GTH22SBSARSS General Electric Refrigerator - Instructions

Thanks to the very fine posts on this site, and availablity of parts, I didn't have to call in a repair man. Due to the near-10 year age of unit, I first ordered a new fridge for the kitchen and moved the GE to the garage. Let it manually defrost. Figured based upon comments posted here I was dealing with the defrost system problem so ordered the temperature sensors for top and botton, the defrost thermostat, and the defrost heater. As a wise poster said, if I am going to pull the damn thing apart, I'm going to make sure I have all three parts in case I need a particular one. Do not have the skill or gauges to troubleshoot electrical components. Parts arrived from Parts Select in great time, and excellent packaging protection. Parts Select also has great diagrams of the unit, although I could not find written repair instructions anywhere. At first I was going to wait for the parts to arrive and replace everything, but since there was a dely in getting the new fridge in, and the freezer section of the old fridge worked fine, once I had defrosted the old fridge, and cleaned up a few of the rusted over connections, I put everything back together, to await new fridge and receipt of parts for old fridge. Well, as is the story of my Karmic life, once fridge defrosted, and I put everything back together, plugged old unit in inside garage, everything came back up working perfectly on the recommended settings for both freezer and fridge sections. Has continued to maintain correct temps for over a week now. Also have new fridge. Don't recommend the top freezer Maytag one for about $700, as construction is cheap, and temps fluctuate all over the place. Had Home Depot exchange out for the LG $740 top freezer model, and am really impressed with its construction and performance so far. (Both units are recommended buys by ConsumerRepots.Org) Not sure how long old unit will keep running correctly, nor what caused it to come back to life after the defrost. Perhaps a simple clogged drain tube, or shorted out rusted electrical connections that I cleaned. Anyway, am keeping Part Select parts on hand for possible future breakdown, and enjoying having both fridges running. We needed additional freezer space, and got the peace of mind of a new unit for the kitchen.

Replaced defrost thermostat along with temp sensor watched the video on this page simple fix

Removed the broken slide (two screws) replaced with the new part

I read stories from the website how others did it so I figured I would give it a try. I put all the frozen stuff in the refrigerator piled up. Took out the shelves. Took out 2 screws with a socket extension ( nut driver will work fine.) Remove the light bulb. lifted up on the back panel...it came right out. Saw the coils and on top the sensor. Took it off, cut the wires, spliced in the color coded new one ( pink to pink, orange to orange) Stuck it in the top coil in the original position and crossed my fingers! I put all the pieces back easily, restocked the freezer and waited. HOORAY!! My ice cubes are all separate and free. NO frost inside. A very easy fix for $20.

Note: If there is a large amount of ice build up on your coils a hair dryer works great. The drain is on the bottom anyway. Also , you may want to seal around the wire nuts to keep moisture out. I did

first i removed the three screws that covered the circuit board that was bad. then i removed the 6 connectors that went from the refrigerator to the board then popped out the old board , popped in the new board reconnected the circuit connectors covered everything back up and my refrigerator is back on line. this all took about 10 to 15 minutes time ... thank you for your product it really did the job..

Everything looked to be working but the compressor. As a pro checked every thing came down to a relay on the main board.

Just removed cover from back top left. marked and removed all wires. removed old board and installed new board very easy. Must read paper sent with it,
you may need to cut wires on some models.

I used pliers to pull lightly on the head of the switch, while I inserted a small flat head screw driver into the base of switch and gently worked around the edges to free it from the panel.

Raised side of fridge enough to get 1/4" ratchet with 1/4" socket under roller wheel assy. Removed three hex-head screws to separate damaged wheel assy from fridge frame. From panel below fridge compartment, backed-out stripped leveling screw. Mounted new roller assy and then threaded in new leveling screw from front. Lowered fridge and adjusted leveling screw for proper height. Suggest putting a 2x4 under fridge for safety when hands are under unit.

found evap fan was not working replaced it quite simple remove old one install new connect plug your done

After replacing the light bulb and still no light I manually pushed the light switch button. Intermittently the light would come on then go out. I removed the power plug from the power source then replaced the light switch. I plugged the refrigerator back in and now I open the door the light comes on and stays on until the door is closed.

