My side by side refrigerator/freezer has stopped working twice in the last 10 years with the first repair being freezer defroster heaters, timer and thermostat. The seconded repair was replacing just the heaters and lasted only six months. I was going to order and replace these heaters myself (one heater coil is broken) or should I replace all as in the first repair. Perhaps it's time for a new one instead.

You can purchase these parts and do the repair yourself. Only one catch that I can see would be did you actually watch the repairdude do these repairs? If you did see him do it and feel confident on attempting this yourself and have all the right tools, then go for it. If you have the multitester needed to test the part and know the proper setting for the tester, then go for it. Whenever I have a repairperson in my home repairing anything I watch intently making sure I ask a million questions about what he's doing and where this goes, etc. After all, I'm paying a small fortune for "appliance repairs 101" and want to further my education in how to repair stuff. Hopefully you will be able to do the repair yourself. I sure hope it's the same part that went kablooey on you!

rcbj, I would do a ohm measurement across the coils. You should read approx. 7ohms. I believe if you replace the heater coils you need to replace the both of them. I also believe that the are sold as a pair. While you are in there I would replace the therocouple that snaps on the condenser. It is a inexpensive part.

Every once in a while, ice builds up in the bottom of our freezer in this GE model # TFH22PR which will make the fridge stop working properly. All we have to do is to break up the ice dam in the bottom by melting it with hot water and then removing the ice and water. Once the ice dam is removed the fridge starts working again just fine. Yes, it is a pain in the behind but at least you won't need to buy a new part, call an expensive repair person or buy a new fridge.