TFJ20JADAAA General Electric Refrigerator - Instructions

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!

The repair itself is super easy. The heater harness comes with instructions that is easy to follow. The only issue I encountered is that my refrigerator had 1 heating element and you will get one with 2 heating elements. Because of this, the new connectors are on 1 side. Since my old heater had 1 connector on each end, 1 wire is too short if you route both wires the same way as before. The kit comes with an extra wire and directs you to splice the short wire and attach the extra wire with the included connector. I figured a refrigerator with a spliced wire is not a good combination so I rerouted the short wire to the other side along with the other wire. This allowed me to connect both wires without using the extra wire.

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.Threw away the old defroster. Put the new one in. I had to reroute the blue wire over to the right hand side and plugged it in.Put the back on. put the shelves in and I was done! We had this done just about 3 years ago and it cost us about $175. The cost of this repair was only $38.05 with shipping and all! What a great deal! Thanks so much PartSelect!

My right door (food door on side-by-side) stopped closing - I found pieces of the plastic washer (cam riser) on the floor. After reading the stories on the web I decided to order the new part - and YES there are many universal parts that work for Kenmore/GE. The part comes with two parts (hinge and cam riser) - you should install both to insure a good fit. I took 3 blocks of wood and a shim and supported the bottom center of the door, unscrewed the hinge off and dropped it out (3 minutes). The "only" tough part was unscrewing the cam riser from the bottom of the door - it required a very small socket and you will only have about 6-8 inches of work space. Be sure you have a socket that fits before you take the hinge off. The entire repair took less than 30 minutes and contrary to some of the posts, you DO NOT need to take the door off. Good as new again!

So our food was not staying frozen or cold so as usual i was thinking huge bill. I deceided to take a look for myself not knowing anything about a freezer. After removing all the food I noticed ice on the back part of the fridge so I just started to remove the back panel and as soon as I did that I heard the fan breath a sigh of relief. So I defrosted the block of ice and put it back together.

a few days later same thing. So on to the trusty Internet. I found partselect and helped me discover the problem of a faulty defrost heater ( who would think a heater in a fridge) Anyway I ordered the part and it was at my door in 2 DAYS!!

Thanks to PartSelect for saving me a ton of money and time. Great site! and company!

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!

I cleaned out the door and removed the top hinge. Lifted the door and layed it on the floor. Removed bottom hinge from refridgerator installed new hinge. Replaced plastic stop on door. Used broke hinge to align it and tighten. Lifted door onto new hinge and installed top hinge. Instead of buying $35 dollar hinge buy 2 plastic stops. You'll have to drill out a rivet on bottom hinge but it will save over $30.00.

I removed food, then removed shelves.
The light bulb and shade had to be taken out.
removed two screws from interior back panel.
defrosted cooling coils
removed two screws from defrost heater
took off two wires ...done
reversed procedure to finish installation

I removed the door from the bottom hinge assembly by removing the top hinge assembly.
1. Installed the cam to the bottom of the door.
2. Installed hinge and bottom pin & cam to the refrigerator.
3. Reinstalled door and adjusted front roller height to make door close better.

with a jewelry screwdriver I pried the lock tab in and pulled switch down carefully, the hardest part was that the power wire connector was stuck on good but the pliers and the jewelry screwdriver was its match for a bout 5 minute for one connection a simple pull off prong connection. After the wire connected back to switch it popped back in SNAPP

Remove the top cover above the door by lifting it slightly and pulling forward. I used a mirror to make sure that there was nothing in the way of accessing the switch from above. I used a blade screwdriver to press against the switch retainer on the topside, while GENTLY prying from below with another blade screwdriver to get the switch dislodged. Once the retainer was past the opening, I wiggled the switch downward and then rotated it to the left when the rounded top right edge of the switch was visible. This allowed the wiring to the connector to pass thru the hole. I pushed the wiring from the top and pulled from below to get the connector below the opening for the switch. I then unplugged the switch, plugged in the new switch and reversed the removal process feeding the connector thru first then rotating the switch to the right to get the rounded edge of the switch thru the opening, then pressed the switch up into the opening until it snapped into place. Total time less than 10 minutes.

Pop out switch, pull wires, attach wires to new switch and pop back in. Easy smeasy!

Easy repair. No need to remove the door. Simply prop up the door with blocks or books - remove hinge and riser assembly - replace with new parts. Total repair time about 15 minutes. Tools needed only an open end wrench.

The repair is pretty straight forward it is the preparation that takes time.
The food in the freezer portion of our side by side began thawing. We tried adjusting the temperature level to colder but to no avail. When we started emptying the freezer compartment I noticed a large amount of frost/ice at the back.
I turned the control to off and began defrosting the freezer using my wife's hair dryer. :) Once the outside layer was defrosted I removed the panel covering the coils. They were packed solid with ice and took over 30 minutes to defrost. Be sure to use a pan or container to catch some of the water because the catch pan under the refrigerator isn't large enough.
Once everything was defrosted I removed the heater tube assembly (at bottom of coils)it was a glass tube with a coiled wire element inside. The element had shorted out and the tube appeared black in that area.
I replaced this single tube heater with the double tube recommend on the partselect.com site. This required re-routing one of the wires and splicing in the plug/wire assembly contained in the repair kit.
Simply followed the instructions, reassembled everything and turned the control back on. No more problems. A very easy repair for anyone mechanically inclined and who owns a few basic tools.

First I removed the freezer compartment backplate by unscrewing three screws. Then I unscrewed the 2 screws holding the heater element in place. While holding it in one hand I pulled the wires off, one on each end of the element. Then replaced it with new part and put it all back together. Piece of cake.