[DCSurvey]

While I would be happy to join a class action law suit, I want a working refrigerator in the interim. Based upon all the discussion, I have tried the use of hair dryers and plastic threads throgh the water dispenser. I have now moved on to ordering the WR9X10173 part but have not yet received it. In preparation for the part arrival, I also used the instructions from one of the other parties and have a problem. Insturctions were as follows: Welcome to the club. I had the GE repair service "fix" my frozen water dispenser problem to the tune of $ 216.00. $79 for a house call, $63.00 for the part and $105 for "labor".

It took him 20 minutes to install the part. It is a heat tape that attaches to the inner edge of the dispenser just under the spout. It has a plug that goes into the switch card for water/cubes/crushed. Part #WR49X101173 - you'll find it on-line for $42 at any appliance repair site.

Remove the square plastic cover ( pops off with a screw driver), undo the four screws on the inner panel and swing out the switchplate. The part has sticky stuff on it so just press it into the U shape under the nozzle. Pug it into the circuit board and reassemble. Your done.

Now for the problem. Once I remove the square plastic cover plate, the inner panel does not have four screws. I cannot find any manuals available from GE to the consumer which describes how to get to the area where the heating tube needs to be placed. I have a side-by-side GE GSL25WGPD BS purchased in 2004 which also seems to be the models experiencing the problem.

[Mike from NYC]

I am on the phone right now with GE customer service... 800-432-2737 and there is no such part/ parts as described in any of these posts! I did however go to the BBB.ORG and file a complaint. PLEASE FILE A COMPLAINT IT TAKES 5 SECONDS! - you can copy mine and paste it.
"The product is the G.E. Hotpoint side by side freezer model number HSS25GFTABB and HSS25GFTAWW (BB = black color, WW = white color). This product has an issue with the water line freezing in the door which causes the in-door water dispenser to not work. I have searched the internet and found that this is a very common problem, some are blaming it on deteriorating insulation inside of the freezer door. I called GE about this issue and they were unable to offer a solution. Since this is such a common issue with all Hotpoint side-by-side models they should offer a recall or a part to fix the issue. Thank you. "

[anioho]

My water dispenser not functioning started on Friday here in Houston which was the day the hard freeze we recently had started. I thought it would resume dispensing water after the weather returned to normal. So I did not worry but used bottled water in the mean time. Then after we all came out of the hard freeze, my water would still not dispense. So, I took out the whole structures in the area of the dispenser and could not go beyond the water outlet tube. I did not know how it functioned and I was going to get my neighbor when I read from a site (not this one) that the water line does freeze. What they recommended was to keep the door open for five minutes and clear the ice. I cleared the ice in the ice compartment, left the door open, and raised the temperature setting to zero. I left all that for about 30 minutes at least while I prepaared my meal. When I had taken my meal, I went back and pushed in the water lever and it worked fine. I think it froze because I am now alone in my house that I moved into in March 2003 with the refrigerator already installed in our new home then. It had never frozen before this time. As the only occupant of my house, I hardly use the refrigerator or the ice and when the ambient temperature in the city was very low, it froze. The ice chamber was full of ice too. So, if you are alone or use the refrigerator infrequently, you need to set your temperature pretty low. I now have it on 3 instead of the 4 I had it on for years.

[joeyo]

I have a model GSL25JFPD side by side GE and it too has recently quite dispensing water, but makes ice like a champ. I tried the blow dryer method mentioned prior and it worked perfectly. I know this is only temporary, based on what everyone is saying. I do agree GE should address this defect if it's so common. I've had a lot of bad experiences with every singe GE product I have ever bought since the early 90's and after 20 years I'm done purchasing GE. My parents owned a GE microwave that caused a fire and destroyed their kitchen. After going online to find out about GE microwaves I was alarmed at how many others have done the same thing. But like this water dispenser issue they will not admit they have an issue. For yours and your families sake, if you own one of these I would unplug it and get it out of your house. If GE doesn't get their act together they will lose more customers.

