GE Side by Side Howling Fan

[Diyeng]

I have the dreaded howling sound from the evaporator motor in the freezer. I have read a number of solutions from bearings needed lubing, to ice buildup, main control board and a bad voltage regulator or triac.

Rather than spending unnecessary $$, does anyone know the actual fix to this? If it is down to a board level component I would go ahead and replace.
Thanks!

Model GSS25QSWA

[JWWebster]

Unplug the ice box for a day so it will thaw out then plug it back in and see if the noise is still there. If the fan motor is bad you will hear the noise right away. Had any issues with cooling in the fresh food compartment?

[Diyeng]

JW- Thanks for the reply! I tried that, powering down a few times and it seemed to work but only for a day or so. No issues with fresh food. I said "howling" as it seems to best describe. The fan is not hitting anything like defrosted and refrozen ice, what it sounds like is if it were hooked up to a speed controller and revs up and down, up and down. It can do this for an hour or so then will run at a perfect constant speed. It seems it may be voltage, I probably could stick a meter on it and see if the voltage fluctuates.

[JWWebster]

Get some zoomspout oil and oil that motor.

[niobrara]

Check your thermistor if it checks, you might try the control board.

[Diyeng]

Still trying to locate some zoomspout locally. From what I have read I suspect the control board. Going to check about recall with ge on Monday. If they won't replace I may try to shotgun some components on the board, perhaps a new voltage regulator.

[JWWebster]

Order 2 bottles for $8 total

[Diyeng]

Well got a similar product at a refrigeration supply house, have yet to try it. Also called GE and got a free replacement control board! They said they had recalls of other models but to repair mine would cost the price of a tech to come out. When I said I would do it myself they said no problem and sent the board, it was the cost of the tech they needed to cover. Yet to have swapped out but will let you know.

GE WR55X10942 Main Control Board Assembly, AP4436216

[JWWebster]

 

[Diyeng]

Just wanted to provide an update on this. I called GE parts and explained the howling sound and from what I had found on the internet, though beyond the warranty, the control board should be covered under a recall as a defective part. When I told the rep I would install the board he said no problem, asked for my address and said the board would be there in a few days, free!

I finally got around to installing the new control board (WR55X10942) last week and haven’t heard a howl since! The fan actually seems to be a bit quieter too, perhaps because it was always running full speed.
GE WR55X10942 Refrigerator Main Control Board Assembly, AP4436216



One item to note, on the instructions it mentions “Eliminate thermistor wire in pin 2 of J1 connector”. It states this is only applicable to certain encoder models. As I wasn’t sure if they were referring to the board itself or the actual serial number of the fridge, I did a little research before clipping the wire. I found a serial number decoder table  and once I saw the pattern realized and the instructions were for models manufactured from 10/02 to 09/03. Mine started with a DM (02/07) which made sense as I purchased it late in 2007. No need to cut the wire.

Hope this helps anyone with the howling freezer fan!

[JWWebster]

Great info! Glad to hear ya fixed. Thanks for the update!

[RegUS_PatOff]

...  It states this is only applicable to certain encoder models.

Fridge model number ?

[Diyeng]

Posted at the top of the thread  GSS25QSWA

[RegUS_PatOff]

Posted at the top of the thread  GSS25QSWA

...  sorry, I'm not used to this new format and the colors ... (hard to see)
Yours is not an "encoder" model
 
 

[Diyeng]

Ahhhh, ok, so to answer the question, what is an encoder model? How is it different from mine or others that are not?
Thanks!