Hi, apologies in advance for what is likely a duplicate post but my searches on this forums haven’t produced an obvious fix.
Here is the situation.
About a month ago our bottom freezer GE GSS22HCRAWW first produced the situation whereby the freezer was cold and the refrigerator was warm.
I called out a technician who advised me that the damper control unit was the problem. We had it replaced. It is important to note that while we waited for the part to arrive the refrigerator/freezer was unplugged and thus had time to defrost (as evidenced by the puddle of water on the floor.
For the next few weeks it appeared the problem was solved. However, this morning we woke up to the same problem.
This time, I opened up the panels and exposed the evaporator and can see that it is heavily covered in ice/frost.
I exposed the back panel containing the mother board and have jumped the line and defrost pins (manual defrost attempt). It has been sitting for about a half hour now and because I can still see frost on the heating tube below the evaporator I am concluding that either the heater itself, or perhaps one of the components that triggers the heater, is not working.
I am at a loss for the next step.
I am generally handy, but this is my first time attempting to troubleshoot a refrigerator/freezer.
Can anyone advise as to what my next steps should be?
Many thanks in advance!
Luke Warm 
lukewarm said:
Hi, apologies in advance for what is likely a duplicate post but my searches on this forums haven’t produced an obvious fix.
Here is the situation.
About a month ago our bottom freezer GE GSS22HCRAWW first produced the situation whereby the freezer was cold and the refrigerator was warm.
I called out a technician who advised me that the damper control unit was the problem. We had it replaced. It is important to note that while we waited for the part to arrive the refrigerator/freezer was unplugged and thus had time to defrost (as evidenced by the puddle of water on the floor.
For the next few weeks it appeared the problem was solved. However, this morning we woke up to the same problem.
This time, I opened up the panels and exposed the evaporator and can see that it is heavily covered in ice/frost.
I exposed the back panel containing the mother board and have jumped the line and defrost pins (manual defrost attempt). It has been sitting for about a half hour now and because I can still see frost on the heating tube below the evaporator I am concluding that either the heater itself, or perhaps one of the components that triggers the heater, is not working.
I am at a loss for the next step.
I am generally handy, but this is my first time attempting to troubleshoot a refrigerator/freezer.
Can anyone advise as to what my next steps should be?
Many thanks in advance!
Luke Warm
PICTURES ATTACHED (IN CASE HELPFUL)
I defrosted the coils with a hairdryer. Can confirm cold air is blowing into the refrigerator compartment. I know this is only a temporary fix, however.
Please help with the diagnostics for a permanent fix.
Many, many thanks!
Luke(warm)
Most probable problem is the defrost heater, if black inside with a gap, replace it.
Thanks richappy.
I’ve learned a lot by reading your posts on this forum.
So, I realized this morning that I did not properly execute the manual defrost yesterday. If you look at the photo I posted yesterday, I jumped the pins on the board, and not on the connector.
This morning I jumped the pins on the connector and the defrost heater warmed right up. So… now I know that the defrost heater is okay.
Where should I go from here? Should I assume I need a new board, or are there any other components I should check first?
Thanks in advance!
Luke (Warm)
Yes, I would replace the motherboard, most probable failure.
So, before changing the motherboard, I decided to first test the evaporator thermistor, and indeed it was bad. I replaced it and it seemed to solve the problem (almost).
The defrost issue ceased to be an issue, which meant the refrigerator section cooled down nicely. However, the freezer consistently was too warm (cold enough to freeze water, but ice cream was soft).
I then replaced the freezer thermistor and the main board. The freezer is now nice and cold, but the refrigerator is warm again!
I replaced the fresh food thermistor, still no luck.
At this point the refrigerator has a new damper control, new thermistors, and new main board. The evaporator fan and damper control function (just don’t seem to be operating often enough to cool the refrigerator).
I’m stuck. Do I need a new refrigerator? If so, I guess I have to chalk this up to an educational experience… In any event, new refrigerator or not, the stubbornness in me is determined to fix this thing.
Any ideas as to what I may be missing?
Thanks in advance.
Lukewarm
Check for an ice jam in the air return in the bottom of the freezer behind the freezer panel.
Jam the damper door half way open with a wad of duck tape and see if the fridg cools down.
Realized I didn’t clip the wire#2 on the J1 plug after installing the new board. Now the fridge has cooled down nicely, but the freezer is too warm (soft ice cream). Compressor seems to be running non-stop. Does this need a recharge?
You may have caused a refrigerant leak when you defrosted the evaporator, just check.
Thanks, how do I check for a leak?
If you only have partial, light frost on the evaporator, you have a leak.