TBX18AKBL General Electric Refrigerator - Instructions

Turned off the refridgerator. Took everything out of the freezer compartment & put into ice chest with pleanty of ice on top. Removed 2 screws holding the ice maker in place & placed ice maker aside. Removed shelf. Removed one screw on back plate, pushed up on the holding tabs at the top of the back plate & removed the back plate. Removed 3 screws holding the motor bracket in place along with the 3 wires. Installed new motor & used the wire extensions provided due to the electrical connections on the new motor being on the opposite side. Had to bend one wire tab down to clear the motor bracket. Turned refridgerator back on to ensure correct rotation on the fan. Reinstalled back plate & ice maker & shelf. Waited 30 minutes before putting food items back in freezer compartment.

I discovered the ice bucket missing from my rental unit at the beach. I was able to go online with my Blackberry, easily navigate your website using the model number to look up the part information , order it, and have it in place for the next renter.
Without access to a friendly user website, I would have faced considerable delay in getting this part.

I removed one screw to loosen the cardboard panel that covered the old valve and one screw to remove the valve assembly. I disconnected the two wiring connections and unscrewed the two water line connections. Replacement was really easy since the bracket was the same as the old valve. The down stream water connection was different for the new (push in) than the old (threaded) but I cut the old threaded connector off and figured out that the new push in connection was solid (directions would have really helped here) Reconnected the inlet tubing and electrical wires and replace the panel and it was done.

While the switch did last for 9 years, the design is poor due to the failure mode. The failure should be to fail off or not able to turn on the lights which would be inconvenient but would not warm the refrigerator contents. Arcing at the contacts eventually caused the switch to "weld" closed. It is not obvious that this is occurring so it took some time to recognize why the temp inside the ref was high while the freezer was OK. Replacing the switch was easy once it was recognized as the problem. All that was required to replace the switch was to remove the screws holding a fiber cover and then pulling off the aluminum cap which covered the switches. Unplug the switch an squeeze the keeper on the switch to release it and pull down. Pop the replacement switch in place and plug the wires harness back in. All in all it took much less time to replace than it has to write this up. T Pope

The existing light switch was very hard to remove. I ended up having to grab it with a pair of pliers and pull it out. Once it was out, it was very easy to put in the replacement and it seems to be working fine.

Unplugged the appliance for safety. Removed two 1/4" screws that held the assembly in place. Carefully removed the wire guard that retains the glass shield. Unscrewed old light bulb and replaced with new part. Reversed the steps after cleaning glass cover.

Remove back cover, exposing fan motor. Turn off power, remove nut on fan blades. Remove fan carefully, do not bend. Unhook wiring harness. Remove three screws that hold the motor on the back frame. Remove old motor, install new. Carefully, reinstall fan blades, hook up wiring, and your ready for tryout. Also do some cleaning while your there. Clean old fan blades with hot soapy water or contact cleaner. Everything runs better clean!

After I bought what I thought I needed for the repair. I asked a friend to come over and look at it. He changed the
the light socket and put the same light bulb in and it works great. I am returning the light switch but decided to keep the light bulb.

Getting on the internet was so easy. This was really very simple. Thank you for making what I thought would be a big ordeal into something very simple.

Paulette Johnson

remove lower back cover - disconnect wires to fan motor - place 6" fan to blow on condenser - fridge began cooling & freezing again - ordered part - part arrived - removed fan motor & bracket - cleaned brackets & fan blade - cleaned lint & dust from condenser compartment (took longer to clean than anything else) - replaced fan motor - replaced cover - was hero with wife ... :-)

easy as 1.2.3 remove and replace before even thinking. just to let you know i also do this for a living but it is one of the most difficult thing when you have to stop and fix your own

I ordered the part and it got here very quickly. Being a novice home repair person, it took me awhile to get the courage to start. It was practically uneventful, but it did take some time to figure it out exactly. I did have to bend the piece some, which is always a little nerve wracking. However, the part is working beautifully and I feel good about myself.

as described, I used a thin screwdriver to wedge in and pull down existing, broken switch. I was able to pull it down about a 1/4 inch, but wasn't quit able to disegage it until I gripped it with pliers. I then pulled it out, unplugged the old switch, plugged in the new switch, and carefully tucked the wires back into the fridge and snapped the new switch into place.

10 minutes total.

i put a new evaporator motor in and now it works fine

This is a relatively simple repair, but requires a bit of running around your house and sitting in a likely cramped space on the floor behind your refrigerator. These steps assume you have verified the valve is leaking and not the lines. 1. Locate where the water line to the fridge connects to the house plumbing. Close the next valve in the house plumbing upstream of this connection. Open some fixture (likely the cold on the kitchen sink) to relieve water pressure in this section of plumbing. Water should flow briefly, then dribble and stop on its own. 2. Unplug your fridge. There are moving parts (a fan) close to the valve that may injure you while you are working. 3. Pull your fridge away from the wall enough so you can scoot behind and sit behind. 4. Gather your tools and parts and squeeze behind the fridge. 5. Remove the felt paper dust cover. Carefully collect the screws. 6. Take a picture of the electrical connection to the valve or make a mental note. 7. Carefully unclip lines from the fridge and remove screws holding valve to fridge body. Slicing a line will create a new problem to fix. Carefully collect the screws. 8. Remove electrical connection. Grasp the connector and pull firmly. Do not yank the wires. 9. Over the bucket, disconnect old valve from lines. Some residual water will flow out. If the stream is steady, double check that Step 1 is completed correctly. Set old valve aside. 10. Examine new valve to determine water input and outlet. There may be an arrow indicating flow direction. 11. Seat the input line in the valve input firmly and connect. Mine was a nut I tightened with a small crescent wrench. 12. Seat the outlet line in the valve outlet firmly and connect. Mine was a push in quick connect. 14. Rest the valve over the bucket. Get up and turn the water back on. Verify your connections are not leaking. 15. Review your picture and reconnect the electrical connection. 16. Install the new valve onto the fridge body. Mine was a different geometry that required some gentle bending of the mounting bracket. Reclip lines to fridge. 17. While you're down there, vacuum underneath your fridge. 18. Reinstall felt paper dust cover. 19. Plug fridge back in. Clean up. 20. Monitor your ice maker, verify good operation. When satisfied, push fridge back. Recycle(?) old valve. 21. Success!

This is a built-in unit. Remove the external bezel at the top of the unit. Reach through the unit and unplug the frig. On the compressor unit, you'll see a vertical metal panel. Remove the metal panel and the timer is right behind it. Remove one wire at a time and switch it to the new timer. Remove timer and replace with new one.

Just an added comment, GE Service wanted to put an "ice kit" into my unit. The full repairs would have cost $1,000. While I described how to replace the defrost timer, the problem was the tray heater. But that's another story.