[dinosaurdrygoods]

Our fridge has been getting too warm and we have noticed the freezer section icing up. We defrosted it once and the fridge temp got back down to a safe range. After a day or two the problem happened again. We have again defrosted and it looks ok. We have diagnosed this problem as a faulty defrost timer. Should we attempt to replace this part ourselves and is it likely to fix the problem. Thanks.

[skintight]

You should check out the defrost heater & thermostat assembly along with the timer you say is bad. It is a possibilitity that could be bad also.

[PS Volunteer - Appguy]

Just turn the defrost timer till the compressor stops running and observe the freezer for signs of defrosting. If none you probably have a bad defrost thermostat. If it defrosts, you have a bad defrost timer.

[dinosaurdrygoods]

We are ready to install the new Defrost Thermostat, but both wires are black. On the one in the fridge, one is red, one is white. Shouldn't we be concerned with the hot and neutral with the one we are installing? Thanks.

[PS Volunteer - Appguy]

It dosn't matter how you hook it up, just a switch.

[pthorsel]

We are having the same problem in our 4-year old GE fridge. We manually defrosted the freezer and our fridge worked correctly for a few weeks but it is not back up to 50 degrees. I'm not that familiar with the parts you are mentioning. Were you able to fix your fridge?

Thanks,

Patrick

[dinosaurdrygoods]

First we replaced the heating coil and it kept a better temp, but it still frosted over and then caused the fridge to warm up. Next, we replaced the defroster timer and it works great. It was a fairly simple repair to do despite our lack of knowledge of refrigerators. We feel like pros now!

[pthorsel]

Should the defrost timer be fairly easy to find? I have a GE side by side that is about 5 years old. I'll try to locate it tonight.

Thanks!

[dinosaurdrygoods]

Partselect.com is excellent for procuring parts and for offering diagrams. Their shipping is so unbelievably fast and very reasonably priced. Good luck!

[pthorsel]

Would a GE refrigerator that is 5 years old have a defrost timer? I couldn't find that part listed on the GE website and the tech support people were that helpful to find that part either????