Also applies to GE refrigerators made by Samsung.
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To learn more about your refrigerator, or to order parts, click here.
Chris wrote:
I have a 9 year old whirlpool side by side fridge (mod #GC5SHGXKB00) that has developed a drip at the water dispenser. I thought maybe the inlet valve was stuck, so I put on a new one and it still drips. Any ideas?
Thanks
It’s common for air to get in the line from any number of ways. As this air warms up, it expands and pushes on the water. That pressurized water will go to the path of least resistance: out the dispenser spout. So, if this is what’s going on, then the cure is to purge the air from the system. And the easiest way to do that is to run at least three gallons water out the dispenser.
PS: Heard back from Chris and this fixed his problem.
To learn more about your refrigerator, or to order parts, click here.
Samurai Appliance Repair Man – http://fixitnow.com
The Samurai School of Appliantology – http://appliantology.org
Find and Buy Appliance Parts – http://parts.fixitnow.com
MIKE wrote:
amana scd23vl…..compressor not kicking on, i hear clicking sounds from that area
Click the play button below to hear my answer:
Start Relay for an Amana Refrigerator
(click image to purchase)
To learn more about your refrigerator, or to order parts, click here.
Samurai Appliance Repair Man – http://fixitnow.com
The Samurai School of Appliantology – http://appliantology.org
Find and Buy Appliance Parts – http://parts.fixitnow.com
faye wrote:
Type of Appliance Refrigerator
Brand? whirlpool
Model Number? eED5PHEXRT00
Your Precious Words: panel between the two doors are very very hot
Click the play button below to hear my answer:
Samurai Appliance Repair Man
The Samurai School of Appliantology
http://appliantology.org
– Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Appliantology Newsletter, May 2011: The Case of the Leaking Refrigerator
Greetings and Permutations to all my fellow Appliantologists!
This month, the Samurai brings you glad tidings for a refrigerator problem that lots of folks are having this time of year: water leaking out of the refrigerator.
The good news is that this is easy to repair and usually requires no parts.
The bad news is… well, there is no bad news!
The cause is what we professional Appliantologists call a “plugged condensate drain.”
I hear you; at this moment you’re wondering to yourself, “What, o besotted Samurai, is a condensate drain and in what unspeakable manner does it become plugged?”
Good question and Im’ma splain it to you.
Y’see, Hoss, there’s this coil inside your freezer compartment that gets real cold and that’s where all your cold air for the entire box is made. This coil normally runs at a temperature of about -15F. That’s enough to give anyone a pointy chest! The fan inside the freezer pulls air across those chilly coils and cools it down to about 0F.
Well, it don’t take a nucular fizzisist, like yours kinda truly, to know that at that temperature, water vapor will freeze into white fuzzy ice on that thang faster than fried on rice in a hot wok. After a short while, that frost can build up so thick that the air is no longer contacting the coils but is flowing over the fuzzy ice instead, which is at a considerably higher temperature than -15F.
Okay, enough theory. Periodically, the refrigerator has to defrost that coil in the freezer. When it does this, all that frost is melted into water that we professional Appliantologists called “condensate,” which then runs into a trough with a drain hole underneath the coil and then on down to the condensate drain pan down by the compressor, where it evaporates.
Pop quiz: Where does all that melted condensate go if the drain hole in the trough happens to be plugged?
Answer: Out onto your floor!
To fix this, you have to remove that back wall inside the freezer and clear the trough and drain. Don’t be surprised if you find a slab of ice there. Or there may be an ice plug extending down the condensate drain hole. You just need to patiently work at it with hot salt water. The salt helps melt the ice faster, but be careful not to get the salt water on the coil because it could cause corrosion. If you’re not comfortable using salt, just use plain hot water and add a little more patience.
If you need help taking your fridge apart so you can get at this stuff, come to the Samurai School of Appliantology and start a new topic in the Kitchen Forum. We can post diagrams and instructions that’ll show you how to get to the condensate drain and get ‘er done. In fact, we can help you fix any of your appliances that are givin’ you some trouble.
And if you need appliance parts, get ’em thru the parts search box at the top of the page there at the Samurai School. There’s a one year warranty on all parts ordered thru the site so, if you order a part and it doesn’t fix it, return it for a refund– even special order or electrical parts that you already installed! It’s the deal of a lifetime!
Samurai Appliance Repair Man
The Samurai School of Appliantology
http://appliantology.org
Tammi wrote:
I am having the same problem my Maytag ice2o with the board blinking and flap flapping. It is 4 years later than those posts. Is the board still hard to find? Any advice?
Yep, classic sign of a bad control board in these refrigerators. The board is still available, in stock and ready to ship; click here to buy it. Comes with a one year warranty, too.
(click it to git it)
If you need help installing it, come start a new topic in the Kitchen Forum at the Samurai School of Appliantology and we’ll step you right through it.
Mark wrote:
GE Side By Side GSH25JSTASS water dispenser not working. Water is getting to ice maker. Have replaced valve, but still not working. Don’t think the dispenser is frozen and still need to check to see if power is getting to valve. Could the problem be in the dispenser itself?
