GSS20DBPJCC General Electric Refrigerator - Instructions

First I posted the symptoms on appliance repair forum. Within a very short amount of time, an expert responded with suggestions (that ended up being right on!) and links to How-to articles, diagrams, and the correct parts catalog. They diagnosed it as a failed defrost heater or a bad defrost thermostat that caused the heater to go bad.

I removed all the food from the freezer, removed the shelving and ice maker tray, then removed the back panel (nut driver). The coils were severely iced over. I let the coils defrost (didn't take long in the summer heat). The water from the melted ice completely saturated about two full size bath towels. DO NOT let the coils drain into the normal drain hole. Then I removed the defrost heater (2 screws) and the glass element was dark and cloudy like a burnt-out light bulb.

I placed my order on Parts Select with normal priority shipping. The defrost thermostat was listed as in-stock and the defrost heater was listed as "on order". Both parts arrived 4 days later. The thermostat was a genuine GE part and the heater was a universal aftermarket. My original was a single element heater and the replacement was dual element. The wiring was slightly different, but they included instructions on how to wire up the dual element. The heater wires had to be re-routed and extended (wire cutting, stripping, and crimping are required). The extra length of wire and the wire crimp connector were included with the replacement heater. I also (per the instructions) sealed the crimp connector with RTV sealant. After completing the wiring, I re-attached the heater using the 2 factory screws. Then I had to cut the thermostat wires and splice in using wire nuts (not included) and RTV to seal the connection (not included).

Then I re-attached the back panel using the factory screws and attached the grounding clamp. I installed the shelves and ice maker tray and started the unit. It has been running fine for two weeks now.

The overall repair experience was fantastic. This fridge is only 3 years old and has broken twice in the last year costing me over $500 in food (total for both failures). I also bought a chest freezer last year when the fridge failed the first time. That minimized my frozen food loss this year. The failure last summer was the controller board. I paid the GE technician to come out and fix that because I did not know about this website. I am an engineer and I much prefer the DIY approach, especially when they make it so easy on this website to diagnose and get the right parts.

My only complaints (and they are so minor that complaint might be too harsh of a word) are:
The repair was easy, but would have been significantly easier if they had supplied a direct replacement single element heater.
I wish they would have included the RTV sealant in the repair kit. I happened to have it, but I have to imagine that not everybody will and they won't know that they need it until they read the instructions.
The replacement dual element heater was slightly wider and thus a slightly tighter fit than the original equipment.
Lastly (and this really is no big deal). I got my "Order Shipped" e-mail 6 days after the parts had arrived.

Overall 2 thumbs up!

Removed the back cover of the fridge with it still pluged in. The next time the compressor tried to kick on, a small piece of black plastic next to the black tank caught fire, and then went out. I unpluged the fridge, unpluged the two wires feeding the black box. Then the box unpluged from the tank. I searched on the internet for the part using the model #. It ended up being a overload/ptc or relay. There was a smaller black box attached with I think is some sort of an overload. I unplugged the overload and it plugged right into the new relay I had overnighted. Although the new relay was white (not black) and the plug attachments were in different locations, it work great.

went to your website and viewed exploded view to find the sensor( there are two I just picked one to replace for now), pried the cover off carfully and pulled out the sensor. I snipped the wire in the middle leaving plenty to work with. I shortened the wire on the new piece, spliced the wires together and with some 3M rubberized, tape wrapped them up, replaced the sensor back into the cover and snapped in place.

put fridge into test mode, failed One sensor. Took it out, Tested it, Ordered part also picked up splice kit from electric store spliced it truned on and good to go

I replaced the motor that runs the fan in the freezer compartment. Had to remove a number of shields to get to the fan and then some wires and screws to get at the motor. It came with a plug with 4 wires in it and I was supposed to pull 2 wires out of the old plug and place them in the new plug. Long story short the pins would not extract from the plug and the wiring harness was molded in solid plastic, so I ended up cutting the 4 wires to the motor and splicing in the new one and taping them with electrical tape. So far no more moaning and the ice cream is still hard, so I think we nailed it.

As advised by the forum just replaced the defrost heater assembly now the refrigerator works perfect. did not have to replace the thermostat.
My nephew had exactly same problem on ge refrigerator - replaced the defrost heater assembly and the problem is solved. Just remove the back panel in the freezer compartment, disconnect the cable, remove the nuts and replace the assemble. It is very simple. Bought both assembly from parts select.com - got next day delivery. they are great. would do business in future.