[Gozoom]

I just started having this issue too. My fridge is a HSS25GFAA that was purchased in that magical time of December 2003. I haven't had any freeze-ups with it until a couple of days ago. I originally thought it might be the filter, as that has clogged in the past, but after replacing it I realized that the ice maker was still working. So I found this thread and others that speak to the stupid design of the freezer door insulation and after reading the entire thread it seems very likely that the insulation is in fact breaking down and the heater element fix would be just a temporary band-aid. I did try a hair dryer to unfreeze the line but after 5 minutes it didn't do anything and I didn't want to distort any of the plastic.

So I broke out the hole saw and cut a 1.5" hole just under the slope of the ice chute and it was a very simple matter to carefully chip out the old insulation. It then only took about 30 seconds with a hair dryer to thaw the line. I filled it with the pink house insulation and everything is working fine now. Even if it does freeze up again, it will only take a minute or two to pull the insulation and hit it with the hair dryer, but I don't think I'll even need to do that now.

I called GE just for giggles and they told me that "they had never heard of this problem before". I then asked them why there was a service bulletin issued in October 2007 about the issue and that GE had developed a specific product to address this defect if they had never heard of the problem before. There was a long pause before they asked if I would like to buy the kit. I then politely told them that I would never spend another dime on *any* GE product and I would be adding to the long list of online information about their wonderful refrigerator design, and their customer service lies.

[cmhip]

Having GE SS25T6MB WW with the same problem. I figured out a frozen line in the freezer door was the problem. I have defrosted it by using the tube and hot water along with hair dryer. Works, but can be time consuming. Sometimes despenser works for days or weeks, and other times hours. I had Sears sub-contractor out to fix during warranty period. He was clueless. He changed everything he could get a wrench or screwdriver on. He contacted GE and they sold an after market water line heater. This was great, but the heater was not compatible with the year of my frigrerator.(2003 - 2004) Getting refund for that is another story. I'm going to try the weed trimmer line trick to see how that works.

[LOTTO44]

Hello All, this is great to have everyone working on a common goal. All of the posts were very helpful! My GE side-by side water dispenser just froze up and I live in Florida were things freezing up usually are not the problem=) Although, I did use some suggestions from the previous post and they seem to work for me... so far.

I did open then freezer door for about 15 min and then wiped the inside of the freezer door, right under the structure that catches the ice (where the line gets froze up according to other posts) with a warm rag. I also kept the light going which was a help to some people (the heat from the light helps defrost for some people) Once I did that the line popped out a little chuck of ice and started working again. If it freezes up again I think the best next step will be try gluing extra insulation to the inside of the freezer with some waterproof silicon. Sounds like the heater thing can work but from other posts its not perfect and can be expensive unless you are handy.

In other posts, people have suggested using a sheet of Styrofoam, drilling a hole and using regular household fiberglass and rubber to use as a extra insulation for the inside of the freezer. Has anyone had great success with the ones mentioned or with some other material that might work better?

Thanks to all those before me who took the time to share their problems and solutions! You have helped me greatly.

Lance

[tzk3jk]

I have the same water line freezing problem as everyone else. I bought the WR49X10173 part. The directions say to attach heater wires to red wire on pin 2 and black and white wire on pin 6. I don't have these wires. I have a black, 2 whites, and a blue wire going into a bracket on the circuit board with six holes. Depending on which end you start they go into the bracket as follows" 1) Black 2) White 3) Blue 4) open 5) open 6) White. Can anyone tell me which wires to splice into? The white wires are much thicker than the blue and black. Thanks
And when I called GE they refused to send the part nor acknowledge they had a problem even though they had a part to fix the non-existent problem. No more GE products for me.

[BigSteelerfan]