Ahh, Grasshoppah, don’t be so quick to assume the dispenser is not freezing up. Dispenser tube freeze-ups are so common in this model group that GE put out a dispenser tube heater kit. Read all about it ratcheer… http://fixitnow.com/wp/2009/01/25/no-water-from-the-dispenser-on-a-ge-refrigerator/
If’n that don’t git it fer ya, come start a new topic in the Kitchen Forum at the Samurai School of Appliantology and we shall illumine thy path!
To learn more about your refrigerator, or to order parts, click here.
So it’s Friday afternoon and you go to pull out some T-bones from the freezer to thaw for grilling tonight with good friends and Michelob only to discover that there are these weird freakin’ ice crystals all over everything in your freezer. The steaks are still frozen and you *hope* they’ve been frozen all along but what’s with the frost all over your stuff?
Couple thangs could be going on here, Hoss. First, listen to the fan in the freezer with the door closed. Listen real good for a while, press your ear up against the door if’n you need to. Does that fan sound steady or is it ramping up and down in speed? If it’s hunting around then you need to replace the Muthaboard ‘cuz it’s sending unsteady voltage to the fan.
Awwite, so the fan sounds steady, no weirdness going on there. Now what? Well, Imma tellya so hang on to yo britches.
Here’s today’s psychrometrics lesson: in a freezer environment, repeated thaw and freeze cycles will form ice crystals on solid surfaces.
“Why is that, Captain Ron?”
Well, nobody knows. All I know is that in these GE refrigamerators, with all that fancy-ass electronified boolsheet, that if the defrost thermistor is the old-style and the freezer fan is running on low speed all the time, the defrost cycle will be controlled by the hi-limit safety thermostat and not by Mr. Thermistor.
So, what does this mean? No, he is NOT the freakin’ Kwisatz Haderach.
It means the freezer has been getting waaay too warm during defrost and making everything in there wet and clamy ‘cuz it was heating up until the high limit finally kicked out the heating element. Then when the compressor turns back on and starts cooling everything down with the fan blowing, all that water vapor desublimates directly to a solid. (Did you like that one, “desublimates?” Oh yeah, we professional appliantologists know all about that fancy scientifical stuff. That’s why we makes the big money! 
)
Make sure you have the new, upgraded thermistors in your GE fridge. If not, do it now.
Kinda makes you think twice about eating those T-bones tonight, da tovarish? Can you say salmonella?
Still confoosed Grasshoppah? Come start a new topic in the Kitchen appliance repair forum and we’ll straighten yo azz right out.
To learn more about your refrigerator, or to order parts, click here.
So, using the expert help available both here and at the Samurai School of Appliantology, you’ve determined that the muthaboard on your GE fridge is FUBAR. A Samurai Grasshoppha, Crouching Schnauzer, has shared with me his journey through the byzantine corporate maze that is GE which resulted in his getting a new replacement muthaboard for FREE and has requested that I make this information available to you. Stand in awe and be amazed at the power of the Samurai Internet.
From Crouching Schnauzer:
Honorable Samurai was most helpful in enlightening me in the ways of defeating the cunning GE refrigerator muthaboard. I have gained much wisdom in my journey, and now ask that the Samurai would share this wisdom with other DIY warriors via his vast web presence:
After reading up on all the GE muthaboard issues, I was preparing to fork over $75-150 bucks for a new one myself. However, I took a shot with GE customer service. I have to give them credit; their poor quality product was balanced out with good customer service (at least in my case).
I called this number:
800-694-8477
which I got from this link:
http://www.geappliances.com/search/google/infobase/10006252.htm…which is actually for moisture issues on side-by-side fridges. I inquired about recall on my muthaboard, stating that I knew that were recalls on other models (even though mine was not actually an included model).
I made these points:
1) My fridge is only 3 years old
2) If I let GE come out to fix it, I’d be paying at least $200-300, which would be better spent toward a whole new unit.
3) Even the part alone from GE would cost twice as much than from another online seller.So, after what I consider only a moderate amount of persuading, the kind folks at GE sent me a new muthaboard NO CHARGE! They let me know that I would have no warranty if I installed it myself, but I politely pointed out that I could just get another board for $100, instead of paying $200-300 for a GE service call.
I was pretty excited about this victory, and perhaps it may help others in a similar way. The part they sent was Main Board WR55X10942 (not my original part #), which seems to be the one they use for many models that need replacements.
Thank you for passing this info along!
Crouching Schnauzer
To learn more about your refrigerator, or to order parts, click here.
If your icemaker quit making ice or the water dispenser quit squirting out water, one cause could be a bad water inlet valve. You can test the valve coils with your ohm meter to see if one of them reads open like ahso…
If you get a very high resistance reading or what we professional appliantologists call “slap-azz open,” then you need to replace the water inlet valve. This video shows you how to do it…
And you can buy the valve ratcheer.
To learn more about your refrigerator, or to order parts, click here.
