Dispenser Board

first I snapped out control face plate on outside of door. removed the screws for each part,and unplugged the wires at the connectors, replaced new parts and plugged in connectors to new circuit board.I decided to replace the board,switch and solenoid all at the same time, not knowing which part was bad.I have to say it was well worth it! it works better than when it was new!!!! It was a lot easier than I thought it was going to be.

If you sqat down to the dispenser level, under the panel where the buttons are, and look up at the bottom of the panel, you will see 3 small holes. These holes are about 1/8" in diameter, and maybe 2" apart, right under the button panel. If you look carefully, you will see white plastic in the outer two holes. One at a time, insert a small (#0 ?) phillips head screwdriver into the holes which will release a plastic catch that holds the panel in place. Pull the released panel out gently, and on the back side is the circuit board. 3 screws hold it in place to the panel. 3 wiring harness plugs need to be removed. Since they are different sizes, they won't be easily confused. After installing the panel board with the 3 screws and plugs, the panel snaps back into place easily.

I removed the faceplate and control board by pushing in the 3 plastic latches under the panel. Disconnected the 3 electical connectors. Removed screws. Now this is where the difficulties began, even though the part is listed as a direct replacement for the original part number it doesn't quite match. The original has a child lock next to the light button, the new one doesn't, and with the shroud for the lock and light buttons caused the part to not fit so I had to trim those back. The button for the light doesn't line up, and the light would not turn off so I removed the bulb. Everything else operates properly now though so its good enough.

My husband is an electrician and he removed the printed circuit board and found some of the components were bad. I easily found the parts diagrams and lists by inputing the make and model number and placed the order. We had the part in 2 days. It was easily installed. We were very pleased with the ease and the price and if we are needing parts in the future we will definitely check out Parts Select first.

We first called G.E. and then another refrigerator repairman who both told us this may be a big job. One repairman said it might cost $280 to fix. NOT ONE of them said it could be a frozen water line. Thanks to your posting repair stories and Thank YOU Ralph from Bristow, VA. ,(posted 3.13.08) who said FIRST disconnect the quick connect water tube and press the water dispenser to see if water flowed through the line, which it did. Then all I had was a frozen water line and the solution was to turn the freezer down (make it warmer) for a few hours and the line defrosted and the water dispenser and everything else has been working fine ever since then.
I had my freezer set on too cold a setting. The water tube is in the front of the bottom of the refrigerator behind the removable vent grill. The quick disconnect is removed by pushing one part of the connector to the water line and then sliding the water line back and out. It goes back together easily by pushing both parts together.
Thanks for the advice Ralph, without your taking the time to write this solution, a repairman would have ripped me off.
I never had to install the Dispenser Board or any other part. NO COST to fix.