I have a 3 year old GE GSH25JFTABB side-by-side refrigerator. I noticed lately the internal fan was constantly running and very rarely shut off. I cleaned the coils behind the unit and the very next day the water dispenser froze up in the refrigerator side (behind the veggie crisper). After reducing the temp of both freezer and fridge and the line not de-icing after 24 hours, I decided it was time to turn the controls off, empty everything out and let the unit defrost (it was 35 degrees outside so I put everything in boxes and set outside). Leaving the doors open and the unit plugged in, the internal fan in the freezer continued to run (I think in an effort to defrost). 5 hours later I noticed water was still dripping from behind the panel in the back of the freezer compartment and draining out the drainhole. By that point, it was getting late and I had to work the next morning. So I took the wife's blow dryer, turned the heat setting on low and the fan setting on high I pointed it at the bottom of the back panel where the water was dripping. Just a few minutes later ice started to fall off the cooling coils hidden behind this panel. I kept the blow dryer going for 20-30 minutes, constantly moving it back and forth so as not to burn or melt the plastic. Finally all the ice had melted and the dripping stopped. Enough ice had melted that the evaporator pan under the unit overflowed and flooded the floor, but nothing a good mopping couldn't clean up. Cleaned the inside with water and baking soda (as directed by the manual). Turned the controls back to 5-5 (recommended settings) and packed everything back in. It's been two day and the water line is still running well. The great thing is the fans very rarely turn on and the temp seems fine. So here's my thought: even though these things have auto defrost, I believe after a couple years it just doesn't keep up and you have to manually defrost the unit. With the internal coils iced over, neither the freezer nor fridge could maintain the proper temps. Seems most people posting on the message board have had problems after 2 years. My wife and I will repeat the above every year to ensure the unit is running at it's best. I'm disappointed the owner's manual didn't have any directions on defrosting the unit. I believe this could also lead to freezing the line inside the freezer door. Think about it... something changed after a few years for your line to suddenly start freezing and it's not the insulation... that stuff will sit in a landfill for a thousand years without breaking down. So try this manual defrost before buying heaters, cutting holes in the door, paying for repair men, or replacing the doors. Just give it a good 8 hours (I wouldn't recommend a blow dryer as you could electrocute yourself or melt the plastic). Just make sure to leave it plugged in to allow the internal fan to continue to run, open the doors, let the lights stay on, but turn the controls off and let all the water stop dripping from the back of the freezer before starting back up. Hope this helps!

[tgil]

I am just following-up from a post back in March of 2009. We did end up installing the heater kit at a discounted cost, but at our expense-- I even talked with multiple people at GE and that's all the help we got. This past week we now are having the same issue again with the water line freezing up in the door-- it's a daily issue now. We will be trying the insulation fix posted on this site. I have complained to many agencies regarding this issue. If anyone ever hears of a class-action lawsuit, we'd love to be a part of that.

[BigSteelerfan]

Just wanted to post an update to my 2/21/2010 post. It's been 10 days and my side-by-side is working great. No water line freezing and no constantly running fans. I've seen a few people post that they unplugged their units for 4 hours to defrost and they still had issues with freezing water lines. Just to reiterate, I had my controls turned off with the unit still plugged in (so the internal fan could continue to circulate air) for 5 hours and still needed the blow dryer for 20-30 minutes to completely defrost. For anyone that does this, I would give it 8 hours without a blow dryer and at least 10 hours if you don't leave it plugged in because the internal fan won't run. Hope this helps!

[GoOrangeBB]

OK folks, I think I have a solution. My fridge is a Hotpoint but is made by GE. Purchased in 2004. I was also having this same problem after 5 years of ownership. I read a lot of posts here and put my thinking cap on. The biggest question was why it worked for so long before acting up. What had changed? I would defrost the line and within hours it would freeze again. I was going to try insulating inside the door even though I didn't believe this was the right answer. Then I came up with an idea that worked. Simple and free. I started by unhooking the water line under the front left side. There's a blue connector there. You just push in the white sleeve and pull the line out. Put down and old towel to catch any water, then proceeded to defrost the water line with a blow drier. When it defrosts water runs out and you can blow air through the line. I then used a plastic syringe I found in the bathroom and flushed the line out using boiling hot water. Next I used the syringe to flush the line with bleach. About a quarter cup or so. Hooked the line up again and ran about a quart of water through to clean out the bleach and I was done. Three days later and still working. Before it wouldn't last more than a few hours. You may have to devise your own method to flush the line, but it's worth a try. Didn't cost me a cent.

[BigSteelerfan]

GoOrangeBB, glad this worked for you. When you put on your thinking cap, what explanation for a frozen line did you come up with that bleach would resolve? Also, anyone using this method should run a few gallons of water through their line as a quart of water will not remove all races of bleach from your water line.
PS: I'll be routing for the Orange too... hopefully they are #1 at the end of the month!

