GE Profile fridge not cold ... freezer too cold

[mikebuild]

Hey all,

Looking for some help ... My fridge is not cooling, while the freezer remains too cold ... below are the details

GE Profile, ~2007, model pfsf5njwa cc, French door fridge, bottom drawer freezer. The temperature control panel is in the fridge door. The "set" temp is at the default of 0 and 37 ... the "actual" temp is -9 and 46 (at the door read out). The freezer seems to be working, everything frozen solid (fyi, quite a bit of frost in the freezer compartment, recent symptom), but the fridge is warm/cool. Put a thermometer in the fridge. It reads about the same as the one in the door ... 46 - 50. Have activated the turbo cool setting ... no change. Have unplugged the fridge from the outlet and waited about 15 minutes ... read that that would reset the unit ... no change. Have located the damper, it was closed. Was able to move damper door with finger to the open position, where it stayed on its own. Felt the resistance from the motor. With the damper removed I could "not" feel any air movement through the opening, but could hear air flow at the damper port (update: with damper door open the fridge temp has dropped to 40 overnight). Think I am seeing 2 thermistors , one in the fridge and the other in the freezer. Removed the rear cardboard cover. Can see the fan blade spinning, but can not detect any other activity, ie no compressor noise or vibration or heat.

Theory ... if the freezer is freezing, then the refrigeration part of things is functioning (at least somewhat). That means that no cold air is reaching the fridge compartment. That makes one think that the damper is not opening. The damper is controlled by the thermistor via the main board ... basically, correct? So it would seem that the culprit would be either the main board or one / both thermistors or the damper itself ... my uneducated guess. Is there a circ fan that sends cold air up to the fridge?

How do we diagnose?

Thanks, Mike.

[DurhamAppliance]

I would take thermistor readings at the board or simply replace all thermistors . your fresh food thermistor may think that it is colder than it is,  your freezer thermistor may think it is warmer than it is.   Next I would verify damper operations through diagnostics  and then check evap fan for proper rpms.   Also check freezer evap for defrost failure. 

Edited April 13, 2016 by DurhamAppliance

[lvasquez11]

Frost build up in freezer - rear cover could be due to any of these defective parts 

Defrost Thermistors Part number: WR55X10025

Burnt out defrost heater Part number: WR51X10094

Defective  Bimetal  Part number: WR50X10069

[Hiroshi]

The diffuser can be open, but if the air flow INLET is blocked the air cannot circulate- did this problem start after someone left the door open overnight? look for physical blockage if the fan is running and you still have no air through the diffuser door- frost can block the "cooling tower" and the air return to the freezer compartment and there is no defrost function to clear these areas, check before throwing parts at this sucker

[DurhamAppliance]

Hiroshi is correct only if you feel no air at the damper when the damper is open.  When you check the damper, if not using diagnostics,  make sure to hold fresh food door switch,  otherwise damper will close.   

If damper is open,  and you still do not feel air (holding door switch and freezer door closed)

1) check evap fan

2) check frost at damper /check defrost failure. 

3)if you feel a significant difference in air from  the  damper when the freezer door is open  versus freezer door being closed,  then you have a blocked return port.. defrost fail likely as well

[Hiroshi]

Quote

. With the damper removed I could "not" feel any air movement through the opening

Be sure you have the updated wr55x10025 plastic "flat nosed" thermistors as well, the old rubberized ones will drive a tech crazy with weird symptoms- the Samurai has a "GE Refrigerator Thermistor Guide" floating around here somewhere....

[mikebuild]

Thanks guys,

Just so I'm clear on how this works (somewhat) ... The damper "opens" when the thermistor senses the need for cooling in the fridge. The damper opens and cold are from the freezer compartment is "blown" into the fridge compartment by the fan above the evap coil, until the set temp is reached. And, then to complete this cycle, the air from the fridge is then recirculated back into the freezer via the vent shaft at the rear/top of the fridge ... and then the damper door closes? Correct? (please keep in mind this is a French door model).

I've checked the passage from the freezer to fridge for frost blockage ... can slide a wire through, no problem. (ie not blocked)

 

FYI ... today, I removed the cover from the evap coil to check for frost build up (there was none). I put it all back together and instead of the 40 degrees in the fridge (that I was getting), it is now over 50. The freezer is still -9 and I left the damper "off" so you'd think that it'd be a little cooler In the fridge. I activated the "turbo" feature (which appears to do nothing) and that doesn't seem to phase the fridge temp either. 

I'm going to check the thermistors next, at the board.

 

[DurhamAppliance]

cool,  thanks for reminding me this is a french door model.. easy to forget when only  GE Profile is in the title and not the model number.   Although I have worked on this style profile many times, The vast majority of profiles are SxS.... so forgive me if anything I said caused confusion.  However,  the same principles apply since this is a single evap unit. 

If after checking everything previously mentioned and nothing reveals itself,  make sure your evap fan's rpms are proper.   I had several similar models where the fan,  although turning,  wasn't turning fast enough.  It was difficult to determine this just by looking at the fan.

The first time I ran into this I had reduced myself to a parts changing monkey  before it finally dawned on me that the fan wasn't spinning fast enough.. "duh!" 

This was chronicled is a similar model..in my blog.  Since the disassembly is different with your model,  fast forward through the video after I installed the new fan... you can get a sense if how fast it's turning to compare. 

 

 

[mikebuild]

Update. I put a new evap fan in this morning. I could visually discern a speed difference from the new to the old fan. Put it all back together and still no cold in the fridge. Still no airflow at the passage between the fridge and freezer.  Is the fan multi speed or variable speed? and the board is not setting the correct speed?

[DurhamAppliance]

Return ports clear?  Any frost buildup anywhere? 

[mikebuild]

Where would the return ports be? This is a French door/bottom freezer model. All I see is the tunnel/airway beginning in the freezer, through damper and then up into top of fridge.

[Lighthouse]

I had a similar issue on a LG French door. The vents were in the back of the refrigerated section under the crisper drawers. They ran down behind the evaporator and it was a little hard to see.

i found liquid that had been spilled down the return vent and froze at the evaporator. Like I said it was hard to see the blockage. 

 

[mikebuild]

Yep, that was it ... frozen return vents. Both were frozen solid. Spent some time with the hair dryer, got them thawed out and could immediately feel good air flow through cold air vent in fridge. Put it all back together and within a few hours both compartments were at proper temps. Been several days now and temps haven't budged.     

 

Grassi

[Lighthouse]

Glad you got it figured out.

Thanks for the update.