TPX24PBBGAA General Electric Refrigerator - Instructions

Replaced flapper valve per website instructions. GE factory technician took two weeks to get here, charged over $100 for the call and told us we needed a new refrigerator door at a cost of over $500 to fix the problem. We sent him packing. After visiting the PartSelect website, the $5.88 PartSelect flapper valve fixed the problem. Amazing.

The only difficult part was not knowing which parts had to be removed to gain access to the flapper to replace it. It appeared as if the frame around the control panel would have to be removed as well as the door handle; we tried but were not able to remove the frame. It turned out that the panel just popped out with the frame in place. Once we had access to the flapper, it was easy to replace it. The repair fixed the problem.

I had made a dry run at the repair after watching the instructional film provided by part select and it seemed easy enough.
The only problem was that i needed to use the electrical cord extender (provided) to adapt to my plug type. That presented a problm because it needed to be tucked up out of the way to allow the ice bin to clear. Just needed to be creative in how you wrapped the cord behind the ice maker unit before snugging the attachment screws.
Cranking out ice like crazy.

Let me start by saying, I usually hire something like this out but figured I would give it a try. The install was fairly straight forward, however it would’ve been nice if the instructions would have been more useful. Instructing me to remove one screw to release the auger and solenoid enclosure wouldve been nice. There were 3 other screws that I didn’t need to remove and they were the ones holding the auger in place, which made assembling that much more difficult. Once to enclosure was removed, and the solenoid was exposed, it was a seemless process. I would however, recommend paying attention to or taking a picture of the connections on the solenoid. I was lucky to remember or got lucky. Regardless, I was able to complete the project successfully. If I had to do it again, I believe it can be done in 30 minutes or less.

Defrost heater turned black. Test showed infinite resistance. Problem went away after the heater was replaced.

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

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!!

Replaced dispenser door flapper by following the do it yourself video in this site. It was really easy. Just be careful when removing the dispenser black bezel. I broke one of the little tabs when taking it off.

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!

Remove front cover did not remove wires remove ice and water unit took off flapper put new one on 5 minutes back together

Use small putty knife to cut internal sealant on ice maker door trim piece. Then you can easily remove it.

Followed the online video. Unplugged refrigerator, removed trim piece, lifted control board cover, removed 4 screws retaining circuit control board and removed the 3 connectors from the control board. Located flapper and removed by using small flat tip to take tension off flapper connectors. Helper held flash light to illuminate flapper connectors. Reversed procedure. New flapper seals well and cured problems. Circuit board was a bit different than one in video, but still had the 3 connectors. Marked each connector with grease pencil at top edge to ensure correct reconnection. Should note how wires are threaded around circuit board to ensure they are tucked back in correctly in reassembly. Remove trim piece carefully. I broke 2 of the 8 plastic pins that hold trim on. May be due to age of unit as they were brittle. 6 pins still hold trim piece flush.

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.

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.

We labeled each plastic water tube with the color of the top of the piece on the bracket assembly so we knew exactly where to replace them. In case it didn't work, we took a picture before disassembling. We followed another reviewers advice and cut off the end of each plastic line with a razor. Worked perfectly after a little dripping from the assembly.