[GoOrangeBB]

GoOrangeBB, glad this worked for you. When you put on your thinking cap, what explanation for a frozen line did you come up with that bleach would resolve? Also, anyone using this method should run a few gallons of water through their line as a quart of water will not remove all races of bleach from your water line.
PS: I'll be routing for the Orange too ... hopefully they are #1 at the end of the month!

Actually, I didn't think of a specific cause for the freezing. I just reasoned that the insulation wasn't the issue. I had tried taking the door apart and quit because of the insulation used. Looking at the bottom of the door I could see where the material was added. And unless it got wet, the insulation shouldn't change. I now think that minerals and other stuff in the water, gradually built up at the point where the water settles. Regardless, it's been eight days now and water is still flowing freely. As for traces of bleach in the water line, municipal water supplies already contain chlorine so you're drinking traces anyway. And unscented bleach is recommended by the EPA to disinfect drinking water in emergencies. Flush until you feel comfortable.

[damsker]

When you install the new heater thingie from GE, which part of the dispenser do you "pry" off? Is it the outside or inside of the freezer door?

[jayman2000]

I had the same issue and went through the steps listed. This weekend it started making a grinding sound. I took the filter off and put the plug in it's place, basically bypassing the filter, and it works great. Took the filter back out and made sure it was installed properly and it seems to work now. So although most of you will have a "freezing" line issue, for some who read this thread try removing the water filter completely and test it.

[Stephen8]

THANKS so much - 1 year + after the last note, and a different model side-by-side GE, and I now have my water dispenser fixed!
I used a 6" piece of hose just smaller than the ID of the dispenser tube, filled with hot water, inserted and blew it onto the ice jam.
After a couple minutes (and with the help of the plastic string line), broke it thru. I now have water.
Seems to me if I covered the inside freezer door with a 1/2" (8" x 8") piece of flexible insulation of some type, it would stay fixed.
Time to go look through Lowe's.

[applguy]

Make sure the freezer and refrigerator controls are set at median settings. Running the controls at the extreme settings can cause the waterline in the door to freeze. Seen it many times. Don't know if adding chlorine would make the water freeze point lower? Can't see any other reason for that to work. In my experience, when these tubes start to freeze "out of the blue", its usually due to someone maxing out the controls or perhaps a thermostat not cycling right anymore. Just an idea, since it can be a quite common problem.

[jimmypelletier]

I've had 3 discussions with GE, first 2 based on complaints through GE's own website and the 3rd from my BBB compliaint. All this week. The only positive thing I can say is they got back to me quickly. However, they have lost a household of customers going forward because they simply won't stand by a clear design flaw. Their only defense is it is "not a safety issue and is a repair for a fridge that is no longer under warranty". Their best offer was $100 flat fee to install a heater in addition to the $85 three minute long "service" call that started this whole debate with GE. They settled on refunding my $85 and are perfectly willing to lose my entire family's business going forward from light bulbs to appliances. I even referred to this very forum and the GE rep's response was we are a "huge corporation and what you think may be a lot of complaints really isn't". I responded by saying that is my point, for $100 a huge corporation will throw away thousands of dollars of future business and again she referred to the expired warranty and lack of a safety issue. Just chalk it up to another lost customer. Good luck all and please email me at [email protected] if you came up with a quick/easy/cheap fix you were able to do on your own.

[joeyz123]

I work in the medical field and tried a different approach which took about 1 minute to fix it based on some of the responses Ive read here. My water line was not working, however the ice dispenser was functioning. I also tried the weedeater line and found it to only advance about 3 inches. I took a 60 cc syringe and a 5 inch spinal needle that is about the thickness of a tiny guitar string. I put hot water through it... the small needle allowed me to push in the water and allowed it to drain at the same time while continually circulating water through the line. Within less than a minute the water line was clear and functioning properly. I inserted the weedeater line into the water outlet and this time I was able to advance it about 10 inches. With the line left in the water outlet, I am still able to get water like one of the posters mentioned above.