Defrost Heater and Bracket Assembly

took back panel off in freezer.unpluged unit then cut wire to sensor tie in new one wire nut them up and taped.on the heater strip took off two screws and unpluged two wires put the new in same way as taking old one off.I am pleased that the parts from part select came as fast as they did I would for sure buy from them again and prices were very fair.Thank you very much for your service.

took out heating element while ice was still on coils..replaced w/new one, thought it would go on to defrost right away ,but freezer had to run it's cycle . Then after about 4 hours all ice was gone and all went ok..back to normal and it is now set on #4 working fine .

Remove the back cover inside the freezer, with a hair dryer, defrost the frosts built up over the fringes, only the 4 sides of the back panel needs to be defrost so that I can get access to the heater and Thermostat. The heater is a tube like and if it looks black, it is bad, the new one is filled with aluminum coils inside the tube that you can see. Replaced the heater and everything worked. It has been fine for a week now.

Called the repair guy, he came and said the heater was ok and changed the thermastat.Well that didnt work and the heater looked real bad.So i got one and changed it. Well that worked for two weeks, next i got the motherboard. I looked into it and they have alot of problems with them.And My water and ice machine quitto, so i got one an put t in. So far its not freezing, its been two weeks. But my water and ice machine still wont lite up or work.I was told not to buy Ge buy a service guy before we got it. But the wife went with her cousin and when they got back that is what she got.

Remove shelve from fridge. Removed four screws from back panel. Remove one screw that was holding the light bulb. Removed the panel (be careful with side stripping. Cut the wires from the old thermostat (leave plenty of wire to splice. Splice in the new one, use connectors, crimp, and then tape with electrical tape. To remove heater and bra, remove the screws on each side and remove the wire connected to it. Use needle nose pliers to remove. Install new one by installing wires first and then the screws.

REPLACING THE DEFROST HEATER & BRA:
1- Empty freezer.
2- Remove all shelves.
3- Remove white painted metal wall plate opposite
the freezer door. There are 2 phillips head screws
attaching it.
4- There may be ice build-up on the freezer coils,
thaw the ice using a hair dryer.
5- Remove the 2 phillips screws holding the
defrost heater to the freezer coil frame, at the
bottom of the frame.
6- Install the defrost heater to the frame.
7- Replace metal panel.

REPLACING THE DEFROST THERMOSTAT.

1-Perform steps 1-4 above.
2-Locate the thermostat at the top of the freezer
coil in the freezer.
3-Cut the wires connecting the thermostat.
4-Connect the new thermostat to the wires that
were connecting the old thermostat, connecting
the wire color to the same color wire.

Note: Connect the wires by using wire splices
available at radio shack. Use splices
sized for 20 guage wire, and wrap with
electrical tape to protect from moisture.

5- Replace metal panel.

checked web site for similar problems and said it was either the defrost heater or timer took my chances and went with the heater Its been 2 days and so far it seems to be working correctly if it happens again will change the timer Thank you for your help with this product couldn't be happier didn't have to have a repair man come would have been hundreds I am not a handy person but your site made it so easy

I started by replacing the defrost thermostat. I was wishfully thinking that would solve the problem, and I knew I would have to do it anyway (you have to remove it to test it, so, for nine bucks . . .). That was the hardest part of the job, because I am wide and the freezer is narrow. (PartSelect has a good instructional video.) A good wire stripping tool is worth the investment. My mistake (laziness) was not testing the defrost heater when I had the chance. It was shot, too. I quickly ascertained that it needed replacing (frost on the rear of the freezer; the original problem) and so I ordered one. The first one I got was defective. PartSelect over-nighted me a second one for no additional shipping. Installed it as soon as it arrived, a couple of weeks ago (it attaches very simply at the bottom of the rear of the freezer; two screws and plug-in wires). No problems since. Total cost, about $60 plus shipping. I can't even get a refrigerator repair guy to visit for less than that.

Replaced these parts and didn't fix the problem. Had to replace the temperature sensor. The fix could have been a $10 rather than $160, but I didn't know how to test the components individually. But it is fixed now!

The board and heater plug right in. For the Defrost Thermostat (or thermistor?) I had to cut 2 wires, crimp the new wires to the old ones and seal up. Then attach to evaporator. Thanks for the help this site provided.

The repair was easy using the step by step videos available through Partselect. Thank you!

A few years ago, the evaporator coils in the freezer started icing up. The defrost cycle had failed. The element was still working, so I was able to manually defrost by jumping the defrost element from the board (NOT recommended). After the defrost element burned out, I was stuck with defrosting manually using a hairdryer. Given this unit does not have the old-fashioned traditional defrost timer, and since I couldn't find any good information about the electronics back then, it appeared from my research I would have to spend nearly $200.00 for a new circuit board. Recently after discovering PartSelect, I was able to diagnose the failed defrost thermostat, ordered it and the defrost heat element, received them quickly, replaced them in less than a half hour, and now my fridge is like new!! Excellent site, PartSelect!!! Also, the Ice bucket glide was a simple replacement (of a broken glide) with two screws using a nut driver. Easy fix.

diagnoises said 49% thermostat replace preety easy did not fix so i took out defrost rube ran continuity test with showed bad unit ordered one here jn 2 days put in works great easy for me

Coils in freezer side freezing up causing the fridge to stay too warm. after changing out the temp sensor and the defrost thermostat it still froze up in about a week. Changed the defrost heater and its been working good now for a month. The defrost heater clips on to the bottom of the coils in the freezer side,two wires and boom done.

Unplug your refrigerator. Remove the shelves, light bulb shield and light bulb. Remove the two hex head screws to either side of the light bulb. Wiggle out the back panel. Locate the heater assembly hanging from the bottom of the coils secured with two screws. Remove both screws and lower out the heater. Unclip both connectors from either end of the heater. Take the new heater and replace both end clips. It only goes in one way, so you can't mix them up. Using the two screws, attach the new heater exactly like the original. Wiggle the back panel into place and replace the two hex screws. Put the light bulb and shield back in place and put back in the shelves. You are done.

I viewed the online video, which really is helpful.

Most of my "repair" time was defrosting the freezer coils (about 1 hour).

After removing the freezer shelves and access cover the thermostate and heater were in plain sight.

The heater is held in place with two phillips head screws and two wires that unplug (one on either side of heater).

The other tools came into play when removing and replacing the thermostate. Cut the two wires and strip for wire nuts, same with new thermostate. Wires color coded. I use electrical tape after appling wire nuts to seal the nuts.

I ordered a timer but found out, after research, that my model has the timer interagrated on the motherboard (main electrical board) (like in a home computer). So I returned the time for refund.

Super fast delivery of ordered parts. I ordered one evening, they arrived the next day.