GE French Door Refrigerator error codes and performance issues - GFE27GGDAWW

[TobiiFixit]

Good Day i have a GE 27cuft refrigerator which i find takes long to come down to temp.

refrigerator section takes long to come down to temp, the FF fan seems to run loud or surge. I also notice water or ice crystals on the top near the twin chill badge.

error codes are as follows:

0002, 0005, 0007, 0010, 0011, 0012, 0303.

Any assistance would be appreciated  even a its of what the error codes for my model means which seems to be hard to find

[Slav]

On 5/21/2021 at 5:54 PM, TobiiFixit said:

error codes are as follows:

0002, 0005, 0007, 0010, 0011, 0012, 0303.

Those numbers look like Diagnostic Table, not error codes

[Slav]

On 5/21/2021 at 5:54 PM, TobiiFixit said:

the FF fan seems to run loud or surge

If it sounds like the fan is scraping the ice, it could be a defrost problem, or a defrost drain clogged up. Also, the door maybe not closing properly, or the door seal is leaking the outside air into the FF compartment. Take the cover of the evaporator off, and see how much frost build up is on the coils.

[TobiiFixit]

yes i thought so too but when the refrigerator is in diagnostic mode aka 00 00 i pressed the light button which shows fault codes.

soo the first one was code 00 02  number of times fault occurred 001o  days ago 001d

 

 

[TobiiFixit]

28 minutes ago, Slav said:

If it sounds like the fan is scraping the ice, it could be a defrost problem, or a defrost drain clogged up. Also, the door maybe not closing properly, or the door seal is leaking the outside air into the FF compartment. Take the cover of the evaporator off, and see how much frost build up is on the coils.

the fresh food section is defrosting as it should so back story got the fridge second hand so it was off for a while ... its only been running three weeks now the fan is loud but loud as in normal operation where as the freezer fan is silent so im wondering if the bearings on the fan is going. reason i think so is it maybe is trying to run at low speed but cant so when the FF gets warm closer to 3 and 4 degrees c the control board request medium or high speed causing the  fan to surge.

 

its set at 1 degree c so i expect it to fluctuate but it stays stead at 3 all the time it will hit 4 or 5 after  heated defrost or on days when you open the fridge a lot to cook.

[TobiiFixit]

first time having a refrigerator with control board so some days it does down to 1 or 2 degrees C ...was wondering if thats because of the ambient thermistor sensing the apartment is too warm to maintain  some temps. but when the place is cooler it goes down to set point i live in the caribbean btw as of late temps outside are like 30 to 35 degrees c. which is close to the refrigerators extreem operating temp

[Slav]

Since it holds 3°C steadily in the FF compartment, it's within spec, so I wouldn't worry just yet. Every time you open the door in a humid and hot Caribbean, the system needs to work hard to bring the temp back down. Make sure there is plenty of space behind and on the sides of the fridge for proper air-circulation. Have you checked the condenser? Maybe it needs to be brushed and vacuumed, so it can dissipate the heat easily.

52 minutes ago, TobiiFixit said:

so im wondering if the bearings on the fan is going

The fan bearings could be going bad. Try spinning the fan with your finger, and if it's kinda sticky, replace it.

[TobiiFixit]

7 hours ago, Slav said:

Since it holds 3°C steadily in the FF compartment, it's within spec, so I wouldn't worry just yet. Every time you open the door in a humid and hot Caribbean, the system needs to work hard to bring the temp back down. Make sure there is plenty of space behind and on the sides of the fridge for proper air-circulation. Have you checked the condenser? Maybe it needs to be brushed and vacuumed, so it can dissipate the heat easily.

The fan bearings could be going bad. Try spinning the fan with your finger, and if it's kinda sticky, replace it.

I have cleaned or brushed the half I can reach of the condenser it seems fine was not that much dust in the grand scheme of it all the compressor gives off most of the heat. at least when i tested with my laser temp gun it was giving off 36 degrees c but not like it was opened when tested.

 

so dont worry about the error codes then it within spec. just wanted to make sure the codes were not from a dying fan.

[TobiiFixit]

i check evap fan when i spin it felt free and spun for a 10 to 15 secs after.  so i guess its just loud unlike freezer fan

[TobiiFixit]

also evap was clear off ice 

 

[TobiiFixit]

so new codes  from the service diagnostic menu

0506

0203

3000

temp in the fresh food section some times goes to 8 degrees 

i think 203 is 5 consecutive extended  ff defrosts. the rest i cant figure out 

[TobiiFixit]

guess imma schedule a ge tech to come out as these codes are hard to come by thanks for the assist tho.

[Slav]

I'm tagging @David Jero I think he used to deal with GE before, and may be able to shed some light on those codes.

[TobiiFixit]

thanks 

[David Jero]

Make sure the condenser fan is working properly….you could have a sealed system issue as well….I would just have GE or an Authorized GE tech come out and look it over while it is hooked to NEWFI.  
 

These units are known for bad FF fan motors and Condenser Fans motors.  I did have a few where they had sealed system issues ….low on Freon (leak).  
 

[TobiiFixit]

ok ill try the freshfood fan and see some one said it may be on the way out freezer temps usually are stable they definately stay close to 0 

[vallen513]

Are you keeping the back cover on, to cover the compressor and condenser coil? if not, this will keep it from running efficient.

[TobiiFixit]

1 hour ago, vallen513 said:

Are you keeping the back cover on, to cover the compressor and condenser coil? if not, this will keep it from running efficient.

yes the  back cover is on and its kinda warm back there mostly the compressor is the hot one. 

but the condenser fan is spinning if its at high, medium, or low i cant tell.

living in the Caribbean the apartment cant get hot maybe in the range 28 to 32c i wonder about that.

