GE Side by side Refrigerator/Freezer model GSS25JFPDCC s/n LG213183

[dab147315]

You can download  manual from appliance junk under manuals at top of page .

[robpmorrison]

Normally with heater or not defrosting  you would check out heater from the board itself while it is install.By using the attachment I just sent you.Also this checks out the heater and safety thermostat .That is in series with the heater .iIf the safety is open you will have a bad heater or thermostat with checking off the board.

I did the continuity test on the main board.  It read 20.9 ohms.  So from the document you posted this sounds normal.  So does this point to the main board being the only problem?

[dab147315]

Yes Just follow instruction with board when you get it.

[robpmorrison]

This is a follow up and a closure on my problem.  I replaced the board and replaced the heater since it was black even though the resistance was within normal specifications and replaced the Temp thermistor and the defrosting thermistor.  I did that on Saturday.  The temperature was holding well and there was no frost build up on the back panel.  The temp in the freezer would range from below 0 to around 20 deg F.  This would make sense for the defrosting to be working right.  I checked Monday night to see how it was doing and I could see water in the drain area and it was freezing over.  Everything is working very well.  I am not sure if I needed to replace all that I replaced but I figured it was the best and wisest thing to do and hopefully I will get another 7 or 8 years out of it before any of these parts go again.  Of course there are other things that could go as well in the mean time but I think the cooling part should continue to operate.

Here is another question.  Does anyone take the old boards and trouble shoot them and replace the failed parts?

Rob

[dab147315]

You did everything the right way.That heater and safety or high limit thermostat is suppose to replace when one or the other goes bad.Meaning both should to be replace.Thermistor is a cheap part so you did that right also.There are companies  that rebuild boards but with the G.E board better to buy a new one.

[MajorApp]

Don't confuse yourself. Get yourself a continuity tester. That defrost heater is burnt out.

[robpmorrison]

I used a multimeter and ohmed it out.  This is the best way to check continuity.

Thanks for the encouragement regarding all the parts which I replaced.  I did replace the heater as well.  It continues to function very well.

Again thanks for the help.

[MajorApp]

Your defrost heater was NFG yet it ohmed out as ok. How can you say thats the best way to check continuity?

[robpmorrison]

MajorApp, help me out how is a continuity tester different than an ohm meter?  I don't see if but maybe I can learn something herre.

Thanks

Rob

[robpmorrison]

Don't confuse yourself. Get yourself a continuity tester. That defrost heater is burnt out.

So do you think that my only problem was the defrost heater and I could have just replaced it if I would have had a continuity checker?

[MajorApp]

Yes, the defrost heater was burnt out. The picture you posted made it obvious. The glass tube on a good heater is clear, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't check for continuity. When the filament running through the glass tube heater burns out it breaks the connection from one end to the other preventing the flow of electricity. A continuity tester will tell you for certain if you have that connection or not. Ohm's can be deceiving as you found out. The same goes for the defrost thermostat (when it is below freezing) and certain parts like thermal fuses in dryers.

[robpmorrison]

Well I did a little more homework to determine what a continuity tester was and how that would differ from my Beckman Industrial DM15B digital multimeter.

Wikipedia defines the continuity tester as something that will give off a light or a sound to show there is continuity.  You can read that here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuity_tester.  This actually talks of multimeters having buzzers in them for continuity tests.

WIkiPedia describes a multmeter here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multimeter

In both of these articles they talk about a multimeter having the ability to buzz if there is complete continuity.  My Beckmean Industrial DM15B has that capability and in fact I was on that range 0 - 200 ohms, when I was doing the testing and it was buzzing during each of my measurements showing continuity.

The right ohms reading was there along with all the other items checked both in the freezer compartment etc..

Let me know if I am missing something here.

Thanks

Rob

[dab147315]

I should not jump back into this but when you have a G.E board refrigerator and the frost is building up on the freezer panel.You pull the refrigerator out and the first thing you would do is unplug the blue main power plug and on the the board and check for ohms on wires that is in the above forum and look for about what the ohm rate was in the attachment above.If you got that Ohm reading or was close you would assume that the heater and safety was good and maybe the board would be bad or evaporator thermistor would be bad.As the ohm reading he got was in the ball game.Next step would be to check the evaporator thermistor from the board from the J1 plug pin 4 and pin 5 with J1 plug unplug and check for ohms with the Evaporator frosted over you should get 16k ohms at 32 degree F.Now saying that and all readings are within the normal range.Next step would be to think you have a bad board.Next step would to defrost evaporator.Now evaporator is defrosted and you see the defrost heater and it black looking.Common sense tell you that the ohm reading is within normal but it could glow cherry red and work but you no its on the way out.So what i am saying black change the heater and defrost thermostat.And as we all no the board is a common problem with these units so i would change that.I have had these heaters  being black inside the glass and took them apart and was not burnt out. So what i am saying here if they are black change it or in a little while you will get a call back on it.                     

[dab147315]

Ohm meter measure resistance and and shows if a circuit has continuity.Dont no were MajorApp is going with this.