The old switch was hard to remove. Thinking that I may have to loosen the wires I used a socket wrench to remove a clamp. This was unnecessary. In the end the switch did come out using a large size screwdriver. The problem was that the expanding plastic tongue is not visible from the ouside so you have to try to feel your way around. If i had ordered the replacement before and not afterwards I would have seen this before hand.

Removed the back cover over the control board, and made sure that the board was the same. It didn't look exactly the same, but figured that it was the same, just updated. Took out the board, moved the wires to the new board and reinstalled. Plugged it in and it came on, so I reinstalled the cover. Seems to be working to this day.

For troubleshooting, I took off rear panel inside of the freezer compartment & determined that icing of the coils was not the problem & it did not apprear to be a defroster malfunction. All components appeared to be working properly except the compressor would not turn on and only room temperature air was being circulated by the fan. After narrowing the probable causes down to a faulty Main control board by reading as many similar posts as possible,I ordered the new control board. When it arrived the following morning via UPS(less than 24 hours!), I unplugged the wiring connections attached to the old board, (which was somewhat different in appearance), and then gently popped the circuit board off of the plastic retainer studs by pushing in the little retaining clip part of the studs in with a small screwdriver so the board could be released easier as I pulled outward. I popped the new board on the studs by gently & evenly pushing with a larger hut driver over the studs until it was locked in, being careful not to damage or over stress/bend the board. I placed the wiring connecters onto the pins on the board.....every connecter had a different amount of pins so improper connection was not possible. I placed the ground wire connection of the new board between the metal cover plate @ an adjacent screw location to ensure grounding to the back of the fridge sheet metal. I plugged in the refrigerator and was quite relieved when I heard the compressor start up after a second or two! Within moments the temp began to fall until it reached the proper temp in both compartments. Success!

The control board and access panel are on the back of the refrigerator, so you will need to roll/slide the refrigerator away from the wall to gain access to the panel. Be careful not kink the water line if you have an ice maker connection.
Unplug the power cord from power outlet on the wall.
On this model the control board is located behind a rectangular panel that is about 8" x 10". The panel is about 3 feet above the floor on the left side (as viewed looking at the back of the refrigerator).
Using a Phillips (cross point) screwdriver, remove the screws and the access panel cover. Look closely at the control circuit board and you will see 4 small white plastic protrusions sticking through the board -- these are the plastic posts that hold the board in place. There is a small tab that locks the board to the plastic mounting post. Use your needle nose pliers (or other small pliers) to compress the small tab on the post; and while squeezing, pull on the control board until it releases from the post/clip. Repeat this for each of the four posts and the board will now be free from the mounts.
Look at the plugs that connect the wires to the board and note the orientation of each plug. Each plug is a different size, so they will only fit into the socket of the correct size. On my refrigerator, there is one plug that is not connected to the board and is hanging loose, so don't get confused when connecting plugs to the new board - this one remains unconnected.
Firmly pull each plug from its socket on the board -- try not to pull by the wires. If you have a stubborn plug, grab it with your pliers and pull it out. There is a green ground wire connected by a screw into the refrigerator cabinet. Remove this screw and ground wire. (Note: on some models the green ground wire is fastened with a screw that holds the cover in place - just be sure to reconnect the wire when replacing the cover).
Insert all of the plugs into the new board -- be sure they are seated firmly. Reinstall the ground wire. Place the board over the plastic posts and push until the tab locks the board in place. Replace the cover.
On the sheet that comes with the refrigerator they instruct you to remove the lower panel on the refrigerator that covers the compressor motor compartment. They instruct you to look at the power cord connection to the compressor and to locate a green wire from a capacitor. If your power cord does not have a capacitor exactly like the one pictured, there is no need to proceed on this step. Replace the lower panel. If it does have a capacitor as illustrated, follow those instructions and then replace the panel.

Now plug in the power cord to the wall power outlet. Before pushing the refrigerator back into place you want to make sure it is operating properly. To make sure that there is no "Glitch" during start up, I suggest that you set the temperature control inside of the refrigerator to "OFF" and wait about 3 minutes. After 3 minutes, set the control to the desired temperature (about 37 Deg for Refrigerator and 0 Deg for the Freezer).
If the refrigerator is running, you are finished. Being careful not to kink the water line, push the refrigerator back into place.

took the back off and defrosted with a hairdryer. disconected the part pulled the part out cut the wires. put the other part on and instaled it. put it back together and it seems to be working just fine. thank you