GE GTS17DTNJRWW top freezer fridge not cooling enough

[ryconstruction]

Hello, greetings, fellow repair enthusiasts. I haven't been here in many years because I've managed to keep the homestead running on very simple tech, with grand old antique appliances which rarely break down, and when they do, I know what to do to fix them. But the neighbor brought me a GE GTS17DTNJRWW top freezer fridge which is less than 1.5 years old and quit cooling soon after it was out of warranty.

I typically turn old fridge cabinets into raised planter boxes, but when I began to disassemble this one I was enamored with how clean and new it is, yet simple and basic by design. I noticed that both fans and the interior light operate, but the compressor doesn't seem to audibly turn on, even though there is a slight vibration coming from it. Hard to tell with the fan blowing at it though. I thought I heard the start relay clicking and turning off the compressor after a minute. There was a rattle sound when I handled the compressor start relay combo device so I bought a new start relay and capacitor to play with it.

I pressed the door switch 3 times in case the control board needed resetting and it also sat unplugged for a few days. When I turned it on with the new relay/capacitor, I measured 0.4 amps AC going into the start relay. The fridge cools, but only to about 40 degrees inside the freezer compartment, after 20 hours of non-stop operation.

I looked at the helpful repair flowchart here on the website, but I don't know how to answer the compressor operating question. It does not make a typical compressor start noise like all the other electric fridges I've ever had. A lot of negative customer reviews on GE's website mention how noisy their compressor sounds, but this one doesn't make a sound.

I don't know how to test the control board for faulty function, and due to the cost of the control board I don't want to take a gamble on buying a new one if I don't know if the compressor is any good or not. Can anyone advise me on how to test the compressor for basic operational functionality? How would I know if the compressor is bad versus the control board being faulty?

[ryconstruction]

I forgot to mention that there is continuity between the compressor pins but not between the pins and any of the raw copper pipes coming from the compressor. The ohm readings also seemed pretty normal at the compressor pins.

[ryconstruction]

I see that nothing has changed around here, so I'm going to wrap this thread up now. 

When I went into the shop where the fridge was sitting I noticed a very strong solvent smell. I immediately vented the room by opening up the big roll-up door, as the stench was sickening. Upon closer inspection, the R600a coolant was leaking from the GE refrigerator at the tube coming out of the compressor right in front of the fan. It had some corrosion there and a tiny pin hole where it curves, on the inside radius.

That's incredibly lousy quality and construction, but obviously carefully calculated by GE, as it did last until shortly after the warranty period had expired.

Final diagnosis: it's a planter box.

[ryconstruction]

Update to the last post:

The solvent smell almost certainly did not come from the fridge itself, but the brush cleaner fumes from a nearby project had probably pooled around the bottom of the fridge. It is also not clear if the corrosion and pin holes go all the way through the tubing or not. After the fridge sat outside in the sun and heat for a few days and all the condensation evaporated I messed with it some more. I unplugged the lower fan and turned the fridge on. The compressor came on and it has a very quiet hum which can be heard when the fan isn't running. There was no refrigerant blowing out of any holes that I could see and after running for a few hours the ice box had cooled to 45 degrees F, with ambient air temperature around 90. Then the defroster came on and warmed the freezer box up to 55. I turned the fridge off and clipped and capped off the wires going to the defroster circuit. I also unclipped the thermistor or temperature probe from the evaporator tube and tucked it behind the upper fan. After a couple more hours of running, still no refrigerant leaked out and the freezer box was down to 45. Definitely sealed system failure, but since it's not visibly leaking refigerant and it does cool a little and ice builds up on the evaporator tubing, I don't know how the sealed system could have failed, unless the refrigerant itself broke down or spoiled internally.

[Nathaniel Peterson]

On 8/20/2024 at 9:24 AM, ryconstruction said:

Update to the last post:

The solvent smell almost certainly did not come from the fridge itself, but the brush cleaner fumes from a nearby project had probably pooled around the bottom of the fridge. It is also not clear if the corrosion and pin holes go all the way through the tubing or not. After the fridge sat outside in the sun and heat for a few days and all the condensation evaporated I messed with it some more. I unplugged the lower fan and turned the fridge on. The compressor came on and it has a very quiet hum which can be heard when the fan isn't running. There was no refrigerant blowing out of any holes that I could see and after running for a few hours the ice box had cooled to 45 degrees F, with ambient air temperature around 90. Then the defroster came on and warmed the freezer box up to 55. I turned the fridge off and clipped and capped off the wires going to the defroster circuit. I also unclipped the thermistor or temperature probe from the evaporator tube and tucked it behind the upper fan. After a couple more hours of running, still no refrigerant leaked out and the freezer box was down to 45. Definitely sealed system failure, but since it's not visibly leaking refigerant and it does cool a little and ice builds up on the evaporator tubing, I don't know how the sealed system could have failed, unless the refrigerant itself broke down or spoiled internally.

Put a cup of water in the fridge and leave a thermometer in it. You need to be testing product temperature not air temperature. Plus if there's a low side leak unless it big which by what you posted it's not it'll be hard to see a leak. To me it sounds like a control problem but wouldn't know without testing. Then again the compressor should be pulling more amps indicating you may have a very small low side leak. Most likely in the evaporator area. Should be an amp to an amp in a half. Only way to be sure is to get into the sealed system. Always get extended warranties on appliances these days as 70% of my calls are under warranty. I replace at least one compressor a week on refrigerators. The small tube coming out of the compressor should be really warm to hot.