We have a GE frost-free side by side refrigerator with ice maker. It's 5 years old but for the past year+ we've been having problems with the freezer building up frost around the inside, and then the refrigerator doesn't get cold. I have to unplug everything, take the shelves out of the freezer and then blow-dry it sometimes twice a month, and then the refrigerator gets cold again. I saw a response to someone with a similar problem stating that the defrost element or defrost thermostat was probably faulty. Is that the same thing as the coil? If so, what would cause it to go out again so quickly? The seals around both the freezer and the fridge side are fine, so that can't be what's causing the problem. I've removed any dust buildup both under and on the back of the fridge. I'm not sure what keeps causing it to go bad.

There are 3 main components to a self-defrosting refrigerators defrost system. Timer, heater and termination thermostat. Any of these, when failed, would cause your condition. I would want to make sure you understand that melting the frost from the system doesn't "fix" anything. It simply restores airflow to the fresh food compartment. Usually a refrigerator will defrost once every day. If the defrost system isn't working, the frost simply continues to build until the air can't move through. GE refrigerators that frost over are almost always open defrost heaters. Sometimes the heater system includes the termination thermostat, but sometimes it doesn't. If you remove all the shelves and then the evaporator cover (that's the "rear panel" inside the freezer), you will find the defrost heater (or heaters; sometimes there are 2) at the bottom of the evaporator coil. If the glass tube is black and burned-looking on the inside, then that's probably your culprit. You could attain a new defrost heater from a local servicer. That would probably be your best bet, as they may have the part in stock locally, thus ending your refrigerator woes sooner. Let me know if you have further questions.