Here it is, Grasshoppahs and Grasshoppettes, the GE refrigerator muthaboard concession letter you’ve been sifting through endless search results for. Your quest is at an end!
(click for larger view)
To learn more about your refrigerator, or to order parts, click here.
Example model numbers: ED22CQ ED22
(click to enlarge)
To learn more about your refrigerator, or to order parts, click here.
Refrigerator and Ice Maker Maintenance
We’re trying out a new concept for a newsletter here in Samurai-land. In
addition to the quarterly (or so) full-blown newsletter with lots of
diverse information, we’re going to experiment with a monthly, shorter
issue that focuses on scheduled preventative maintenance tips for specific
appliances. Let us know whatcha think. If it’s not useful to you, then
please lemme know ‘cuz, if that’s the case, then I’d rather be out hiking
in the mountains instead of playing tippety-tap on the keyboard.
This being early Spring, we usually start getting lots of refrigerator and
ice maker service calls. Here are some things you can do that may help
avoid a service call on these cold appliances.
Refrigerator or stand-alone Freezer
Manual Defrost Refrigerator or Freezer
On manual-defrost refrigerator/freezers, check for frost build up in the
freezer. If there’s more than half an inch, it’s time for a defrosting.
Remove all the food, unplug the unit, and block open the door to let all
the frost melt. On upright units, this can make a wet mess on the floor so
put some towels down. On chest freezers, there will either be a drain or
all the water will collect in the bottom and can then be sponged out.
NEVER ever even think about using a putty knife or any kind of sharp metal
to scrape the frost off. It is very easy to puncture the evaporator and
ruin the refrigerator. Ain’t no going back from that one, Hoss.
Automatic Defrost Refrigerator or Freezer
On self-defrosting refrigerator/freezers, clean the drain pan underneath
the refrigerator that collects water (Some are not accessible. Don’t worry
if you can’t find yours). No need to go crazy, just wipe out the dog hair
and dried gookus so you don’t get a scum floatilla with stinkus when the
flood of condensate starts with the more humid weather.
Clean the refrigerator cooling fan and the condenser coils. The coils are
underneath the refrigerator. They are usually black and look like a series
of small tubes and “fins” connecting the tubes. Order a refrigerator
condenser brush to make the job easier: http://fixitnow.com/?p=6234
Check the door seals to be sure they are sealing properly against the frame
of the refrigerator/freezer. While you can get by with weak seals during
the colder, dryer winter months, they’ll let in lots of heat and moisture
during the humid, warm summer months and cause all kinda weird problems
inside the box. Do the Federal Reserve Note test: take your favorite
Federal Reserve Note and close the door on it, then give it a tug. Should
require some tension to pull it out. If not, that’s a weak spot in the
gasket. Do this all the way around the both doors.
If the gaskets are torn, or don’t seal properly, the refrigerator or
freezer may not cool properly. You may also start seeing frost formations
in weird locations inside the beer compartment or the freezer. This
problem is worse when the weather is warmer and more humid. Clean the
gaskets and frame with warm soapy water so they don’t stick to the frame.
Inspect the back wall of the freezer for any frost build up. It’s not
normal to have any frost on the back wall or floor of a self-defrosting
appliance. The presence of frost is normally an indication the
self-defrosting system has a problem. You can remove the back wall inside
the freezer to get some eyeballs on the evaporator coil. This page will
help you interpret what you see: http://fixitnow.com/?p=6036
For help troubleshooting warm refrigerator problems, use our warm
refrigerator flowchart: http://fixitnow.com/?p=4296
Ice Maker
If you have a built-in ice/water filter, replace the filter approximately
every six months. If you don’t have a water filter, and you find your ice
tastes bad and/or smells funny, use a “taste and odor” water filter on the
incoming water supply line. A universal water filter will fix ya right up.
We carry filters for all refrigerator brands and models:
When Was the Last Time You Replaced the Water Filter in Your Refrigerator?
If you don’t have an icemaker, consider installing one now before the
Department of Energy outlaws them. No chit, Mon, they’re really moving to
do exactly that, see this topic at the Samurai School of Appliantology for
more info:
http://appliantology.org/topic/30729-doe-to-ban-ice-makers/
Many people don’t realize that virtually all refrigerators are set up to
easily accept an add-on icemaker. Many refrigerators have a tag inside the
freezer at the back that gives a kit number indicating exactly what kind of
icemaker will fit in that refrigerator. We carry add-on icemaker kits that
fit virtually every refrigerator/freezer on the market, most are
conveniently laid out for you on this page:
http://appliancepartsresource.com/ice_maker_accessories.php
If you’re having a problem with your refrigerator, freezer, or ice maker,
come get free help from the appliantological masters in the Samurai School
of Appliantology:
Kanpai!
Samurai Appliance Repair Man
• Refrigerator Condenser Brush
(click it to git it)
• Universal Replacement Water Filter
(click it to git it)
• Refrigerator / Ice Maker Water Filter (available for all brands and models)
• Replacement or Add-on Ice Maker Kits (available for all brands and models)
(click for larger view)
To learn more about your refrigerator, or to order parts, click here.