towel under the valve to catch the small amount of water that will spill from the valve and tubing.

Now use a screwdriver or a nutdriver to remove the screw holding the valve's mounting bracket to the refrigerator cabinet. Pull the valve out of the compartment and remove the tube (or tubes if both water dispenser & ice maker) on the valve's outlet. If plastic tubes don't come out with pliers and assuming there is enough extra tubing, then cut the plastic tubing with a even straight cut edge razor. Then, remove the solenoid's electrical contacts.

Push the plastic water and ice tubes int he appropriate holes in the new valve outlet, reconnect solenoids and remount new water valve.

Before installing the back panel on the refrigerator cabinet, test run the icemaker. Look for leaks, and tighten any leaky connections. If necessary, use Teflon tape or a similar product to ensure tight connections. Discard the first ice cubes that are produced because they are likely to have sediment in them.

Replaced several things: evaporator fan motor, defrost heater element & defrost timer. The motor was the key problem but did the other repairs because they are common failures and are easy to replace and are not that expensive. Changing the motor was tedious because of tight access to it. Took about 2 hrs for me. Fan is working properly but not have a problem with water to ice maker not shutting off. I'm researching that problem. (I replace the water valve 2 hrs ago. That was a simple task - took 15 mins.)

bought an push in, in line connector and a new 5/16 plastic hose. I just replaces 2 feet of plastic hose from the selonid up an splices the hose using the connector. Worked perfect.

Condensor Fan not turning. I thought it would be an easy fix. I thought I could pull off the shroud and fan assy - no joy. Too many copper pipes and lots of tubing in the way. It took 90 minutes to remove and 30 minutes to install. The BIG hint here is to loosen the shoud, pull it back as far as you can and then remove the nut that holds the fan blade in place. THEN you can remove the motor. Get the new motor back into the shroud, get the blade back on and then tighten the shroud back up.

Followed previous instructions from a previous post. Inserted small screwdriver in the 2 outer holes up under the face plate to remove it then removed 4 screws holding the inner assembly which allowed access to the flapper assembly. Replaced it and reassembled everything. Problem solved

We couldn't get the other connector loose from one end of the tubing so he said just cut it and so we did and attached the connector. I now have water again in my fridge and took the sticky note down "don't use the water" as it had leaked for a year...... Thanks!

Replace the old water valve (wr57x11) with the new one (wr57x10051: make sure you unplug the 110 ac power . And close the water come to the refrig. First 1. Open the paper panel on the back with screw driver. 2 Use a small adj. Wrench to take the old valve of. 3. Label the connector and its terminals in a proper number to identify their connector. 4. Unscrew 2 water hoses - one to the drinking one to the ice maker. They are in diff. Sizes - make sure to mark where the hoses connected in case you need to use it again. 5. Cut of the thread section on the hose end - you do not need thread any more on the new water valve. 6. Make sure the new valve is in the same position as the old one. Then plug the water hoses to the valve - and connector terminals. There are 2 new terminal adapter in your new package. These new adapter will be fit to the old hardness for connecting to the new valve. 7. Secure the valve onto the refig frame then plug in the water hose to make sure no leak at the valve. The new valve has new type of self-lock plug ( not thread ) to the 2 water hoses. Make sure to press hard so the hoses are fit in to these new water . Valves. Turn on the water and power on on the refrig. That's all. Very simple save $300 for hiring the service man. Good luck to all.