Ice building issues

Refrigerator & Freezer Repair
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1

HI,
I am new here so bear with me.

My side by side GE has been building ice on the top of the door on and off for a long time now, 2 years or so. I noticed recently that the door flap for the ice chute was not closing. So I figured Ah Ha, this is the problem. I took the door off, to see if I could find what was causing the flap to hang up. Much to my surprise when I got the door apart, the entire inner area of the door was frozen solid. All of the insulation was hard as a rock. Out came the hair dryer, and i got it thawed out. Looking at the mechanism for the flap, I figured nothing was obviously broken, so i decided it was ice related, and re-assembled the door. Well, after fighting with the seal and re-assembling the door, remounted it and waited to see if that was the fix. It was, for a short time.
The flap door went right back to sticking open… So that has been in manual close mode till I can diagnose the problem, hopefully with help here. Secondly, about 2 days later the top of the door(inside) was building ice again. And I checked the door today and it feels and sounds like the ice bomb is back inside the door. Help…
This is not a new issue for this thing, I actually had GE out when it was under warranty, they pulled the door gasket, dunked it in hot water to soften it up and re-installed it. It seemed to solve the problem for a short time, and I just never got around to dealing with it again, before it fell out of warranty.
So here I am… I obviously have at least one issue that may or may not be causing the second. Why is the ice building ? Is the heater dead ? Oh and no, there is no water leak in the door. What else can be causing this ? The door seal appears to be intact, and sealing correctly. I am guessing that the solenoid for the flap door is bad ? it will snap closed but the door does not go all the way, maybe a 1/4" open.
Is this making sense to anyone ?

Help,

George

2

Measure the temperature of the back wall of the freezer and post.

3

It’s funny, I actually had this same problem about a year ago and I had to replace the ice door and spring as well as the solenoid that opens and closes. The solenoid was rusted and wouldn’t actuate the full length and the spring was worn out.

4

I will have to get a laser thermometer, and let you know, unless there is another way. I dont think I have any thermometers here that will go that low.

5

This is part of your problem, the freezer is too cold. Check for wrong settings on the controls and a clogged condenser in the back.
With the controls set at the midrange factory settings, freezer should be near 5 above. You might want to check the fresh food thermisters at the motherboard.

6

The fridge and freezer are both set at 5.
How do I check the condenser ?
I think the mother board may be getting over my head…

7

Just pull the back off the fridge and clean the black jelly roll condenser coils on the right.