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

Davek01

Same proble with our and then it started working consitantly. But NOW, it started dripping when we went to bed and did $2000+ damage to out subfloor and floating laminate on top of the subfloor. In addition to mold issues.

Our valve started leaking. GE REFRIDGERATORS SUCK!!! I wonder if they made any improvements with this double-valvue, or if someone sells a better double valve that can take its place? Its only 120vac solenoids that run that valve. Surely a better part can be adpated in?

I found out this monring that here at work (GE btw) three other people have had floor damage due to this leaky valve. Has anyone thought of a class action law suite against GE Appliances?

Davek01

Same proble with our and then it started working consitantly. But NOW, it started dripping when we went to bed and did $2000+ damage to out subfloor and floating laminate on top of the subfloor. In addition to mold issues.

Our valve started leaking. GE REFRIDGERATORS SUCK!!! I wonder if they made any improvements with this double-valvue, or if someone sells a better double valve that can take its place? Its only 120vac solenoids that run that valve. Surely a better part can be adpated in?

I found out this monring that here at work (GE btw) three other people have had floor damage due to this leaky valve. Has anyone thought of a class action law suite against GE Appliances?

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.

NoviceFixer

MacGyver (1/8" foil duct insulation),
davette59 (a foam insulation board about 3/4 " thick and blue in color), and
chem-prof (cheap foam sleeping bag mattress (~1/3 inch or 1 cm thick) made of a polyurethane foam),

Are your interior insulation fixes still working as of today, 7/15/08?

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kenw00d,

You mentioned that the instructions came with the heater kit but I'm not sure if I have the same model refrigerator that you have. My model number is GE side by side model TFH24PRSBAA.

When you installed your heater kit item #1381601, in step-1 you say "Pry off plastic frame". Which plastic frame is that? Is it on the exterior or interior of your door? The inside of my freezer door is one complete molded unit so I'm guessing that the plastic frame you pried off is on the outside of the door. If that's right, could you clarify what the plastic frame you pried off looks like and what it includes? Thanks!

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To everyone,

I have an idea if I can get into my freezer door. Instead of installing a heater, why not use the ambient room temperature as the heater? What if we drill a hole or two through the outside of the freezer door right below or near the water dispenser nozzle? Maybe this could let ambient room temperature into the door at the right places to keep the tube above freezing temperature.

If someone can tell me how to open up the water dispenser assembly, I'll see if this idea can work.

Thanks,
NoviceFixer

twncam

I have had GE out to my house three times for three differnt problems with my fridge.Today cost me 96 dollars to tell me the water line feeding my dispenser was frozen.It was accutaly the dispenser tube that held the ice.He offered to fix it for 298.00 dollars yes thats right.The additional part that is not installed on my model was 44 dollars.I paid the 98 dollar service call and held a hair dryer on the tube.10 MINS.later I had water.I can order the part myself and install it its not hard to install and comes with instructions.The part is called a dispenser water tube heater part number wr49x10173 if your handy enough to install it yourself.It gets placed under the dispenser hose and wires into the harness behind the panel that houses the water / ice buttons.A very simple repair.

The Mickster

The issue is the water line is freezing in the door due to insufficient insulation from the factory. I looked at this forum for several solutions and this is what I did.

At first I thought the filter was clogged up so I ordered a 3 pack from a web site (not GE's)and installed the filter. This was no help.

I took my wife's hair dryer and ran it over the back side of the freezer door directly behind the water and ice dispencer. It took about 5 minutes and it finally thawed about a 1/4" long piece of ice enough for it to come through the tube and clear the line.

I then took about a one foot piece of .035 diameter string trimmer line and pushed it up the water dispenser tube until there was about 1" hanging out. The water will dispense fine with the line in the tube. The line froze again within 3 hours and I simply pulled the trimmer line out and it removed the frozen piece of ice.

Now for the solution-

I called the G E Appliance line at 888-348-7563 and talked to a Customer Service Rep at a call center. I told her if she would send me the Kit (# WR51X10101) I would make the repair myself. The Kit costs $42 and change at an Appliance Parts web site. She said she would send me the Kit for $20. I told her this was clearly a design problem and that there should have been a recall. I asked her to send the kit for free and she said hold on for just a minute. She came back and asked for my address and said she would ship the Kit to me at no cost. We will see.

It amazes me that a company like GE which prides themselves on their quality program and spends millions of dollars on Six Sigma will not come clean and fix a design problem the correct way with a recall.

I will let you know when I receive my kit. Until then I will just deal with the string.

NoviceFixer

Is your refrigerator a stainless steel one? I read somewhere while researching, that the heater works on stainless steel doors. Wonder if it will work on vinyl type doors? Can't find that link again now.

My water dispenser has not frozen again since my previous post. But if it does freeze again my new plan to fix it is to cut an 8 inch square hole in the flat area on the inside of the freezer door, right behind the water spout. Then remove the insulation as best as possible and replace it with new insulation.

Then I'll get a 1/8 or 3/16 inch thick plexiglass cut to 9.5 inches square (call this the cover). Since the flat area behind the water spout is 10 inches and the hole will be 8 inches, this will give me an overlap of 3/4 inch all around. Then I'll drill holes around the edges of the cover, apply a silicone bead around the edges and secure the cover to the freezer door using stainless steel sheet metal screws.

I don't think the silicone will stick too much and will still allow me to remove the cover in the future. I might even apply some vaseline on both surfaces to insure the silicone bead does not stick but still acts as a gasket.

If the plexiglass cover allows moisture through it, then I'll need to apply aluminum tape on it or use a piece of aluminum for the cover instead. Any comments on this idea, pro or con are welcome.

NoviceFixer

The Mickster

My refrigerator is a White Side by Side. Model number GSS22VFPC.

I think I would try to get them to send the parts kit before cutting holes in the door.

NoviceFixer

Please post your results after you install the kit.
Thanks much,
NoviceFixer

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.