First I removed the shelf and light cover, then removed 3 screws from the ice make. Then I removed 6 screws from the moter cover (back wall of the freezer) and removed it. I then removed the 2 screw holding the moter. This is where the soldering iron comes in. The wire leads from the old motor were molded into a 3" rubber holder and the end wire plastic connector held 6 prongs (2 from a thermo tube). The new motor only held the 4 moter prongs, 2 were empty. To resolve this problem I cut the wires on both the new and old motor. I then attached the old connector to the new moter with the soldering iron and shrink tubing. Replaced all the parts I had removed and started it up. Works like a champ.....

Took panel off back of inside of freezer section, took off old sensor from the evaporator, spliced new sensor into the existing wires, waterproofed spliced connections, snapped sensor back onto evaporator, then put panel back on the inside of the freezer. Really, it took only 10 minutes to fix. Now refrigerator defrosts like it used to, and temps have settled in at specified temps.

Noticed the problem in November 2009. Replaced Hi Limit Sesor for Defrost thinking it was the freezor temperature sensor. Did not fix the problem. Replaced Motherboard. Did not fix the problem. Called Sears Repair. They mis-diagnosed the problem and told me it was the sealed system. I doubted them and sent them home. Replaced the correct freezer temperature sensor that connects to the motherboard. FIXED.
Removed a panel, cut two wires, soldered and insulated two wries, reinstalled panel.

I used the flat putty knife to slide under the tail pieces, which allowed me to snap the tails out of there holes. This gave me acess to the two (2) screws that held the handles in place. Remove the screws installed the new handles, snap the tail pieces back in the holes.

The problem with this model is usually a burned out heater assembly, when the freezer is still freezing, but the fresh food section is warm. To check, first disconnect power from refrigerator. Remove food and then shelves from freezer section. Remove the screws that hold the back freezer panel in place. Remove back panel and the coils will be exposed. If they are covered in ice the heater is most likely the problem. At the bottom of the coils below the heater assembly is a drain hole plug this hole with a rag. Place a large towel in bottom of freezer pan beneath the coils to catch the water. I do not recommend any method to melt the ice from the coils but a hair dryer, do not chip at the ice or you will most likely damage the coils. After you have defrosted the coils and removed all water from the unit, remove the two screws that hold the heater element in place, this element is directly below the coils. Look at the element, if it is burnt black, this is a tell tale sign it is bad. If that is the case it will need to be replaced. Remove the electrical wires located on te end of unit, the new unit will have instructions with it, reconnect the electrical wires per instructions, remount heater with the same mounting screws that held it in place. Be sure to remove rag from drain hole, replace back freezer panel with screws, replace shelves, and plug refrigerator back in. If your problem was a cold freezer section but a warm fresh food section this should fix your problem. In conclusion, this problem and the fix for it is indicative to these model's ge refrigerator's

Came home in the morning and found that everything in the freezer was defrosted. The fridge and freezer were warm so I checked the web to see what the problem could be. After about 15 minutes I found what the two causes could be. Since the parts were so cheap, I decided to change both the defrost heater and thermastat. It's been about a week since I changed the parts and no problem.

First I hired a repairman and he said that it was in the unit and would not be worth the expense to fix.

I started to research on the net and this was one possible source. ( evaporator fan). I had to take it apart to verify it. Then put it back together to use until the part came.

The next time went much faster as I did not have to take near as many screws out to access the fan motor. Very Happy to have it working fine again as a new relacement would cost $1200. Thanks much. Ron

No self defrost. Measured heater coil with ohm meter which was OK (not open). Ordered 2 temp sensors (there are 2 in freezer, 2 in fresh food sections). The original and the new all meaured ~150 ohms. Replaced one by one. This did not fix problem. Ordered defrost thermostat. Original measured ~150 ohms - new one was ~100 ohms. Unpluged refridgerator. Removed coil panel (4 nut screws) in freezer and light cover (1 small phillips screw). Locate defrost thermostat clipped to top of coils (orange / pink wires). Cut wires and unclipped thermostat. Stripped insulation off of wires and reconnect using wire nuts. Clipped thermostat back to coils. Ran refridgerator without panel on coils to see if coils frosted up again and listend for fans/compressor to stop ( took hours). Opened freezer and viewed glow of defrost heater. Problem resolved.

De-iced cover and removed two phillips head screws and two 1/4 " nutdriver screws to expose coil, defrost heater and defrost thermostat. Deiced the coil and surrounding area with a heat gun. Removed two screws that hold the defrost heater in place, disconnected the wires to the original heater. The original assy. was a single quartz and the new one was a double quartz. This required rerouting the left wire along with the right one, but was no problem as the wire was plenty long enough. Re-installed the assy. with the two screws. I replaced the defrost termination thermostat, even though it tested good, because I have had experience in that it would be the next to go, and not to in-convenience the owner in unloading the fridge a second time. The only difficult part was fitting into the freezer compartment. As usual, order by 3p.m. and shipping is the same day and is a real joy to use Partselect.com