GE Refrigerator water dispenser intermittently working

sboku · Oct 27, 2005, 10:01 AM

I have a GE side-by-side refridgerator with a ice maker and water dispenser. In the last 3-4 months the water dispenser shuts off intermittently, but comes back to life on its own. I have changed the water filter as well as cleaned the water line, but haven't been able to identify the problem. The ice maker works fine.
Any thoughts?
Thanks

gigaflopper · Dec 13, 2008, 12:39 PM

timmy_bimmy's solution is awesome! Thanks to all who posted here, I was able to find the quick release under the fridge, verify water flow to that point. I then shoved weadeater wire up the dispensor tube, and it hit a road block about 3inches in. I defrosted the freeze and withing 15 minutes water was coming out. I could then stick about 8-10 inches of wire into the dispensor tube.

I now have that wire in the tube, and will follow timmy_bimmy's solution.

Thanks all!
gigaflopper

Sparkydog · Dec 21, 2008, 03:24 PM

My thanks to all whom have responded to this question as I have experienced the exact problem that so many of you have discussed. I have noticed that all the model numbers experiencing this problem contain the number "25". Surely this cannot be a mere coincidence. There is clearly a design flaw in this series. Does anybody know if there is any movement to undertake a class action suit? I'm probably not one to start such an action, but I sure would be willing to join in.

haregopal · Jan 7, 2009, 08:24 PM

MY side by side door GE fridge water line froze. Easy to check. Disconnect the water line at the bottom front grill. If you depress the switch, the water should come out. That means the waterline in the door (specially near the dispenser) is freezing. If you keep the freezer door open for a while it thaws. You can blow the hot air at the dispenser with the hair dryer. It may work.
The GE guy came and put a small heater. They charged me $250. I have placed a call to GE to refund. It is a clearly a recall issue. No part is broken. But things are not working. They had to design small heater ( y shaped adhesive backed 3 watt heater) to solve this problem. That is a recall and should be a free fix.
If they don't honor my request I will file a complaint and see them in small claims court. No more GE!!

dmpinpdx · Jan 8, 2009, 04:17 PM

Scanning through this quickly, I didn't see my lower cost temporary fix to this problem, which has been a recurring one for me as well. I disconnect the quick connect under the unit on the lower left side, attach a portable air compressor to the line going into the freezer door, and turn the compressor on and off in short bursts until it clear the line. You'll want to put some kind of container under/on the dispenser or just have a towel ready to clean up the small amount of water that will spurt from it.

I'm all for the idea of a class action lawsuit. The threat of an action might get GE to issue a recall if nothing else. If I was a lawyer, I'd be all over it; but alas, I am not.

fantoma · Jan 9, 2009, 09:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vonal

My water Dispenser was not working but the ice was fine. I tried the hersey bottle and tubing to defrost the ice blockage but on my model there is a little plastic piece inside and it would not fit. So I just defrosted it. The weed cutter line worked but was a pain, every two hours it would freeze up and I was pulling that darn string. I defrosted it one more time then did this below.

I went to OSH got a sheet of insulation pad (the foil type that helps keep pipes from freezing up in the winter.)
Cut it into two 10"x 10" sheets, then put some heavy duty velcro inside the now dry back part of the freezer. Joined the two sheets up with more velcro and stuck it on back side of the freezer door. IT WORKED!!!! four days now no freeze up. I am a little scared to pull the weed line out, but will do so in a couple more days.

Do you any picture to show how it was done? Is it still work?

fantoma · Jan 9, 2009, 09:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kenw00d

I experienced the same problem with the water dispenser not working at all. The problem is a frozen line in the door. I'll skip the hassle of dealing with GE. Based on all of the other postings you should know by now that GE does not stand behind their product and that you should never purchase a GE appliance.

That said, I purchased an electric heater kit specifically designed to fit the GE side by side refrigerators with the water dispenser. I purchased it from repairclinic.com for $42.50 plus $6 for shipping. The item # is 1381601.

Installation was pretty easy and took a total of 15 minutes. On a scale of 1 to 10 for difficulty (10 being the most difficult), I would rank it as a 4. The instructions that came with the heater kit were VERY helpful. The heater kit should not cost $42.50, but it beats dealing with GE. You can install this yourself. I installed mine at 9pm and by morning the dispenser was working again.

Steps:

1. Pry off plastic frame.
2. Lift control board out.
3. Disconnect the 3 wire harnesses from circuit board.
4. Unscrew the dispenser unit. (4 Phillip Screws).
5. Peel and stick the heater in the recesses area. See instructions from heater kit for picture on where the heater should go.
6. Splice wires according to instructions that came with the heater kit. Splices are provided. Very easy to do. Just follow the directions. Splice one heater wire to the harness red wire (position 2) and the other heater wire to the (black&white) harness wire (position 6).
7. Plug in the just the one harness to the control board and in 60 seconds you will start to feel the heater area getting warm. That's how you know it's working.
8. Put everything back together and you are in business.

Will you able to post the instruction that came with the repair part? Can you post some picture of your heated installed? Thanks.

dmpinpdx · Jan 10, 2009, 02:13 PM

Let's see if we can get GE to do the right thing! The following is a link to a feedback form for GE Appliances division:

GE Contact Us: Voicing a concern about an appliance or an experience with GE

dlamp · Jan 11, 2009, 03:59 PM

The water line freezes up inside the freezer door near the dispenser. I called for service and the tech installed an in-line heater near the tube outlet. The heater cost $60 and GE covered half the cost of the part. The labour cost me $89. I wonder why the heater wasn't installed when they made the fridge. There is an electrical connector that was just sitting there that the heater connects to.

Mrcrowley · Jan 15, 2009, 12:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mallard

any idea, how to find the frozen line. I have GE- GSL25JFPC. I tried all the things mentioned on forum, but still have similar problem,Like the water get freeze after2-3 days and show up gain once you shut down refrigerator for 6 hours.
any idea ???

Ok folks here is some help I had same problem did testing all the way to the line that runs up side of refrig water came out right to the pex fitting on bottom . I preseded to run a piece of wire down the tube and ran into obstacle pulled wire out nothing on it but it was cold as ice so I tried a couple time and it felt like running a piece of (no pun intended) like running wire on ice cube . I have come to the conclusion the water line froze. I replaced the valve anyways but NOW why would the water line freeze ? that is the question.

dlamp · Jan 15, 2009, 04:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mrcrowley

Ok folks here is some help I had same problem did testing all the way to the line that runs up side of refrig water came out right to the pex fitting on bottom . I preseded to run a piece of wire down the tube and ran into obstacle pulled wire out nothing on it but it was cold as ice so I tried a couple time and it felt like running a piece of (no pun intended) like running wire on ice cube . I have come to the conclusion the water line froze. I replaced the valve anyways but NOW why would the water line freeze ? that is the question.

Buy the heater and install it right below the white plastic outlet pipe. You have to take the black plastic shroud off from around the water dispenser unit and unscrew the 4 phillips screws that hold the control panel on. Then you have to splice the heater red and black wires onto the power wires running to the control unit. This prevents the water pipe from freezing.



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