DTL18ICSJRBS General Electric Refrigerator - Instructions

The valve is not a direct replacement,seems they
are not available,had to bend mtg. brkt. so valve
would mount in same position and cut off screw
type pressure fitting so could slide discharge
tube into new type connection, no instructions
come with replacement valve,asked several
places for info wanted to be sure before cutting
off end of discharge tube. Now valve shuts off
but water still in base of refrigerator must be a
leak in inlet tube behind freezer compartment.

1) I removed the icemaker and placed on work table.
2) I pried the front plastic cover from the control box to expose the front base.
3) I removed the three mounting screws from the base (it is not necessary to remove the screw in the plastic gear) and removed the front base. This exposed the back base
4) Using an ohmmeter, I was able to isolate a bad contact on one of the three microswitches in the control box (the one that was mounted to the back base). Replacing this microswitch solved the problem.

This was a simple parts replacement. I had replaced the cracked plastic tube a few weeks earlier and destroyed the retaining star washer inside the solenoid valve while removing the old one. It worked for a while and then started to leak when the tube had partially worked its way out. The star washer is not a replaceable part so this repair was simply replacing the valve with a new one. It is very straight forward - disconnect the electric plug, remove the old valve, insert the tube in the new valve (it goes through the plastic bushing in the valve - do not remove the bushing - it can easily be mistaken for a shipping plug) and reattach the supply line being careful to avoid kinking it. Reattach the valve, the electric plug and support clips for both the supply line and the plactic line to the ice maker.

Poped out with screwdriver the old swithch and unplugged the two wires. Plugged in the wires to the new swithch and pushed it back in the hole where the old switch was before.

Remove the two nuts holding the top of the unit to the side of the freezer using a 1/4 in nutdriver. Pull the unit out and unplug it from the back of the freezer. Remove all pieces of the broken stripper. The replacement part fits onto a peg on the back of the icemaker and into a slot. Bend into place and slide into position.

While the switch did last for 9 years, the design is poor due to the failure mode. The failure should be to fail off or not able to turn on the lights which would be inconvenient but would not warm the refrigerator contents. Arcing at the contacts eventually caused the switch to "weld" closed. It is not obvious that this is occurring so it took some time to recognize why the temp inside the ref was high while the freezer was OK. Replacing the switch was easy once it was recognized as the problem. All that was required to replace the switch was to remove the screws holding a fiber cover and then pulling off the aluminum cap which covered the switches. Unplug the switch an squeeze the keeper on the switch to release it and pull down. Pop the replacement switch in place and plug the wires harness back in. All in all it took much less time to replace than it has to write this up. T Pope

Just replaced it.

I removed one screw to loosen the cardboard panel that covered the old valve and one screw to remove the valve assembly. I disconnected the two wiring connections and unscrewed the two water line connections. Replacement was really easy since the bracket was the same as the old valve. The down stream water connection was different for the new (push in) than the old (threaded) but I cut the old threaded connector off and figured out that the new push in connection was solid (directions would have really helped here) Reconnected the inlet tubing and electrical wires and replace the panel and it was done.

I discovered the ice bucket missing from my rental unit at the beach. I was able to go online with my Blackberry, easily navigate your website using the model number to look up the part information , order it, and have it in place for the next renter.
Without access to a friendly user website, I would have faced considerable delay in getting this part.

just unscrewed the 3 screws, attached the rounded plug that came with the unit and screwed back only 2 screws. ice magic in about a couple of hours

My husband did the repair, and even though our refrigerator is roughly 20+ years old, he was able to adapt it to work in all the right spots and we now have ice cubes! I'm very happy we did not have to spend $2000 on a comparable refrigerator.

The existing light switch was very hard to remove. I ended up having to grab it with a pair of pliers and pull it out. Once it was out, it was very easy to put in the replacement and it seems to be working fine.

First I replaced the double valve because the ice maker was not filling with water. It still did not work. Then I replaced the ice maker itself. This worked and was relatively easy to replace. I had to use the water fill "slide" from the old ice maker. The new one was too narrow and it leaked water into the freezer.

After several defrost sessions I realized we had a component problem. Freezer and frig would cool up and maintain for a week or so but then the frog would go warm and the freezer would be ice cold. SO it was then I knew it was a defrost sequence matter. Thanks to Parts Select and their part to culprit algorithm it provided me the several most likely parts to be at fault. Since not having a voltage tester it was R/R time so I started with defrost timer and then went on from there. So all in told the bill for parts was around $120 still cheaper than a repair service call and obviously buying a new unit. Replacing the parts was simple, the most difficult being the defrost heater element but nothing to throw your hands up. My advice is just stay patient, do plenty of research and tackle it, you will save hundreds of dollars. Living without a frig for several days can be uncomfortable but I was absolutely determined to salvage the frig and save money and it was all worth it.

The new gasket was a little out of shape, because of the way it had to be shipped, however, I unpacked it, shaped it like it should have been, and just let it sit for a few days. Time to install the gasket and it was so easy...just popped out the old one and slipped in the new one, and it is working perfectly.
Thanks so much