 

So today i took it apart to get the model number of the fan and to see the shape its in maybe over the 10ish years moisture etc. got to the bearings or maybe fan board.

FF evap was frozen to left back wall but the evap was not too iced up light frost.

Fan was running I guess on high speed cant confirm but i feel like the fan is not running on lower speeds like low and medium its either I hear it running from across the room or its silent so that could be one of my issues. 

unplugged the fan while running i now have a 106 (no feed back while fan is on ) error code so I'm not so sure its the fan but why is the ff always 2 degrees of set point on and why the frequent defrost of FF and some long FF heated defrosts 

i did hear a hissing noise twice when i opened it it was during defrost hissing / squeel for a bit i assume is water on the element but could it be a leak ?

 

list of codes attached the 203 and 303 match back but the rest are mostly N/A or idk

 

[TobiiFixit]

update changed the fan the new ones is a bit quieter but I dont think it was an issue.

203 and 303 are my main concerns right now they are as follows:

203 (Defrost System) 5 consecutive fresh food extended defrosts 

303 (sealed System) Fresh food temp exceeds 50F/10C

 

I'm not sure what would cause the extended defrosts which will result in an 303 error since fresh food temps rise high 6 +c on the display and that might be just whats in memory for the last time it checked temps so i suspect it goes to 10c or higher. If I unplug to reset it it will show the correct temp of 11 or 12c.

 

could it be the FF evaporator thermistor not letting the heater come off ? or is it a board issue.

I have notices one crack in the seal but i cant see so much warm air entering to trigger these conditions as the evap cover is not frozen over. 

The pic posted is of when I changed that fen there was ice on the left Styrofoam part of the evap cover frost pattern looked good to me top is clean as I needed to warm the evap cover for removal mostly around the fan area.

 

any explaination or guidance would be appreciated 

[David Jero]

On 8/25/2021 at 12:12 AM, TobiiFixit said:

update changed the fan the new ones is a bit quieter but I dont think it was an issue.

203 and 303 are my main concerns right now they are as follows:

203 (Defrost System) 5 consecutive fresh food extended defrosts 

303 (sealed System) Fresh food temp exceeds 50F/10C

 

I'm not sure what would cause the extended defrosts which will result in an 303 error since fresh food temps rise high 6 +c on the display and that might be just whats in memory for the last time it checked temps so i suspect it goes to 10c or higher. If I unplug to reset it it will show the correct temp of 11 or 12c.

 

could it be the FF evaporator thermistor not letting the heater come off ? or is it a board issue.

I have notices one crack in the seal but i cant see so much warm air entering to trigger these conditions as the evap cover is not frozen over. 

The pic posted is of when I changed that fen there was ice on the left Styrofoam part of the evap cover frost pattern looked good to me top is clean as I needed to warm the evap cover for removal mostly around the fan area.

 

any explaination or guidance would be appreciated 

What happened was the FF sensor in the compartment is on the ceiling.  When the fan stopped working.  The temperature in the FF compartment got over 50 degrees.  Then when the fan wasn’t working the evaporator got frosted up.  So it went into an extended defrost.  It’s all related to the same problem.  A bad fan.  

[TobiiFixit]

On 8/26/2021 at 7:14 AM, David Jero said:

What happened was the FF sensor in the compartment is on the ceiling.  When the fan stopped working.  The temperature in the FF compartment got over 50 degrees.  Then when the fan wasn’t working the evaporator got frosted up.  So it went into an extended defrost.  It’s all related to the same problem.  A bad fan.  

those codes are after I changed the fan. the first fan was working just really noisy so my thing is why the extended defrosts at times. and high temps due to that long defrost  

[David Jero]

On 8/27/2021 at 11:01 PM, TobiiFixit said:

those codes are after I changed the fan. the first fan was working just really noisy so my thing is why the extended defrosts at times. and high temps due to that long defrost  

Sorry for the late response.  This is when having NEWFI would tell you what is going on and when.  How does the freezer do?   I do know the FF side does get pretty warm during defrost.  I remember complaining to the tech support guys about it.   Make no sense.  

[TobiiFixit]

On 8/30/2021 at 9:05 PM, David Jero said:

Sorry for the late response.  This is when having NEWFI would tell you what is going on and when.  How does the freezer do?   I do know the FF side does get pretty warm during defrost.  I remember complaining to the tech support guys about it.   Make no sense.  

the freezer is fine just the FF seems to do extended defrosts a lot. i think it may be the FF evap thermistor i remember in my old job we had GE side by sides all over and most of them when defrosting got warm enough to melt the ice in the icemaker / ice bin with lots of icicles all over. so when i get back by mom i will test the range of the thermistor is in.

 

if i had access to NewFI would be good out local GE rep in Trinidad here may have access to newfi but its the cost they will charge to even look at the fridge is the issue. 

Sorry for my late response also. But defrosts are only long some of the time could the external thermistor affect the performance as well ?

 

[David Jero]

14 hours ago, TobiiFixit said:

the freezer is fine just the FF seems to do extended defrosts a lot. i think it may be the FF evap thermistor i remember in my old job we had GE side by sides all over and most of them when defrosting got warm enough to melt the ice in the icemaker / ice bin with lots of icicles all over. so when i get back by mom i will test the range of the thermistor is in.

 

if i had access to NewFI would be good out local GE rep in Trinidad here may have access to newfi but its the cost they will charge to even look at the fridge is the issue. 

Sorry for my late response also. But defrosts are only long some of the time could the external thermistor affect the performance as well ?

 

It’s definitely worth a shot here.   Let us know how it goes.